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One Pot Cider Braised Chicken with Caramelized Onions. Slow-cooked chicken in apple cider with fresh herbs, sweet caramelized onions, and mushrooms. If you’re looking for a cozy fall meal to make, start with this saucy braised chicken. All made in one pot, simple to put together, and totally delicious. Serve with warm bread and a side of wild rice and say hello to cozy fall nights.
Fall starts on Thursday, but per usual our fall here in the mountains has fully set in. Most of you know that we’ve had some chillier days and our leaves are beginning to show pretty shades of yellow and orange.
I love every bit of it and am trying my best to soak in the season. For us, here in the mountains, it will be gone in the blink of an eye. Our fall is fast and furious, warm days, chilly nights, and always beautiful.
I’m embracing the shorter days and colder nights with cozy dinners. Every year like clockwork, I make some sort of braised chicken. But this one is special and hands down my favorite of the bunch. It’s the onions combined with sweet, spiced apple cider. The pair together really do make for a wonderful saucy chicken.
The story is pretty simple.
I based the recipe pretty closely off my cider braised short ribs. We absolutely loved that short rib recipe last year. I made it multiple times throughout the fall and winter. But it’s still September and the days just don’t require short rib dinners yet.
I wanted something a little lighter and a little quicker cooking for weeknights.
Of course, the thought to swap-in chicken came to mind pretty quickly and sounded delicious. I changed up a few things, adding mushrooms into the mix, and using a quicker cooking method.
It’s truly wonderful and so simple to make.
The details
Start with the chicken. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and breasts. My family is pickier and will not eat the skin. Though I’m sure it would add a lot of flavor to the dish!
Dredge the chicken through some flour, then give it a sear in a big, oven-safe pan. I only sear one side of the chicken since we just need one side crispy for the oven.
Pull the chicken out, add some butter, then toss on the onions. Start to slowly cook the onions down. I like to add a splash of apple cider to help the onions cook down a little quicker.
When the onions have reached a light gold color, toss in the mushrooms, garlic, thyme, and sage. I let the mushrooms cook for a minute, then pour over the remaining cider and wine. If you don’t drink wine, chicken broth is a great substitute.
I usually add a few sprigs of fresh thyme, then transfer the whole dish to the oven to braise low and slow.
Now I cooked this at 400 for a quicker time, but you can definitely reduce the heat to 325° and cook for 1-2 hours for a real low and slow braise. Either works great, it just depends on how much time you have.
I’ve been serving this with a side of homemade beer bread and wild rice pilaf – so good!
You must make the beer bread, it’s delicious with the savory-sweet cider pan sauce.
This is a wonderful Monday night dinner that’s easy enough for any night of the week. It’s certainly sure to become a family favorite. I can’t wait for Creighton to try this, I know he will love it.
Looking for other slow-cooked fall recipes? Here are a few ideas:
30 Minute Coconut Milk Braised Chicken
Healthier 30 Minute Beer Braised Chicken
Autumn Braised Chicken Escabèche with Roasted Apples and Grapes
Cider Braised Short Ribs with Caramelized Onions
Red Wine Cranberry Braised Short Ribs
Slow Cooker Red Wine Braised Short Rib Pasta
Slow Cooker Coq au Vin with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Lastly, if you make this Cider Braised Chicken with Caramelized Onions, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Cider Braised Chicken with Caramelized Onions
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 421 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken, thighs or breasts
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 4 yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 2 cups apple cider
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 cup chicken broth or dry white wine
Instructions
Stove-Top
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then rub with flour to coat. Heat a large oven-safe skillet with sides over high heat, and sear the chicken on 1 side. Remove the chicken to a plate. 3. Add the butter and onions and cook 5 minutes, until softened. Add a 1/2 cup apple cider, season with salt and pepper, and continue cooking another 5-8 minutes, until the cider has evaporated and the onions are lightly golden. Add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme, and sage, then add the chicken back to the pot. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups cider, and wine. Roast for 30 minutes or until the chicken is falling apart. Watch the sauce, if it begins to thicken too much, cover the dish. 3. Serve the chicken with wild rice pilaf and bread. Drizzle with any remaining pan sauce and onions. Enjoy!
Crockpot
- 1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then rub with flour to coat. Heat a large Dutch Oven over high heat, and sear the chicken on 1 side.2. To the bowl of your crockpot, add the butter and onions, then place the chicken over the onions. Add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme, sage, apple cider, and wine. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. 3. Serve the chicken with wild rice pilaf and bread. Drizzle with any remaining pan sauce and onions. Enjoy!
Delicious. Easy. My chicken was very moist, used breasts. Served with rice and a salad. Husband enjoyed too
Hey Laura,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! xx
The meal was tasty, but next time I would use less onions and add apples, as another user mentioned. It’s also much more liquidy than expected and not as deep in color.
Hi Ali,
Thanks so much for giving this dish a try and sharing your review, I’m glad to hear it was enjoyed overall! xx
Made this tonight A fantastic fall recipe
So much flavor
Hi Marie,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! xx
The flavor in this dish is wonderful, perfect fall dinner. Not sure about a weeknight meal as it took a little longer than I was expecting. Also, the recipe I printed said to cover it, which I did and the sauce did not reduce enough. After we finished eating, I put the leftover sauce on the stove to reduce and it was much better. I will be making this one again.
Hi Liz,
Thanks so much for making this dish and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear it took longer than expected! Happy Tuesday! xx
Hi ! I want to make this delicious recipe for dinner tomorrow, I don’t have a crockpot anymore and was wondering if this could be done in the instant pot?
Hi Nicole,
Sure, the instant pot would work! I would sauté the onions first and then cook on high pressure for 18 minutes. I hope this dish turns out amazing for you! xx
The sauce turned out a little runnier than I hoped, but I don’t care. It’s so good! I think I’ll use chicken thighs next time because the chicken breasts were a little dry. Besides that, it’s soooo good. Made it w/ roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
Hi Kate,
Thanks so much for making this dish and sharing your feedback, I am so glad to hear it was tasty for you! xT
Happy Monday! Made this in the crockpot last week- it was DELISH! After browning the chicken, I cooked the onions in the same pot until they Caramelized then followed crockpot instructions. Oh man- chicken was so tender, it fell apart. The broth (used bone broth) was so good with the onions and mushrooms- that could have been the meal alone!!! Thank you for another great recipe !
Hey Betsy,
Happy Tuesday! Thanks a bunch for trying this dish and sharing what worked well for you, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xT
Fantastic recipe. I opted for the low-and-slow braising method, lowering the temp to 300, and it took about 2 to 2.5 hours. In my mind, it keeps the chicken nice and moist.
Only change I made was to add a streak of red wine vinegar (not apple cider vinegar as there’s already a lot in the pot). Now it was nice and balanced.
PS the prep time is ambitious. I love to cook, have been cooking for years, consider myself efficient and fast in the kitchen, can make just about any recipe (I won’t cook octopus – bah), and I can say it took me about 10 min to cut the onions really thin, about 15 minutes to sear all of the chicken (did it in batches to prevent overcrowding) and 10 min to clean and slice mushrooms. And 5ish minutes to pull thyme leaves off the stems and chop them and the sage. So…. about 40-45 min. Just don’t want to turn off less experienced cooks from your fabulous recipes once they find out how long it really takes.
Hi Leslie,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you. Just an FYI, there is no vinegar in this recipe, just regular drinking apple cider:) xx
Right, what I meant by using a tiny bit of vinegar to balance the sweetness, I used red wine vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar … because, well, there’s a lot of apple cider in it already! 🙂 Sorry, should’ve clarified!
Made it again last night because the family kept begging for more. I doubled the recipe for 6 people, thinking there’d be leftovers. Ha, nope. All gone.
So glad to hear this!! Thanks again for making the recipe:)
Is the chicken boneless and skinless?
Yes, and use thighs – falls apart more easily than chicken breasts.
Yes, that is correct:) I hope you love the recipe Marci!
This was very tasty and well received by my extended family. I added apples chopped into 1-2 inch pieces before it went in the oven. That added a great taste as well as texture! I would probably add some cinnamon as well to bring out the cider flavor. I’ll definitely make it again.
Hi there,
Happy Monday!! I truly appreciate you trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad it was enjoyed! xx
This one was pretty good. I couldn’t get the onions to caramelize though. Gave extra time, and was hoping they might finish while in the oven. I don’t get it!
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for trying this recipe! They onions wouldn’t caramelize in the oven, sounds like they just needed some extra time on the stove top:) xT
Made the recipe. Concerned about nothing in pan when searing chicken causing smoke and sticky. Survived it but then was curious about the oven because in the recipe it seemed like it should of been completed on stovetop as opposed to oven. Any feedback so I can make again in the future? Thanks very tasty
I was also surprised by this so used some canola oil in the pan to start which seemed to work well!
If it’s skinned chicken, as she appears to use in the photos, you can get away with no oil if you go skin-side down.
Hi Bill,
Thanks for making this recipe. Sorry I am not sure what you are asking? You can add oil to the pan when searing and finish on the stove top if that is your preference:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Made the stovetop/oven version of this for dinner tonight and it’s a keeper! I followed recipe almost exactly as written except cut back on the salt. I used shiitake mushrooms and they just added a next-level of flavor. Next time I’ll need a bigger pan so I can double the recipe for leftovers! Thanks Tieghan!
Hi Gabrielle,
Amazing! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this dish, thanks so much for making it! Hope you’re off to a great week! xx
The best thing about this dish was the beer bread! So easy! And yummy. I made it with guiness otherwise we did not like it.
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. Please let me know if there is anything I can help with! xT
I enjoyed this yummy onion-y chicken, but it was a bit sweet for my taste. I think I’ll add a bit more broth or wine in place of some of the cider next time. And there will definitely be a next time.
Hi Jane,
Thanks for giving this dish a try, so sorry about the sweetness, but glad you enjoyed it! Hope you’re off to a great Monday! xT
Aloha Jane, try adding a dash of red wine vinegar at the end and see if that cuts the sweetness a little. That’s what I did – about a tablespoon or so.