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Simple, cheesy, Baked French Onion Meatballs. For those cold fall and winter nights when you want a fancy slow-cooked french onion soup…but you want something hearty too! Made easily with oven-baked chicken meatballs, white wine, caramelized onions, herbs, and that classic cheesy french bread topping. This dish is warm, flavorful, comforting, and so delicious. Equally great for a simple family dinner or holiday entertaining.
Happy November everyone! My original plan was to share our 2021 Thanksgiving menu today, but I need a couple more days to put the finishing touches on the post. Very excited to share, but honestly?
I’m equally excited to share these delicious french onion style meatballs. If I had to choose the recipe for you to all be making this week, tonight even, it would be these meatballs. Perfect dinner to welcome in the chilly month of November.
When I made these meatballs before heading to Los Angelas the other week, my oldest brother, Creighton, was in town. And while I feed him a lot of meals when he’s here, he declared these meatballs his favorite. He LOVED them, so I think it’s safe to say this is a very good recipe.
The process is simple, here are the steps
Start with the bread. I mentioned this last month, but when my grandma made meatloaf or meatballs, she used to wet the bread first. She’d then ring out the excess water and tear the bread into super fine pieces. This is the key to a juicy, non-dry meatball.
Add the bread to a large bowl along with ground chicken or ground beef, a large egg, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir the mixture together, and you’re ready to roll your meatballs.
Then bake! I love baking meatballs. It’s so much easier and cleaner, not to mention healthier, than frying them up in a skillet.
While the meatballs are cooking, caramelize the onions
Start with sweet onions, butter, and dry white wine.
I use a dry white wine, which is pretty traditional in most French onion soups. You’ll cook about half of the wine into the onions. Not only does this help the onions to caramelize quickly and evenly, it also infuses the onions with incredibly rich flavor.
It’s delish.
If you prefer not to cook with wine, I recommend using about half a cup of apple cider or apple juice to caramelize the onions. For the remaining amount of wine (another half cup), use chicken broth, beef broth, or vegetable broth.
When the onions are caramelized, add the mushrooms and let those cook a minute. Then add in the broth.
Now, grab the meatballs and add them to the sauce. Simmer a bit until cooked throughout.
Finish it up
When you’re ready, switch the oven to broil.
Top the skillet full of meatballs with crusty french bread, and a layer of cheese. Then place under the broiler to melt. Watch closely, the broiler works fast.
Then simply pull out of the oven and experience the bubbling cheese and the delicious flavors of a truly good bowl of French onion soup…with the addition of yummy meatballs.
This is truly one of those roll your eyes back, crave-worthy, fall-winter comfort foods.
My favorite way to serve these meatballs is with a side salad. You could add pasta or mashed potatoes, but they’re also not needed.
Perfect dinner, right? I’m excited t have this one in my back pocket for the upcoming holiday season. I already know it’s going to be a go-to recipe once my family arrives and the craziness begins in a few weeks! Thanksgiving is so soon!
Looking for other meatball recipes?? Here are my favorites:
30 Minute Coq au Vin Chicken Meatballs
Simple Baked Cheesy Italian Chicken Meatballs
Weeknight 30 Minute Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs
Lastly, if you make these , 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!
Baked French Onion Meatballs
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 689 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pounds ground chicken
- 1 slice soft whole grain bread
- 1 egg, beaten
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 3-4 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 cups cremini or wild mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup whole milk, cream, or canned coconut milk
- 6 slices french bread
- 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 450° F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with olive oil.2. Take the bread and run it under water until dampened but not soaked. Gently squeeze the excess water out of the bread and then crumble the dampened bread into pieces.3. In a bowl, combine the chicken, bread crumbles, egg, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Coat your hands with olive oil, then roll the meat into balls about the size of 2 tablespoons, and place them into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes or until the meatballs are crisp on the outside, but not yet cooked through on the inside.4. Meanwhile, melt together the butter and onions in a large oven safe skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 10 minutes. At this point, you'll want to slowly add 3/4 cup of the wine, 1/4 cup at a time, until the wine cooks into the onions. Continue to cook another 10-15 minutes until you've used all of the 3/4 cup of wine and the onions are deeply caramelized. 5. Add the garlic, mushrooms, thyme, and sage. Season with salt and pepper, cook another 3-4 minutes. Add the the broth and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Increase the heat to high and bring to a low boil. Add the meatballs and simmer 10 minutes, until cooked through. Stir in the cream.6. Arrange the bread on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes, until very dry. Switch the oven to broil. Place the bread on/around the meatballs. Top evenly with cheese. Broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Top with fresh thyme. Eat!
This post was originally published on November 1, 2021
Excellent! Tried this for dinner, and found a new family favorite! We had to modify slightly for ingredients available, and looking forward to making again as written.
Thank you!
Hey Lisa! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 xTieghan
This was super yummy. I had to sub out a few ingredients based on what I had on hand, and it was still wonderful. I used ground turkey instead of chicken, Swiss instead of Gruyère, Chardonnay instead of Pinot Grigio, and dried sage leaves instead of fresh.
Hey there! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 xTieghan
Just finished dinner and this was on tonight’s menu. Fantastic recipe. I used turkey instead of chicken. Totally delicious and lighter than a traditional French onion soup, but still had the traditional flavor. Going in the rotation.
Also made the salted bourbon apple crumb cake earlier today, will be tasting that next!
Hey there! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 xTieghan
Made this last night for dinner. Fantastic! Wonderful flavors. The family loved it. Another winner!
Hey Tony! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 xTieghan
I would love to fine tune my skills. I thought there was a video of this recipe. Where can I find it?
Hey Laura! There’s a video on my Tik Tok and I’ll be posting a reel of it soon on my birthday! 🙂 xTieghan
This dish was simply incredible! Loved the flavors and how fragrant it was when it was cooking. Perfect meal for a colder evening. I look forward to making this again.
Hey! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! ? xTieghan
Can you make without mushrooms?
Yes, I would either omit the mushrooms altogether or just add in your fave veggie! xTieghan
Just a beautiful dish. Mine didn’t look like your but it was delicious. I found you on FB. I’m a fan. Can’t wait to make my next meal. This is very good.
Hi there! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 xTieghan
Tieghan, this is not a recipe review because I didn’t make it as written. But, I was inspired to combine my beloved French Onion Soup and chicken meatballs recipes, add mushrooms and cream, top with garlic rubbed toasted French bread slices, and broil with gruyere. This dish was a revelation and one of the best things we’ve eating in a while. So you keep creating and I’ll keep following. Thank you!
Hey Sydney! Wow, that sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing with me 🙂 xTieghan
Made the last two days for two different groups, and it was a hit both times. One person had to eat hers words – said she didn’t like French onion soup, but she’d TRY it, Haha! Added a little hot sausage and Italian seasoning to the turkey, since one reviewer thought the meatballs were a little bland. Yum. Also used more (homemade) stock per another reviewer. Croutons instead of slices on top for ease of eating. Very tasty and surprisingly filling. Thanks for another winner, Teighan. I’m a new fan ?.
Thanks so much Linda! So glad you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 xTieghan
This dish was such a hit with my family! It was the perfect meal for a chilly evening ?
Hey Kristin! Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try, I’m so happy you enjoyed it! xTieghan
A winner! I made with frozen meatballs, red wine and beef broth- it was what I had on hand. Rave reviews from all. Perfect on a cold rainy night in the mountains.
Hey Tracy, so happy you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for giving it a try 🙂 xTieghan
This is excellent! We loved it!
Hey! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I’m so happy to hear you loved it! xTieghan
This is amazing!!!
Hi there! Thank you so much, I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! xTieghan
This is such a fun unique recipe! And of course delicious! I think next time I will make the meatballs and bread a bit smaller.
You were right about the broiler, nearly burnt my bread!! ?
Hi there! Thank you so much, I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! xTieghan
This was good – I didn’t add the mushrooms as to me they don’t belong in French onion soup. Next time I would use ground beef and beef stock as we were not crazy about the chicken. The idea of this was very fun, and we’ll make a few tweaks to adjust to our taste. I loved the method of making the meatballs – very juicy and not dry at all.
Hey there! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! xTieghan