French Onion Braised Chicken

I get lots and lots of recipe suggestions. Ever since I started the blog, friends and family have been filling my inbox with recipes they’ve made themselves and loved, recipes they think sound great but don’t have the time/effort to make themselves, and recipes they just think Nick and I will really like!

I’ve made a lot of them, and I have intentions to make most of them. But there are just so many! I have a folder of “To-Make” recipes, and I’m slowly going through it. Once in a while, a recipe will sound so good, that it’ll skip the line of patiently waiting recipes and head straight to the top of my list. This was one of those recipes.

French Onion Braised Chicken. I mean, come on, how can that NOT sound good? Chicken thighs, covered in a thick French onion sauce, smothered in melty broiled cheese. Let me wipe the drool off my keyboard…

Lindsey, one of my best friends since kindergarten and frequent contributor to my “To-Make” folder, sent me this recipe. It immediately caught my eye. I normally prefer chicken breasts over thighs, but it just so happened that I had a pack of thighs (slipped into the shopping cart by Nick, unbeknownst to me) in the freezer. PERRRRFECT.

(adapted from The Kitchn)

3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 lbs sweet onions, sliced
salt & pepper, to taste
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried rosemary, roughly chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp dijon mustard
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup grated gruyere (or swiss, in a pinch)

There’s a lot of simultaneous cooking involved here, which makes the recipe a bit difficult to write out in order. Read the whole recipe before starting! It should make sense if you do!

Melt the butter in a dutch oven, and add the onions, stirring to coat them in the butter. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Cook the onions for about 40 minutes over low or medium heat, stirring occasionally.

While the onions are cooking, brown the chicken. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Pat the chicken thighs dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. When the skillet is hot, add the thighs and brown for about 3 minutes on each side, 6 minutes total.

Remove the chicken from the pan and deglaze the pan with 1 cup of the chicken broth. Whisk in the vinegar and mustard and simmer until the sauce had reduced by half.

After the onions have been cooking 40 minutes, and have developed a light brown color throughout, add the garlic, thyme and rosemary, stir and cook a few minutes. Now would be a good time to heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Next, add the other cup of chicken stock to the onion mix, and stir, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken to the pot, on top of the onions.

Pour the mustard sauce over the chicken and onions.

Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the pot from the oven, and turn the heat up to broil. Remove the cover from the pot, and sprinkle the cheese over top.

Broil the dish until the cheese is melty and just golden.

Serve it up with lots of crusty bread for soaking up the delicious sauce!

Oh my, was this good. I love French onion soup (especially since it was the star of one very special meal), so being able to turn those flavors into something a little more hearty for my meatatarian was perfect! Nick loved it too, and wanted to finish the whole thing in one sitting… but I made him save me leftovers. This was certainly no easy weeknight meal, but it was DEFINITELY worth the time and effort! I want to make it again already!