This is step by step instructions video on how to make French onion chicken bake in Instant Pot ( pressure cooker ) and Dutch Oven.
Ingredients: ( 4-6 people )
Boneless and skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts - 4-6 pcs ( I am using chicken thighs )
Onions ( large ) - 2pcs ( yellow or red )
Dried thyme leaves - 1 tsp
Cornstarch - 1 tablespoon ( mixed with 2 tablespoons of water )
Beef stock - 1 cup
Bay leaves - 2-3 pcs
Kosher Salt & Black pepper - to taste
Brown sugar - 1 tsp
Avocado or olive oil - 2 tablespoons
Butter - 2 tbsp
Swiss Gruyere cheese ( grated ) - ¾ cup
Parmesan cheese ( grated ) - ¾ cup
Red wine ( optional ) - ¼ cup
Cognac ( optional ) - 3 tbsp
Forgarnish: green scallions
Serve with: french baguette and grilled vegetables.
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Step#1
Pretty much any onion will work for this recipe. Slice onions half moons about ¼ inch thick slices. I would recommend pounding chicken breast or tights for this recipe, this way you make sure your chicken is cooking evenly….as result it will make your chicken more tender.
You can do it in a ziplock bag or use plastic wrap on both sides. If you don’t have a mallet, you can use a skillet instead, and gently pound the meat.
Season chicken on all sides with salt, pepper and dry thyme. Now, we are going to brown chicken, I will do it side by side in Instant Pot and Dutch Oven. Turn on Saute mode on Instant Pot and heat plate for the dutch oven, and then add some oil. Pot should be very hot, when adding the oil. When oil gets hot, add chicken and brown for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Also brown the meat long enough on each side before moving around, it will help to avoid getting meat stuck to the pot.
I have to say that I do like browning on dutch oven a bit more than Instant pot.
Now, take the chicken out to a separate dish.
Step#2 Caramelizing onion
Instant Pot:
Using silicon or wooden spatula, remove all the bits from the bottom of the pot.
Now, start your Instant Pot on Sautee mode. Melt ¼ stick of butter and then add sliced onions. Let onions cook for a little bit to produce some liquid.
Turn off the Saute function, set Instant Pot to high manual pressure for 2 minutes. After the 2 minutes cycle is over, keep it for another 2 minutes and do manual release. Now, turn Instant Pot to Saute mode. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of brown sugar, cook for 10 minutes or until onions get golden brown color, remember to stir in the process.
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Dutch Oven:
Hit up ¼ stick of unsalted butter, add sliced onions and cook on low-medium for 25 minutes. Onions should reduce in size. Now raise the heat to medium high, add ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of brown sugar and cook for another 30 minutes or until onions are golden brown color.
Caramelizing onions in Instant Pot is a super convenient feature which allows us to save a significant amount of time.
Step#3
Instant Pot:
Let’s make sure our instant pot is deglazed. Add 1 cup of beef broth, bay leaves, teaspoon of thyme and red wine. Add chicken and cover it up with sauce. Close the lid, turn on Instant Pot on 10 min at high pressure and then wait for natural pressure release.
When chicken is ready, take it out from the Instant Pot to the casserole dish, and turn on saute mode. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and add it to the pot. Also, if you want a more authentic French flavor, add 3 tablespoons of cognac ( or sub cognac for brandy, sherry or white wine ). Seamer on saute mode for 5-10 min or until sauce will thicken.
I prefer to use cornstarch instead of the flour to thicken the sauce, it has no real flavor to mask and has twice as much thickening power then flour.
Dutch Oven:
In dutch oven the process is the same. Layer the same ingredients in the dutch oven. Set heat on medium low and simmer for 30-40 minutes under a closed lid. At the end add some cognac and cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce.
In this method a lot of liquid got evaporated during the cooking process, so not much time required for sauce thickening. In most cases you don’t even need to add cornstarch.
Step#4
Cover chicken with sauce in the casserole dish, and then cover it up with shredded cheeses. Send it to the oven on broil setting for 5 to 10 minutes or until the cheese will brown a bit.
It looks amazing, the whole house smells like French onion soup.
The final thing left is to taste it. It tasted amazing and we were not able to see the difference in flavor between both cooking methods.
All in all, Instant Pot is a bit faster, especially for caramelizing onions. It saved me about 15-20 minutes in cooking time. Taste and flavor was equally amazing with both cooking methods.