French Onion Chicken Recipe

This is chicken with cheese and rich onion sauce. It makes a light main dish or a side dish that goes well with a sandwich.

Ingredients

Scale: x ½x ¾x 1x 1¼x 1½x 2x 2½x 3x 4x 5

• 800 grams (1 3/4 lb) Chicken Breasts or Thighs. Remove skin. Pound the chicken to make it all a consistent thickness. Cut breasts into portion-sized servings, or even bite-sized pieces.
• 340 grams (2 medium) Onions (Yellow or Brown), thinly sliced.
• 57 grams (4 tbsp) Butter, salted or unsalted. I like this dish a bit salty, and the recipe includes plain salt plus salt in the broth. Use unshalted butter here if you are sodium-concious or reduce the plain salt by half.
• 29.6 ml (2 tbsp) Olive Oil.
• 415 ml (14 ounce) Beef Broth or Beef Bouillon. Two bouillon cubes or two tsp bouillon powder+ water is close enough.
• 5.69 grams (1 tsp) Salt.
• 2.33 grams (1 tsp) Black Pepper, fresh ground.
• 0.91 grams (1 tsp) Thyme (dried, whole type).
• 11.25 grams (1 1/2 tbsp) Cornstarch or Flour.
• 200 grams (8 slices) Sliced or shredded cheese. Gruyère, Swiss, Mozarella, Provolone, or a combination are fine. One slice of cheese weighs about 25 grams.
• 0.63 grams (1/2 tsp) Parsley or Fresh Herbs for topping.

Preparation

1. Melt butter in a heavy skillet, and add the onions. Cook slowly over low to medium heat until the caramelize— 15 to 20 minutes. They should be caramel-brown; stir frequently to avoid burning. Keep reading below
2. While the onions are cooking, sprinkle the chicken with the Olive Oil, Salt, Black Pepper, and Thyme.
3. When the onions are done, transfer them to a bowl.
4. Add the Chicken to the skillet and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes per side.
5. Trasnfer the chicken to another bowl; cover to keep it warm.
6. Return the onions to the skillet and add the Beef Broth.
7. Mix the Cornstarch or Flour with 1 to 2 tsp of cold water and add the mixture to the skillet. Whisk this in and cook this for about 1 minute so the sauce can thicken.
8. Return the chicken to the skillet and spoon some sauce over it.
9. Top with cheese, and continue cooking until chicken is done and cheese has melted, 8 to 10 minutes. Safe internal temperature for poulty is 75 °C (165 °F). NOTE: Shredded cheese can fall off and mix in with the sauce. If using shredded cheese you can add it just before serving, and melt it in a microwave for about 30 seconds.
10. When serving, spoon some additional sauce and onions over the chicken and cheese, and garnish with Parsley or herbs.

Serving Suggestions

References