This French onion chicken pasta has all the flavors of classic French onion soup but in pasta form! Loaded with jammy caramelized onions, chicken, pasta, and melty gruyere cheese, it's the perfect cozy meal!
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Why You'll Love This French Onion Pasta!
Inspired by classic French onion soup, this one pot pasta has a rich caramelized onion and marsala sauce, tender chicken, and tons of melty gruyere cheese! It has tons of flavor from the caramelized onions but the sauce is surprisingly light and doesn't feel super heavy!
You might also like this Tuscan chicken orzo or this chicken pesto pasta salad!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients (and time) to make this French onion chicken pasta!
Short Pasta - Any short pasta will work, such as fusilli, rigatoni, cavatappi, rotini, etc. Use a high-quality die cut pasta like Delallo or De Cecco for the yummiest results.
Onions - I recommend using sweet onions for the best flavor, but yellow onions will work too! Note: 1 large onion = about 2 cups sliced which then yields about ¼ cup of caramelized onions. So you want to use at least 3-4 large onions for this pasta.
Chicken - You can cook the chicken as written or substitute with already cooked roasted chicken or leftover rotisserie chicken! You could also use chicken thighs instead.
Marsala Wine - Adding marsala wine enhances the flavor of the sauce. However, you can easily substitute madiera, sherry, or any other dry white wine! You can also omit the wine and just use a little bit of beef stock to deglaze the pan instead.
Beef Stock - French onion soup is typically made with beef stock, because it has such a rich flavor. But you can also substitute chicken stock or vegetable stock instead.
Gruyere Cheese - Classic French onion soup is made with gruyere cheese (which is my favorite!) but you can also use Swiss, parmesan, or fontina cheese or a combination in this pasta!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Variations
To make vegetarian: Leave out the chicken and swap the beef stock for vegetable stock! You could also add in some roasted veggies (like zucchini) instead.
Add mushrooms: If desired, you can also add 8 ounces of sliced cremini mushrooms! Just add towards the end of the onions cooking time (about 10-20 minutes or until softened).
Add bacon: If I happen to have some on hand, I love topping the French onion pasta with some crumbled bacon!
How to Make French Onion Pasta
In a large, oven safe skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium-high heat.
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
Cook the chicken for 3-5 minutes on each side, or until fully cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside. [Since the caramelized onions take so long to cook, I recommend keeping the cooked chicken in the fridge until ready to use.]
Caramelizing onions takes a long time but thankfully it's mostly hands off. You just need to stir every 10 minutes or so.
Thinly slice the onions and garlic.
In the same skillet, melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add in the onions and garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook slowly over low heat, until deep golden brown and caramelized, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Be sure to stir occasionally so that the onions don't burn.
Photo 3: After about 30 minutes, the onions should be slightly softened, but still pretty colorless.
Photo 4: After about an hour, the onions should be soft and beginning to brown.
Photo 5: After about 1 ½ hours, the onions should have a jammy consistency, be a deep golden brown color with a rich, sweet flavor.
Add in the flour and fresh thyme and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Pour in the marsala wine to deglaze the pan, making sure to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot!
Then slowly mix in the beef stock until fully combined, then reduce the heat to low. Stir occasionally and continue to cook until the sauce begins to simmer and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
While the sauce is cooking, go ahead and cook your pasta according to package directions. Make sure you heavily salt the water and cook the pasta for about 1-2 minutes less than the listed time for perfect al dente pasta!
Before draining, scoop out about ½ cup of the starchy pasta water and set aside. Then drain the pasta (but do NOT rinse it).
Add in the al dente pasta, cooked chicken, gruyere cheese, and ¼ cup of the pasta water to the sauce and toss gently to combine for 1-2 minutes or until the sauce thickens up and coats the noodles. If needed, loosen the sauce with the remaining pasta water.
Once the noodles are coated in the sauce, taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
If desired, sprinkle the top of the pasta with the remaining ½ cup of gruyere and broil for 3-5 minutes.
Serve the French onion chicken pasta immediately while warm!
Cheesy Bread
This is optional, but I love serving the French onion chicken pasta with some cheesy bread because it's more reminiscent of classic French onion soup!
Brush baguette slices with a little butter or olive oil, then top with shredded gruyere and broil 1-3 minutes!
Recipe FAQ's
This pasta is best eaten the same day, but will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
The French onion pasta will soak up the sauce in the fridge, so it's best to reheat on the stove with a little extra beef stock, water, or cream to add more moisture.
Typically it depends on the course. For a light lunch or side dish, typically 2 ounces (55g) per person. For a main course more like 3.5 ounces (100 grams). This recipe is written for 16 ounces of pasta (1 package) which is 4 large servings or 8 small servings. So you can easily halve the recipe if desired!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
French Onion Chicken Pasta
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken
- 3 large chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- salt and pepper
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- ½ cup marsala wine
- 3 cups beef stock, substitute chicken stock or vegetable stock
- ¼ cup pasta water
- 1 ½ cups gruyere cheese, shredded
Pasta
- 16 ounces short pasta
- ½ cup gruyere cheese, shredded
Instructions
- In a large, oven safe skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
- Cook the chicken for 3-5 minutes on each side, or until fully cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside. [Since the caramelized onions take so long to cook, I recommend keeping the cooked chicken in the fridge until ready to use.]
- Thinly slice the onions and garlic.
- In the same skillet, melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add in the onions and garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook slowly over low heat, until deep golden brown and caramelized, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Be sure to stir occasionally so that the onions don't burn.
- Add in the flour and fresh thyme and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in the marsala wine to deglaze the pan, making sure to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot!
- Then slowly mix in the beef stock until fully combined, then reduce the heat to low. Stir occasionally and continue to cook until the sauce begins to simmer and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- While the sauce is cooking, go ahead and cook your pasta according to package directions. Make sure you heavily salt the water and cook the pasta for about 1-2 minutes less than the listed time for perfect al dente pasta! Before draining, scoop out about ½ cup of the starchy pasta water and set aside. Then drain the pasta (but do NOT rinse it).
- Add in the al dente pasta, cooked chicken, gruyere cheese, and ¼ cup of the pasta water to the sauce and toss gently to combine for 1-2 minutes or until the sauce thickens up and coats the noodles. If needed, loosen the sauce with the remaining pasta water.
- Once the noodles are coated in the sauce, taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
- If desired, sprinkle the top of the pasta with the remaining ½ cup of gruyere and broil for 3-5 minutes.
- Serve immediately while warm!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
K says
Amazing. Lots of time and love to cook but it had my daughter doing a happy dance and asking if I could cook in large batches and freeze.