French Onion Chicken Soup combines everything you love about classic french onion soup with tender chicken for a heartier, more satisfying meal. With deeply caramelized onions, a rich broth, and a gruyere-topped baguette, it's comfort food at its best.
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I've been a french onion soup fan for probably my entire life and order it almost every single time I'm out and see it on a menu. I've even made a french onion soup pizza, I love it so much.
It's a fabulous appetizer, but doesn't usually cut it as a meal. Unless, of course, you add some protein.
I experimented with this french onion chicken soup recipe a lot and initially made it with lots of caramelized onions, a chicken broth base, and shredded chicken breast. But I quickly realized I missed the dark, flavorful broth french onion soup is known for. Even with the toasted baguette and gruyere cheese.
So, I swapped the chicken broth with beef broth, added some flavor boosters, and turned my beloved french onion soup into an absolute dream of a meal.
❤️ Why this recipe works
Turns a favorite soup into a protein-packed entree: if you love french onion soup as much as I do, you'll be thrilled you can now eat it as a meal since the chicken adds protein and makes it a more satisfying dish.
Packed with flavor: like a traditional french onion soup, these onions are slowly caramelized and mixed into a broth made with beef broth, red wine, thyme, and a little bit of vinegar for a soup with true depth of flavor. Oh, and you can't forget the baguette slices and gruyere cheese on top!
Chicken is cooked in the broth: it may feel weird to do, but I highly recommend cooking the chicken right in the simmering soup. This allows the soup to absorb the oniony, savory broth while keeping the meat juicy.
Versatile and customizable: I share my favorite way to make french onion chicken soup, but if you don't have ingredients or prefer others, there are lots of swaps you can make.
🗒 Ingredients
Here's everything you ned for this french onion chicken soup (be sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Unsalted butter
- Olive oil
- Yellow onions
- Salt & pepper
- Sugar: optional for helping onions caramelize
- Garlic
- Fresh thyme: can substitute with dried
- Bay leaf
- Dry red wine: like cabernet or pinot noir. If you don't have any or don't want to use it, you can use additional beef broth and vinegar
- Low-sodium beef broth
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts: can also use thighs if you prefer
- Worcestershire sauce
- Apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar
- Thinly sliced baguette slices: lightly toasted
- Shredded gruyere cheese
- Shredded parmesan cheese
🧅 Recipe tips
- Slice the onions as evenly as you can. This will help them cook more uniformly and caramelize at the same rate, which will give you better texture and deeper flavor.
- I recommend caramelizing the onions in the same pot you'll be making the soup in; a dutch oven is a great option. Onions release a lot of moisture at first, so you definitely want a pot with a wide surface area to help them cook down and caramelize instead of steaming.
- Don't rush the onion caramelization process. This is the most important step for the soup's flavor. Keep the heat at medium-low and stir onions occasionally so they slowly turn a deep golden color and get and jammy, instead of burning.
- Once you add the wine, be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Those browned bits are packed with flavor and deglazing them into the soup adds lots of richness to the broth.
- If you don't have red wine or don't want to use it, you can replace with an additional ½ cup beef broth and an additional tablespoon of vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar, but you can also use balsamic).
- Once your broth has been added and is simmering, add the chicken breasts or thighs right into it. Be sure it cooks fully before removing, but take care not to over-cook as you want chicken to stay tender. Use a thermometer so check and remove chicken when it reaches 165 degrees F.
- If you don't want to add the chicken to the broth, you can cook it separately and add it into the soup once it's shredded/sliced. But poaching it in the broth really does add flavor!
- For an easy shortcut, use already cooked rotisserie chicken!
- You can either shred or slice the chicken once it's cooked. I think shredding is best!
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- Make sure you use oven-proof bowls that are safe under the broiler for serving your soup. I recommend using actual soup crocks meant for french onion soup!
- Lightly toast baguettes before topping soup with them to keep them from getting soggy. You can either use one large slice or two smaller slices.
- Pile the cheese on top! It may seem like a lot of cheese, but trust me, it's all worth it.
- Place soup bowls on a baking sheet, so you can transfer them easily in and out of the oven.
- When soup is under the broiler, keep a close eye on it. You want the cheese to be bubbly and golden, but it can burn quickly, so be careful!
Having french onion soup for dinner is my own little idea of heaven. That chicken bulks it up perfectly and makes it a totally satisfying meal.
Now that I have my perfect recipe, I don't have to wait to go out to dinner and can make my own french onion chicken soup at home whenever I want.
Every spoonful of this soup is chockfull of rich caramelized onions and perfectly tender chicken.
And lots of cheesy, bread-y goodness, too.
There are very few soup recipes I go crazy for, but this is certainly one! This sweet potato sausage soup is another.
⏲️ How to store
I recommend only topping soup with bread and cheese when you're ready to serve it. So, if you're making a full batch of this soup but are only serving two people, dish soup into two bowls and put the rest in an airtight container in the fridge. Put extra toasted bread and shredded cheese in separate containers and refrigerate cheese.
The soup can stay in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4 days.
I recommend re-heating leftover soup on the stovetop and then dividing it into bowls, adding toppings, and broiling. You can also re-heat it in the microwave if you prefer.
You can also freeze the soup if you want. Store it in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months. I recommend thawing overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
🎉 Variations on recipe
There are many different ways you can make this soup based on your preferences and what you happen to have on hand.
Here are some ideas:
- Of course, if you're just looking for a standard french onion soup and don't want to add chicken, you can simply omit it. This is how I make my soup with or without added protein!
- Chicken thighs can add even more flavor to the soup; I just generally prefer using breasts.
- Feel free to swap the chicken for other proteins if you want. It's a fantastic use for leftover Thanksgiving turkey, but you can also add meatballs, sausage, roast beef, or even chickpeas or white beans.
- Use chicken broth or vegetable broth instead of beef broth. When I first envisioned this soup, I imagined it as more of a cross between chicken noodle and french onion and made it with chicken broth. I quickly realized I missed the richness and depth of beef broth and ended up switching for the flavor, but you can use whatever you want.
- Add mushrooms with the onions.
- Use whatever kind of cheese you want, like mozzarella, swiss, provolone, or fontina.
- Add the herbs of your choice, like parsley or rosemary.
- Make the soup even heartier with egg noodles (for french onion chicken noodle soup!) or even quinoa.
- If you want to make the soup in your slow cooker, you can, but I do recommend caramelizing the onions on the stovetop first.
If you're a fan of french onion soup, try this chicken-packed version for dinner tonight!
📖 Recipe
French Onion Chicken Soup
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 large yellow onions (about 2 lbs) thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon sugar optional (helps caramelization)
- 3 cloves garlic minced (about 1 Tbsp)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried)
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup dry red wine (like cabernet or pinot noir) *see notes if not using
- 6 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (can also use thighs if preferred)
- 1 ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
- 4 baguette slices lightly toasted
- 1 ½ cups shredded gruyere
- ¼ cup shredded parmesan
Instructions
- Add butter and olive oil to a large dutch oven over medium low heat. When butter is melted, add onions, salt, and pepper and stir until onions are well coated in butter.
- Cook for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are a deep golden brown and jammy. Don't rush this! Stir sugar in (if using) during the last 10-ish minutes of cooking as it will help deepen the color.
- Once onions are caramelized, stir in the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in thyme and bay leaf.
- Pour red wine in and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Let wine simmer for 3-5 minutes, until it reduces slightly and no longer smells sharp.
- Add beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar and bring mixture to a gentle simmer.
- Once simmering, nestle the chicken breasts (or thighs) into the broth and cook for 15-20 minutes, until temperature reaches 165 degrees F internally.
- Remove chicken, shred or slice when cool enough to handle, and return it to the soup. Discard bay leaf.
- Taste soup and add more salt and pepper as needed.
- Preheat your oven's broiler to high and ladle soup into 4 oven-safe bowls (for entree-sized portions). Top each portion with a toasted baguette slice and divide gruyere and parmesan cheeses evenly over each. I recommend placing the bowls on a baking pan for easy transfer into and out of oven.
- Broil soup for 2-4 minutes until cheese is bubbly and golden.
Notes
- If not using red wine, you can add an additional ½ cup of beef broth + an additional teaspoon of vinegar.
- For storing leftovers:
- I recommend only topping soup with bread and cheese when you're ready to serve it. So, if you're making a full batch of this soup but are only serving two people, dish soup into two bowls and put the rest in an airtight container in the fridge. Put extra toasted bread and shredded cheese in separate containers and refrigerate cheese. The soup can stay in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4 days.
- I recommend re-heating leftover soup on the stovetop and then dividing it into bowls, adding toppings, and broiling. You can also re-heat it in the microwave if you prefer.
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