Apple Cider Chicken with Caramelized Onions
There’s something about apple cider, caramelized onions and crispy chicken that feels like October. This is an easy one-skillet dinner with a cider-Dijon pan sauce that tastes like it took a lot more effort than it did.
Serve it with roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes or some crusty bread to catch the sauce.
Serves 4 | About 40 minutes
Ingredients
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 crisp apple, such as Honeycrisp or Pink Lady, sliced
1 cup apple cider
½ cup chicken stock
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Fresh thyme or parsley for finishing
Instructions
Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken skin-side down and cook for 6–8 minutes, without moving it, until deeply golden and crisp. Flip and cook another 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium. Add the onions and a good pinch of salt. Cook for 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden.
Add the sliced apple and cook for about 2 minutes.
Pour in the apple cider and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Stir in the chicken stock, Dijon, cider vinegar and thyme.
Return the chicken to the skillet skin-side up. Simmer for 12–15 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165°F and the sauce has reduced.
Remove the thyme stems and stir in the butter. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper or another splash of cider vinegar if needed.
Spoon the caramelized onions, apples and cider sauce around the chicken. Finish with fresh thyme or parsley.
Food Lab Tip
Don’t rush the onions. Letting them get deeply golden gives the sauce much more flavor. When the cider goes into the skillet, scrape up all those browned bits from the chicken—that’s where a lot of the flavor is.
Serve with roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes or crusty bread and a simple green salad.
