Easy Crockpot French Onion Soup

This easy Crockpot french onion soup recipe takes just 10 minutes to prepare! The cheapest slow cooker soup that tastes amazing and only needs a few ingredients to make. Let it cook by itself all day and have a complete comfort food dinner ready in the evening. Rich french onion smothered in cheese is the best.

This easy crockpot french onion soup recipe is one of our favorites! I’m busy and make a lot of easy crockpot recipes for dinner but this one tops the list of old fashioned family favorites. (affiliate links present)

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

For one thing I work full time and juggle 3 kids as well so spending more than 30 minutes in the kitchen preparing food just is not going to happen. Another thing, I’m cheap. Ok you can call it frugal but whatever. I love making really easy cheap Crockpot recipes that everyone loves.

Beef French Onion Soup Slow Cooker

AND it cooks by itself with just a little prep work from me. Bonus. Last but not least I HATE turning on my oven during the summertime. There are two ways to do this. Dump and go works but better than that you can make Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions first and then follow the rest of the instructions and cut cook time down to boot.

Let’s talk a little bit about slow cooking shall we?? First off I have a few different varieties and I love them all. Each one has an occasion to be used like….

1. This is my favorite 6 quart programmable one with a locking lid so it’s great for bringing to a potluck too.
2. I prefer not to use liners, but rather just spray olive oil inside before adding my food for easier cleanups.

Let me give you a peek of my pretty thang I bought recently. It goes with my kitchen so I can just leave it out on the countertop all the time. 😉

Easy Crockpot French Onion Soup

For those reasons I rely on my slow cooker and Instant Pot pretty much nightly. Unless we’re having “whatever you want nights” which does happen when I’m just exhausted.

I started with a big batch of yellow onions that really needed to be used up. Some really like a mix of yellow, white and/or red onions but I use what is on hand. I hate wasting food so I got to searching what I had in the pantry to use them with. Threw in some beef stock, thyme and bay leaf with salt and pepper and tried this out.

Can you make French onion soup in a Crockpot?

Yep, we will show you how. Where we used to live it got to 114 in the summertime and so there was no way I was paying more for air conditioning just because I wanted to make dinner. You can make it even faster using a pressure cooker if you’d rather. I will explain them both below in more detail.

How Long to Cook Onion Soup in Crockpot

If you’ve never had crockpot french onion soup it’s amazing! If you’ve had it but never thought of making it yourself at home it is the simplest soup ever to make. You just throw everything in and it will be ready at dinner, about 6 hours will do the trick!

You only need a few ingredients to boot too which is great. It is best if you have time to saute or caramelize onions first. If you just don’t have time for that, it will taste great just the same. Want to cook the onions first on the stove top to really generate more flavor, please do.

Using a baking sheet in the oven is a longer cook time but can be done if you’d rather. The reason to take this extra time to really brown this ingredient is to make the flavors more bold. If you’ve seen these that become a rich sticky brown color you can imagine the difference between these and raw.

Need it more low carb, just skip the bread part at the end. BUT that is most people’s favorite part so whatever….

Overnight French Onion Soup

Really you could slow cook all of these ingredients in a Dutch oven on your stovetop too. Low and slow to really make all the flavors deepen over time is key. The best way to intensify them from the get go is to brown the onions with butter in a cast iron skillet, then add and proceed to the next steps. You can even do so the night before and set to low for 12 hours for the best flavors of all!!

Ingredients

1. Onions – duhhhh, opt for yellow onions, sweet onions are another option
2. Butter
3. Beef broth
4. French bread – day old is best
5. Cheese on the top is what you would expect from the classic dish
   1. Gruyère is best but harder to find
   2. Otherwise you can always grab mozzarella and mix with some parmesan
6. Spices
7. Oven proof bowls are needed if you are going to do the bread with cheese on the top and melt
8. Crock pot of course

So one thing you will need for finalizing this soup are oven safe bowls. If you want the traditional ooey gooey cheesy bread on top thee are a must and not really expensive.

Of course you could serve the soup as is out of your crockpot with a side of bread sliced. However topped with bread and cheese, then baked on a cookie sheet is part of the yumminess. I recommend doing it this way!

If you’re in a hurry you can make pressure cooker french onion soup too. I kinda’ cheated with this one and used cheeses I had on hand. It is nice that this method takes a lot less time though and you can use the saute function to brown onions at the very beginning. One pot meal that has fewer dishes to clean.

If you want the main star of the show to be able to chew and not totally disintegrate then you should slice them rather thick. The thinner they are the more it will cook down and somewhat disappear into the liquids. You can certainly serve as is right out of the pot but the old fashioned way is to go a step further with the cheesy bread on top!

How to Make French Onion Soup in Crockpot

• Slice your yellow onions into rather thick / wide slices. Set aside. You can caramelize onions on stovetop with butter and a bit of red wine first for a deeper flavor. Turn crockpot on high and add onions inside spread out.
• Add the broth, salt, butter, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and thyme.
  • for a really rich flavor you could add a packet or homemade few Tbsp of French onion soup mix like we did in our slow cooker beef stew with onion soup mix
• Then cook on high for 7-8 hours or until it turns a darker brown color.
• Get out your ovenproof bowls and fill them 3/4 full with soup from your slow cooker.
• Preheat broiler to high or around 350 degrees. Put a thick slice of your day old bread on top of each bowl of soup,.
• Cover the bread with a mixture of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses (or traditionally used is gruyere).
• Put under broiler until cheese is melted and golden brown color, maybe 3-4 minutes.

If someone in your family is a no when it comes to a bit of “soggy” bread you could just serve some garlic bread on the side. Brown that separately with cheese on top and get a similar feel that everyone will enjoy.

Origin of French Onion Soup

French onion soup, has its origins in well…..France. It is believed to have originated in the region around Paris during the 18th century or earlier. Onions have been cultivated there for centuries, and they were a staple ingredient in their cuisine. The creation this soup can be attributed to cooks there who sought to create a delicious and satisfying dish using readily available ingredients, particularly onions.

The soup was traditionally made by slow cooking thinly sliced onions in butter until they caramelized and developed a rich, sweet flavor. The caramelized onions were then simmered in a beef or vegetable broth, and sometimes fortified with wine. The soup was typically served with a slice of toasted bread and topped with melted cheese, often Gruyère, which added a savory element to the dish.

This deep flavorful soup gained popularity over time, and it became a classic dish slowly spreading internationally and is now enjoyed in various parts of the world.

Today, we love it’s comforting flavors and is often served as a starter or light meal in a variety of restaurants and households. It has become an iconic dish that showcases the culinary traditions and flavors of France.