Instant Pot French Onion Chicken—caramelized onions with a flavorful sauce surrounds chicken that is topped with melty Swiss cheese.
Instant Pot French Onion Chicken
I have a tasty dinner recipe for you today! If you’re a fan of french onion soup (which I totally am, and Greg is even more so) you’re going to dig this Instant Pot french onion chicken. If you’ve ever caramelized onions before on the stove you know that it can be a somewhat laborious and long process. But in the Instant Pot it’s amazingly easy, so easy you may never use your stove again to caramelize onions!
The crazy thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t use any added liquid. What?! Karen? Have you gone crazy? You know the first rule of pressure cooking is to always add liquid to the pot. I know, I know. But guess what? The onions put off so much liquid (and the chicken helps too) that you don’t need to add any liquid to the pot. It’s crazy but true. Try it and you’ll see.
I have made this recipe with both boneless skinless chicken breasts and chicken thighs and both were wonderful. For this recipe you do need the chicken to be fresh (not frozen) and pounded thin so that it can cook quickly at the same rate as the onions. The onions need 8 minutes of pressure cooking time to caramelize but much longer than that and they won’t be recognizable. As long as your chicken is pounded thin enough it will cook with no problems in 8 minutes!
After the chicken is cooked I like to use tongs to place the chicken in a baking dish and then melt Swiss cheese on top under the oven’s broiler. Another option would be to place pieces of Texas toast in a baking dish then top the toast with the chicken and onions and finally the Swiss cheese. Yum! I’m salivating thinking about it.
More Instant Pot Recipes…
Instant Pot French Onion French Dip Sandwiches
Instant Pot Creamy Lemon Chicken
Serve this chicken with some steamed veggies!
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Instant Pot French Onion Chicken
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Caramelized onions with a flavorful sauce surrounds chicken that is topped with melty Swiss cheese.
Ingredients
- 4 medium yellow onions, cut into quarter inch slices
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 heaping teaspoon Better than Bouillon beef base
- 1 3/4 pound to 2 pounds of fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 4 large slices of Swiss cheese (break each one in half)
- Optional: 2 Tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute (more) setting. When the display says HOT add in the butter and swirl it around to melt. Add in the onions, baking soda, 1 tsp kosher salt and pepper. Stir the onions every so often for about 4 minutes. Onions will start to turn yellow and release some moisture. Turn off the Instant Pot. Stir the beef base into the pot (no water, just the base).
- Pound the chicken breasts to ½ inch thick. Season the chicken breasts with Italian seasoning, thyme, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper to taste. Lay them in a single layer on top of the onions.
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 8 minutes. When the time is up let the pot sit for 5 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Use tongs to place the chicken in a baking dish. Use a slotted spoon to move the onions on top of the chicken.
- If desired, thicken the sauce in the Instant Pot by making a cornstarch slurry.
- In a small bowl stir together 2 Tbsp of cornstarch with 3 Tbsp of water, until smooth. Then pour the mixture into the Instant Pot. Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. The cornstarch mixture will thicken up contents of pot quickly.
- Turn on your oven’s broiler. Place the slices of Swiss cheese over the top of the chicken. Place the pan of chicken under the broiler for about 3 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
- Serve the chicken with sauce drizzled over the top. For more of a French onion soup flare serve the chicken over a piece of Texas toast.
Notes
No liquid? Yes you read the recipe correctly! The onions and chicken put off so much liquid that you don’t need any extra liquid. My pot took 6 minutes to come to pressure.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Hi, if I. Use frozen thighs, do I just add a few more minutes to this as I have unexpected guest and need to make something quick
Thank you
I’d add just 2 extra minutes. how did it go?
This was a hit with the entire family, made this with mashed potatoes, will be making it again for sure!
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the 5 star review David!
I made this tonight omitting the Swiss cheese (I am dairy-free) and with only 2 onions on hand. I also added a French onion soup mix packet to the chicken seasoning. Our household loves onions (more is always better) and this was SO DELICIOUS. My instant pot didn’t cook the chicken to temp (we used defrosted chicken breasts and thighs), so we had to add on another 4 minutes to the original 8. Definitely going into our regular rotation. Even my 16 son loved it.
★★★★★
So glad you loved it! Thanks for the review and 5 stars.
Can I use the 8qt Instant Pot without adding liquid?
I would just add in a quarter cup of water or broth to be on the safe side
Thank you so much for your recipes. Traveling in van with my dog. Us a 3qt instant pot. The recipes are great. Brandy ( the dog) loves to lick plate. Thanks again.
Haha! That’s fun! Thanks for following along.
I love the information on baking soda. I never knew that. I prefer arrow root to corn starch for thickening as it does not get so thick and gloppy (I’m thinking of the leftovers), but I am new at learning how to use it – the arrow root to water ratios. Are you familiar with arrow root for thickening? If so, do you know how much arrow root and water I should use for this recipe? (I’ve read the instructions on the jar of arrow root but they do not say zip about how to use it. lol)
I really have zero experience with it! I guess I need to get some and try it!
I first heard of arrow root when I got the cook book on the clay Rompertoff baker. The people who invented it put out a cook book for it and they used it exclusively. I fell in love with it. It costs a bit more so what I did was I purchased a large container of it on Amazon ($8.00 for a year or more supply) and I keep it in the freezer to keep it fresh as the best buy date was up in like 8 months. It works great. I just play around with it — I’m still learning how to use it. You pretty much use less of it than the corn starch and you always get a silky consistency in the sauces, never gloppy and it never lumps either. I have found a couple videos on how to use it on YouTube. I found this on a Google search: To make a medium consistency sauce, start with 4 1/2 teaspoons arrowroot powder, combined with 3 tablespoons water to make a slurry, then add to 1 cup of hot liquid. You can use 3 tablespoons less hot liquid for a thicker sauce.
Thank you! I will order some on amazon!
This was incredible ❤️ the only thing I changed was I used Gouda cheese. Thank you for this!!
gouda sounds very good-a to me!
Can’t to try this! I have an air fryer lid for my instant pot. Have you tried doing this to melt the cheese?
*using
I haven’t tried it for this particular recipe but I think it would work great!
This recipe was wonderful! Extremely full of taste. The only change I made was I used 1/2 tsp of salt for the onion mixture and it was just right for us and I love salty dishes.
me too!
If you substitute beef boullion (not the cube, the granual) for the Better than Boullion do you need to add water to it or no? TIA!
you can add it in dry!
I followed this exactly and still got the burn notice.
What did I do wrong?
Usually the onions put off enough liquid to bring the pot to pressure. Perhaps they were less “juicy” onions if there is such a thing? 🤔
I just upgraded to the IP evo duo plus 6 qt. I had only done a couple of dishes with my other IP. I think this is a recipe that I can do successfully. And I compared your ingredient list to the other person’s list. Yours looks healthier, too. I am going to try it tonight. Thank you.
Thanks! Hope you like it!
Yes. It was a success. I made 4 servings and froze 3. Wonderful!
★★★★★
Hi!
Does the instant pot need to be on high or low?? Making tonight!
High pressure
Great taste, but alittle to salty. I’ll adjust that next time. Great meal.
★★★★
Glad you liked it Dana!
Can one substitute bouillon instead of “Better than Bouillon”
★★★★★
Yes you can! It might be a little saltier.
This was SPECTACULARLY delicious!!!! I will definitely be making this again! Thank you!
★★★★★
You’re welcome Carole! I’m so glad you liked it!
I’m going to try this tonight, but can you tell me why baking soda is added to the recipe?
★★★★★
The addition of baking soda raises the PH which also assists in speeding up the Maillard reaction. The browning process of onions that gives it that sweet, golden flavor is called Maillard Browning. 🙂
Thank you for explaining that. I wondered why there was baking soda in this dish🙂.
I made this last and OMG it was DELICIOUS! So easy too, although it’s a little time consuming slicing all the onions. I let my onions sit too long after the 4 minute saute before I put the chicken in to cook. Next time I will be sure the chicken is pounded and seasoned BEFORE I start the onions. It was just more like french onion gravy, but it was still DELICIOUS!
I had 3 breasts and they pretty much fit exactly in one layer over my onions. I think next time that I will just put the cheese on the chicken in the IP when it’s done and close the lid to melt it that way. No sense in dirtying another dish and having to turn on the oven. My chicken was cooked perfectly and was so juicy and moist. I served it with mashed potatoes and we slurped up all the gravy (well I did!).
My juice was thick enough I think since the onions were mostly incorporated into it so I didn’t have to thicken it. This was the best chicken I’ve made in my IP and it is definitely company worthy! Will be making this often! Thank you!
P.S. I have made your rice-a-roni at least 8 times so far – love it, so much better than the box, and so easy!!!
★★★★★
I’m so happy to hear this Pammela! What a nice review. And I’m glad you like the rice a roni too!
What’s the rice a roni recipe? I’d love to try that.
https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-homemade-rice-a-roni/
This was so delicious! One of the best meals I have made. The only substitution I made was using boneless/skinless chicken things instead of breasts. I prefer thighs. I will definitely make this again.
So glad you liked it Tammie! This is one of my favorites.
Can you use the fryer lid to broil rather than using the oven?
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! First time using the Better than Bouillon and I can see why you like it. My wife said she wants it once a week in the wintertime. She also wants me to make the sauce to go on meatloaf, which does sound yummy I must admit. Always good to be a hero for my spouse, we guys need all the points we can get! Thanks for another great recipe Karen!
★★★★★
Haha This is great Nick! That meatloaf idea sounds so good!
Excellent!!! I love the sauce and the chicken was perfect! Thanks again!!
★★★★★
So glad to hear it Jessica!
Can you add how many pieces of chicken & how large into your various recipes instead of pounds? Sometimes you only use 2-3 so it’s hard to judge with times. 🙏🏻
I should do that. Chicken varies so much between brand and such.
I have many of your recipes and have enjoyed them. I don’t have an Instant pot and would like to make this in my crock pot. Could you give me the instructions or changes for that? I know the flavors may not be the same but my mouth is watering looking at this-lol.
Thanks for posting great, easy, and affordable recipes for us to enjoy.
Becky Jordan
This was good. I placed the chicken and onions on top of toasted bolillos that were cut in half.
★★★★★
Ha ha I had to google what bolillos were! Sounds great!
Wonderful! I would like to know what the baking soda do? Does it bring out the liquid in the onions?
Yes and it helps the browning process!
Was fabulous did the recipe as written when I put the chicken back in the pot before coming to pressure I added some cut up zucchini‘s that I had left over and cook them for eight minutes and five minutes and put the pulled chicken out did the cheese on top put it in the broiler. Then instead of adding the cornstarch to thicken the gravy all I did was blend the onions and the zucchini and it made a wonderful sauce for the top of the chicken great recipe thanks much
cool! That is a fun idea! Thanks for sharing your experience. 😊
This looks delicious! We’re trying to cut fat and would like to sub olive oil for the butter. Do you think that will work?
Would love a slow cooker version of this recipe. It sounds so good!
You could try it, not as tasty but it’ll work 😊
Hi, would using chicken tenders instead of breasts change the cooking time? Thanks for the recipe.
That would work perfectly.
Why are you taking credit for someone else recipe. Jeoffrey from Pressure Luck. It’s even in his cookbook.
I think the recipes are totally different, other than the name.
Yes that’s right Linda. Thank you.
Hi Angela,
Our recipes are called the same thing but they are completely different. As you can see here is a list of my ingredients versus Jeffrey’s recipe. Hope this helps clear up your confusion!
My recipe:
4 medium yellow onions, cut into quarter inch slices
2 Tbsp butter
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp pepper
1 heaping teaspoon Better than Bouillon beef base
1 ¾ pound to 2 pounds of fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
4 large slices of Swiss cheese (break each one in half)
Optional: 2 Tbsp cornstarch
Pressure Luck’s recipe:
2 pounds of boneless/skinless chicken breasts, sliced about 1/4″ thick
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour (with a few pinches of onion powder, garlic salt and black pepper mixed together), for dredging
2 Vidalia or sweet onions, sliced into strands
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tbsp of salted butter
Two 18.5 oz cans of ready-to-eat French Onion Soup (I used Progresso. OR you can use two 10.5 oz cans of Campbell’s condensed and just add water per the can’s instructions. OR you can make half the recipe of my French Onion Soup and just use that!)
4-6 slices of Texas Toast (any variety is fine, I used a garlic parmesan – you can find this in most frozen food sections. If not, garlic bread works just fine too!)
1 packet of Onion Soup mix
3 tablespoons of cornstarch + 3 tbsp of water
10 slices of Swiss cheese (can get either in the deli section or they usually come in a packet of 10 slices in the dairy section)
Crispy fried onions, for topping (optional)
You might want to read Jeffrey’s recipe again. They may have the same name, but the ingredients are very different aside from the cheese and chicken, which are rather difficult to change and still make the dish. Cornstarch is an ingredient Karen regularly uses to thicken sauces in her recipes.
Very rude and not appropriate for a low-attitude forum IMO. There’s enough negativity on social media these days
The recipes are nothing alike. Check them out before making derogatory remarks!
Could you tell me in cups how much onion to cut up? I’ve found that large/medium/small is kind of subjective in onion cooking world! LOL! Thank you and thank you for all the great recipes! You are a steely-eyed recipe goddess!!
I would say about 4 1/2 cups
Made this today and it’s a new favorite. You need to make the sauce…we had it with rice. Soooooo good.
★★★★★
Nice Cathy! Thanks for sharing. I’m so glad you loved it 🙂
Can’t save any of your recipes to pinterest, it just spins and spins and spins, I’ve tried to save several of none of them work!
Hi Lori, can you tell me how you are trying to pin them? Is it the pinterest button at the top?
Hi Karen
Thank you for all your hard work on these recipes! My husband used to be hesitant when I would announce I was trying something new in the instant pot until I say it’s your recipe! He absolutely LOVED this one and asked me to note KEEPER on the recipe! YOUR AMAZING thanks again!
Hi Elizabeth this made me smile! I am glad that I have become a trusted name in your household lol!!
Just tried this recipe today and it was a hit all the way around: my daughter, husband, and parents! I didn’t have beef Better than Bouillon, but used chicken- still very yummy and had that French Onion flair! Served it with skillet potato slices and green beans. We are having out-of-town guests this weekend and I am going to make it again-it was THAT GOOD!
★★★★★
Good enough for guests! That’s a great compliment 🙂
Hi is there a sub for SwissCheese. Sliced Havarti or sharp cheddar shredded Txs
I bet either of those would be good! Also provolone would be tasty.
We LOVED this! Chicken was so tender and tasted EXACTLY like French onion soup! Thx so much for a great recipe. Can’t wait to try more!!
★★★★★
Thanks Wendy for your comment! I’m so glad you liked it!
Hi Karen,
This recipe was a big hit in our household tonight! I followed your instructions and it came out perfect. I served with white rice, steamed broccoli and pour the sauce/gravy over all of it!
P.S. I have been making a lot of your recipes and they are great, please keep up the good work!
Scott
★★★★★
Scott, thank you. I’m so glad you liked it!
I halved the recipe for just my husband and me – it turned out perfect. I used my 6-Qt. Duo. I got lazy and didn’t feel like pounding the chicken so I cut it up in bite-sized pieces and it worked fine. My husband pronounced it “Absolutely DELICIOUS!!” I’ve learned everything I know about the Instant Pot from you, Karen, and every one of your recipes I’ve tried is outstanding; so good that my husband calls my IP “the magic pot” because everything that comes out of it is excellent. Thank you!
★★★★★
This comment basically brought me to tears. You’re so nice!
We call ours the “Magic Pot” also and me the “Magician” Hubby is always excited to see what Magic I’m going to do next!!! Love these recipes and can’t wait to try this one.
I love that! The magic pot 😊
Can I use frozen chicken breast if they are defrosted?
yes you can!
Made this tonight in my Ninja Foodi. Followed the recipe as written and it was delicious. The chicken was tender and the sauce golden brown with rich flavor. I served with a sweet potato/carrot mash.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it! I love that golden brown color 🙂
Awesome dish and easy ,great flavor and enough stock to have soup.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it James!
Can I use frozen chicken breasts?
No, they need to fresh because they need to cook in 8 minutes, the same time that the onions need. Sorry! It’s a bummer I know!
Any substitutes for Better than Bouillon? All I can find is the roasted chicken flavor. Can regular old beef bouillon be used?
Yes you can use beef bouillon cube! That works!
I have a crockpot express cooker (pressure cooker/slow cooker). What setting do I put it on?
I’m unfamiliar with it but I think any setting should work just set the time to 8 minutes.
I made this tonight in my 3 qt instant pot. My husband loves anything French onion. Only thing I would change is less salt. We thought 2t was way too much. Other than that delicious!
★★★★
Hi Ann, there is 1 tsp in with the onions and then 1/2 tsp on the chicken. Did you use an extra 1/2 teaspoon?
Maybe the sodium in the bouillon?
Great recipe. Loved it and so did my husband. Will keep fixing it.
Glad you liked it Ann!
what would be a good side dish. i was hoing to do mash potatoes but they maybe to much
Yes to the mashed potatoes! Yum that would be perfect. And some veggies like a salad or broccoli
Asparagus
What if the chicken cutlets don’t all fit as a single layer in your instant pot? Can you layer them of not?
Thanks. This sounds so good!
Yes you can layer them but layer them crosswise.
If we don’t have better than bouillon beef – what ban we use as a substitute? I have better than bouillon chicken and then just regular beef broth…
You could use the chicken base. Or do you have a beef bouillon cube? Use that!
Can you double the recipe? I have an 8 qt instant Pot. Is everything still the same?
Yes you can. https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/how-to-double-instant-pot-recipes/
Whats the baking soda do?
The addition of baking soda raises the PH which also assists in speeding up the Maillard reaction. The browning process of onions that gives it that sweet, golden flavor is called Maillard Browning. 🙂
I learned something new. Couldn’t understand the reason for the baking soda. I actually forgot it. I will try again. Thanks for teaching me how to cook. TG for you and an Insta Pot.
You’re welcome Dawn!
I was wondering this myself, thanks!
Sounds delicious! How would you modify to just make French Onion Soup?
I guess you’d leave out the chicken. Then add in lots of beef consomme at the end and stick it under the broiler with cheese and bread in it. I bet it would be yummy.
Ooh this could recipe sounds so delicious I want to make it for dinner tonight. One question though. There is only two of us so I would like to half the recipe. By using 2 onion rather than 4 and the same with the chicken would it produce enough liquid or should I add a bit of broth?
Thanks for your wonderful recipes.
Fran from Canada
★★★★★
Yes it should work!
Can chicken cutlets be used? (This is great timing; my plan for dinner tonight!)
Yes for sure! That would work great 🙂