Our family loves making Caramelized Onion Chicken Thighs for dinner! This chicken thigh recipe is simmered in the most delicious sauce!
Serve this tender, fall off the bone chicken over creamy mashed potatoes or crispy homemade french fries to soak up all the delicious onion gravy!
A Tender, Mouth Watering Chicken Thigh Recipe
These Caramelized Onion Chicken Thighs are so tender, you almost don’t even need a knife. Super juicy, super tender chicken that’s been braised in the most addicting onion and mushrooms gravy, it’s just begging for something to soak it all up.
Not a fan of onions? Honestly, make this chicken thigh recipe anyway. The onions literally melt away in the gravy by the time this chicken is done cooking so you won’t even know that they’re in there. All they leave behind is an amazingly tasty gravy that coats every piece of chicken.
How Do You Make Caramelized Onions?
Caramelized onions are delicious on so many things, from sandwiches to hamburgers, chicken or steak. We love caramelized onions so much that we figured out how to make them in a slow cooker so that you don’t have to stand there and stir them.
Because although caramelized onions are very easy to make, they do take a little bit of time. You’re looking for that golden brown color at the end which is what makes the onions sweet instead of having a sharp flavor like an uncooked onion.
Depending on the onion that you start with, you might have to add a little sugar to the pan as they caramelize. The sugar also helps to brown the onions a little quicker as well.
Fresh herbs are a delicious way to flavor caramelized onions, in this case we chose fresh thyme. Rosemary and even just parsley are good options, too!
When the onions are soft, sweet and caramelized, remove them from the skillet and brown the chicken thighs. Don’t skip through this step, either. A good brown color on the skin adds tons of flavor to this chicken recipe!
After the chicken has browned, remove them to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Now you can start the gravy by browning the mushrooms in butter with more fresh thyme, salt and pepper.
Sprinkle in flour to make a roux (used to thicken the gravy) and then pour in chicken broth, whisking as you go. Once the broth is mixed in, add the onions and chicken thighs (skin side up) back into the skillet and bring the gravy to a simmer.
The gravy will thicken as it cooks and also braise the chicken thighs until they are tender. The last step is to remove the chicken thighs to a serving platter and stir in heavy cream at the end.
Pour the gravy over the chicken thighs and serve. I’m telling you guys you’ll want to drink this gravy with a spoon!
Side Dish Recipes to Serve With Chicken Thighs
Just about any carb loaded side you can think of is going to be a winner for this chicken thigh recipe. You can load up the carbs or add a roasted vegetable side dish to keep this dinner recipe low carb!
- Spicy Mushroom Rice
- Bacon Wrapped Maple Glazed Carrots
- Stick of Butter Smashed Potatoes
- Crispy Oven Roasted Bacon Potatoes
- Stuffed Cheesy Garlic Artichokes
Looking For More Recipes With Chicken Thighs?
- Apple Cider Chicken Thighs
- Braised Chicken Thighs with Green Beans
- Upside Down Pineapple Chicken Thighs
Creamy Caramelized Onion Chicken Thighs
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeOur family loves these Creamy Caramelized Onion Chicken Thighs for dinner! Serve over rice, pasta or a side of fries, or just as is for a low carb dinner!
Ingredients
- 5 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on) seasoned with kosher salt and fresh black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 cups thinly sliced onions
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (divided)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped (divided)
- 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
- 10 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- fresh chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Add the oil and butter to a 12 inch skillet over medium-low heat.
- Add the onions to the skillet along with a 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes longer then remove the onions from the skillet and cover to keep warm.
- Place the seasoned chicken thighs in the skillet skin side down. Cook for 4-5 minutes until browned then turn over and cook another 4-5 minutes on the other side. Remove the thighs to a plate and cover with foil.
- Add the mushrooms to the skillet along with the remaining tablespoon of butter, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the remaining 1 teaspoon of thyme.
- Cook until mushrooms have browned, stirring, about 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms, stir and cook for 1 minute longer.
- Slowly pour in the chicken broth while whisking to prevent any lumps, and get anything off the bottom of the skillet.
- Place the onions and chicken thighs back in the skillet, skin side up. Spoon some of the broth over the tops, cover and cook on medium-low heat for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the chicken thighs to a serving platter. Pour the heavy cream in the skillet, whisking to combine with the sauce. Simmer for 2-3 minutes then pour the gravy over the chicken thighs and garnish with parsley.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Skillet
- Cuisine: American
Good recipe, but you didn’t mention adding the onions back into the pan.
Thank you, I added that back into the recipe card!
Thank you, can I substitute the cream? If so, what with?
You can leave the cream out if you like, is it a dairy issue?
This dish is so freaking delicious and hearty! Thank You for sharing it! I paired it with homemade mashed potatoes but think I’ll try rice next time. The favors all melted together so well.
I can’t wait to make this for my family tomorrow evening. Thanks for sharing. ????
Let me know how you like it!
It was a HUGE hit!!! It’s going into my regular recipe rotation, as I keep the majority of the items on hand, anyway. I brought the leftovers for lunch at work today and the sad thing was there just wasn’t enough of it! ;)
I have one question, though, and I’d like your opinion on my preparation last night. I cooked the onions almost 40 minutes to actually get some color on them and I had wondered if I had used too much butter (and I only mean by MAYBE a 1/4 Tbsp) or was I expecting them to have more color than they should have had in 20 minutes of cooking time? Also, I didn’t think to turn my heat down a notch for the last bit of simmering, or to stir it all, for that matter, as I had a bit of burning and sticking. Could the burning and sticking been because of my onions being too browned (they were a lovely caramelly color) or was it simply because I had the heat too high at the end?
I’m definitely going to keep making this, so no worries, there. I’ll just have to tweak my process in the next week or two when I make it again! ;)
OK so the first thing is that you do have to stir these onions as they caramelize, it’s a little time consuming but not something you can walk away from or the will burn and stick. Also the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of oil AND butter, did you use all of that? The oil and butter help flavor and caramelize the onions, and also help to keep them from sticking. What size skillet were you using to cook the onions? If it was too small and the onions were crowded in the skillet it would definitely take a longer amount of time to cook down. Hope this helps!
Ahhhh!! STIR OFTEN!! ;) And my pan was too small, and I probably had a bit more onion than 4 cups, as well! I’m also thinking I didn’t add the full amount of oil in with the butter. Now I see where I need to pay special attention next time I cook this. Thank you so much for your detailed response. :)
You’re welcome! Yes, I’ll add to the recipe that I use a 13″ skillet, so you’d have to use at least a 12 inch skillet here.
I loved this recipe. It was absolutely delicious ???? I used chicken drumsticks and still turned out to be everything I expected it to be. Will continue to use this recipe :) thanks.
Great substitution! Thanks for trying our recipe, glad you enjoyed it!
Can i use chicken breasts instead?
You can but chicken breast will be dryer than chicken thighs, it will still work though!
Made this last night and it is delicious. I left the sugar out, just because who needs the extra sugar. Didn’t miss it for sure. The cooking time as shown is off though. 22 minutes (onions & garlic) + 10 minutes (browning chicken)+ 7 minutes (mushrooms)+ 25 minutes (finishing chicken)+ 3 minutes (finishing sauce) = 67 minutes (more than twice the listed cook time). Mine actually went a little longer as my wife prefers chicken a little over. I think an hour and 10 minutes cook time is more like it. Dinner was later that I anticipated, but really tasty!
Delicious! Loved it.
I’m must be missing something – how can this only take 45 minutes? 20 minutes for the onions, 5 x 2 for each side of the chicken, then the mushrooms, then let it cook in the gravy for 25-30, then the cream…? Don’t get me wrong, I’m mid-recipe now, and the house smells great, but I wish this detail was more accurate.
We can adjust that a bit, the caramelized onions were considered part of the prep. How did it turn out for you?
Made this for my husband last night. It was so good! I cooked the chicken about an hour on simmer and it was juicy and tender. Will definitely make it again!