French Onion Chicken Thighs (Print Version)

Tender baked chicken thighs layered with caramelized onions, melted cheese, and crisp sourdough topping.

# Ingredient List:

→ Chicken & Marinade

01 - 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
02 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
03 - 1 teaspoon salt
04 - ½ teaspoon black pepper

→ Caramelized Onions

05 - 3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
06 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
07 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
08 - 1 teaspoon sugar
09 - ¼ teaspoon salt
10 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
11 - 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

→ Sauce

12 - ⅔ cup dry white wine
13 - 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
14 - 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
15 - 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

→ Sourdough Topping

16 - 3 cups sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
17 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
18 - 1 cup grated Gruyère cheese
19 - ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
20 - 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

# How-To Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
02 - Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. In a large ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown chicken thighs, skin side down, for 4–5 minutes until golden. Remove and set aside.
03 - In the same pan, melt butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add onions, sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until onions are deeply golden and caramelized, about 20–25 minutes.
04 - Add garlic and thyme, sauté for 1 minute.
05 - Deglaze with white wine, scraping up browned bits. Simmer for 2–3 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard. Return chicken to pan, nestling thighs into onions and sauce with skin side up.
06 - Transfer pan to oven and bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes.
07 - Meanwhile, toss sourdough cubes with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
08 - After 25 minutes, remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses over chicken and onions, then top evenly with sourdough cubes.
09 - Return to oven and bake an additional 15–20 minutes, until bread is golden and cheese is bubbly.
10 - Remove from oven, sprinkle with parsley, and let rest 5 minutes before serving.

# Helpful Tips:

01 -
  • Chicken thighs stay impossibly juicy while the skin crisps up, soaking in all that wine-and-onion magic.
  • The sourdough topping gets golden and crunchy on top while staying bread-like underneath, catching all the saucy goodness.
  • You brown the chicken once, then everything finishes together in the oven with almost no fussing.
  • It looks fancy enough to serve guests but tastes like home cooking at its best.
02 -
  • Fresh sourdough will disintegrate into the sauce and disappear—stale bread is non-negotiable, so buy it the day before or dry it out in a low oven.
  • Don't skip the browning step; those golden bits on the pan are where all the deep, savory flavor lives, and deglazing with wine brings it all into the sauce.
  • The chicken needs to stay skin-side up during the final bake so the skin crisps and doesn't steam into rubbery softness.
03 -
  • Use a cast iron or heavy stainless steel pan that goes from stovetop to oven without flinching—glass dishes can shock from temperature changes.
  • The secret to gorgeous caramelized onions is patience and medium heat; high heat burns them before they sweeten, so resist the urge to speed things up.
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