One of our favorite dinners to enjoy when we get home is slow cooker French onion soup.
This recipe’s meaty broth is filled with caramelized onions, herbs, and cheese, just like any other classic onion soup, and it’s finished with a delicious Gruyere cheese topping.
French Onion Soup in a Crockpot
One of my husband’s all-time favorite dishes is French onion soup. Any soup fan will enjoy this dish!
For me, bread and cheese are everything. all soaked in that flavorful onion soup with herbs, after which the cheese was grilled till it became hot and bubbling. It’s like a tiny taste of heaven to take the first bite of that gooey, gooey cheese.
Although onion soup is tasty, I believe that a great broth takes a long time to build, which is why I adore this dish.
Food: French Onion Soup (Source: Cooking Classy)In this dish, the broth and onions are allowed to simmer all day in the slow cooker, making a rich and fragrant soup. Not to mention, I enjoy slow cooker dinners because I love having supper ready when I get home!
At least in my household with events, homework, and soccer practices, it simply seems to help the evening run that much more smoothly!
Why is it referred to as French onion soup?
The 18th century is where onion soup originally began, and ever since, it has been a popular soup in France. Although this soup is typically served as a starter, we like to eat it as a meal with extra bread and a salad.
How to Prepare Fresh French Onion Soup
You should start with your homemade broth or stock if you want to prepare onion soup entirely from scratch.
Even though I frequently prepare homemade chicken broth for this recipe, I usually opt for a lower sodium store-bought broth. Either option will be effective.
While caramelizing the onions does require some time, it is completely worthwhile. Low and steady heat is the method to cook them since you want them to be translucent and yellow without browning or becoming crunchy. While you don’t have to continually stir them, you do need to watch that they don’t cook too quickly.
Although I prefer to caramelize them on the stovetop for convenience, you can also do it in your slow cooker, but it will take 8 to 10 hours.
You can have caramelized onions when you wake up if you start them the night before. Just add the remaining ingredients, and you’re ready to go!
How to Make Onions Caramel in a Slow Cooker
3 pounds of diced onions, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt should be combined. Stir and cook for 8 to 10 hours on low. (For this recipe, you would need half of these onions, but you are welcome to use more.
The remaining half can be frozen to be used in soups, casseroles, mashed potatoes, and other dishes. (Note that if you employ this method, the onions’ inherent sugars will suffice; you won’t need brown sugar.)
Which onion should you use for onion soup?
You want an onion that will caramelize nicely and have the perfect amount of sweetness while creating onion soup.
Since sweet onions can overrun the broth and tend to make an overly sweet soup, I think that using ordinary white onions produces the best results.
If you only have sweet onions on hand, I’d advise leaving out the sugar in the recipe.
Which cheese works best with onion soup?
One of my favorite components of this meal is the bread and cheese topping. This recipe is made much better by using Gruyere and Emmental cheeses, but if that’s all you have on hand, you may also use mozzarella, parmesan, or swiss.
I like to spoon this into bowls, top it with cheese, and broil, but if you want, you may simply lay the bread on a skillet and broil it before adding it to your bowls.
For a delightful meal, serve this onion soup along with a side salad and additional bread.
French Onion Soup in a Crockpot
One of our favorite dishes is onion soup made in a crockpot. Rich meaty soup with herbs, caramelized onions, and a delicious Gruyere cheese garnish!
| 20 minutes preparation
six hours to cook 6 hours 20 minutes in total portions: 8 portions |
Ingredients
- 3 large white onions sliced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 64 ounces beef broth (I use reduced sodium)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ⅓ cup dry sherry
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 8 slices of dry French bread
- ¾ cup Gruyere cheese shredded
- ½ cup Emmental cheese shredded
- 6 tablespoons fresh Parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
Food: French Onion Soup (Source: Cooking Classy)- Cook onions, butter, and brown sugar in a sizable nonstick pan over low heat until they are yellow and caramelized. (20 minutes or so).
- Add the remaining ingredients, excluding the bread and cheeses, once it has turned golden.
- Cook for 6 to 8 hours on low.
- Pour the soup into the dishes after removing and throwing away the bay leaf. Add cheeses and slices of dry bread on top. To melt and brown the cheese, broil for 2-3 minutes.
Notes
No dry bread? The loaf should be cut into slices and dried for about 5-7 minutes at 300°F. Complete cooling.
Nutrition information
Calories: 367 | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 920mg | Potassium: 648mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 361IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 270mg | Iron: 3mg