Chicken in Caramelized Onion Sauce (2024)

This chicken is so tender, and the caramelized onion sauce takes it to a whole new level of flavor! Serve with rice and veggies for a complete meal!

This is a fantastic recipe! The chicken is really tender, and the caramelized onions add a burst of flavor! Plus, it requires very few ingredients!

If you have kids that don't like onions, don't worry, mine don't like onions either. I just gave them the chicken minus the sauce. This chicken goes great with rice or green salad.

So give it a try for Sunday dinner or a weeknight for something a little extra special!

The recipe contains affiliate links to products I use for this recipe. For more info, see my disclosure policy here.

Caramelizing Onions

Let's start by talking about how to caramelize onions. It's not hard, but there are a few things to know.

• One, we are not sautéing the onions. We are caramelizing their natural sugars and starches to bring out that wonderful flavor.
• Two, we will be using olive oil instead of butter. The reason is that onions are caramelized over a higher heat. Butter has a low smoke point, so it is really easy to burn the onions. Olive oil has a high smoke point making it ideal.
• Three, for best results, use a stainless steel frying pan. (affiliate link) Non-stick pans tend to prevent browning.

In picture 1, I heated the olive oil over medium-high heat and added the sliced onions to my pan. If you were going to double this recipe, you would need to caramelize the onions in two batches.

Overcrowding the pan makes for soggy, not really caramelized onions. For the first several minutes, I only stirred the onions here and there.

At about 7 minutes, my onions looked like picture 2. At this point, I kept a closer eye on the onions stirring (affiliate link) them more frequently.

Even though we are using a higher heat, the onions should only be browning, not blackening. In the end, we will end up with some black pieces, but overall the onions will be brown.

If your onions are getting too dark, turn down the heat a little bit. If the onions begin to stick to the bottom of the pan, pour a little water in and stir them around. Towards the end, you will need to be stirring frequently.

Picture 3 shows the finished caramelized onions. It took me about 12 minutes. Once caramelized, move the onions to a bowl and set aside for a moment.

Pan Fried Chicken

• Return the pan without cleaning it to the stovetop and melt 4 Tbs. butter to sizzling over medium-low heat.
• Whisk together the flour, garlic powder, and seasoning salt.
• Coat the chicken breasts in the flour mixture shaking off the excess, and brown it on both sides in the butter. Place browned chicken on a plate and set aside for a moment.

• Once all the chicken is browned, carefully pour a little of the chicken broth into the pan and swirl it around to loosen the browned cooked bits from the bottom of the pan.
• Whisk the remaining chicken broth in a bring it to a simmer.
• Add the onions back in. Place the chicken back into the pan in a single layer.
• Simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thickened a little. Serve!

What to serve with this chicken recipe: I always make an Orzo Rice Pilaf to go with this chicken. It compliments it perfectly! Other than that, I recommend some steamed veggies or a green salad!

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