French Onion Chicken Recipe
A quick and delicious weeknight meal made with chicken and intended to replicate the flavors of French onion soup.
Ingredients
- 2 thick chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally to create 4 thin chicken breast halves
- 1 large onion
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- Montreal steak seasoning (or salt, pepper, & optionally Italian seasoning)
- 1 cup reduced sodium beef broth
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 4 slices ultra thin provolone cheese
- 4 slices ultra thin swiss cheese
- about 1 1/2 tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese
- 1 sprig thyme (optional), for garnish
- 4 small Russet potatoes or 2 large Russet potatoes, peeled, for mashed potatoes
- 1/4 cup whole milk or more, to taste, for mashed potatoes
- salt and pepper for mashed potatoes
Directions
- 1
If making mashed potatoes, add the peeled potatoes to a large saucepan with boiling water. Reduce the heat to medium and let the potatoes simmer in the water while you prepare the rest of the dish.
- 2
Melt the unsalted butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. While the butter is melting, slice your onion into half moon slices, then add them to the pan with the butter. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook the onion slices for 15 minutes, until they're caramelized.
- 3
Meanwhile, prepare the chicken breasts. Sprinkle some Montreal steak seasoning over each chicken breast half, taking care to season both sides. Alternatively, season each side of chicken with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- 4
Temporarily remove the onion slices from the pan, then give the pan a quick spray of cooking oil or a drizzle of olive oil. Arrange the chicken breasts in the pan over medium heat, taking care to do your best not to overlap them. Cook the breasts until they're golden and nicely seared, about 5 minutes, before flipping the breasts over and cooking the other side.
- 5
Temporarily remove the chicken from the pan and add the onions back in. Add the flour to the onions and stir everything together for a minute.
- 6
Pour a little bit of the beef broth in and use your spatula to scrape up the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Once you've cleaned up the bottom of the pan, pour in the rest of the broth and raise the heat to medium-high, until the broth is simmering.
- 7
Once the beef broth is simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the chicken back into the pan, then cover each piece of chicken with 1 slice of provolone cheese, 1 slice of swiss cheese, and a sprinkle (about a teaspoon) of grated parmesan. Place the lid on the sauté pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
- 8
When the potatoes are tender (meaning you can easily pierce them with a spoon), drain the water from the saucepan. Then add the milk to your potatoes and use a potato masher to mash and smooth out the potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste, then swap out the potato masher for a wooden spoon and stir the potatoes to mix in the salt and pepper well.
- 9
Place a generous scoop of mashed potatoes on your plate, then place the cooked chicken breast on top with the sauce poured all over it. Garnish with some thyme leaves before serving.