Our easy Crockpot french onion soup recipe takes just 10 minutes to prepare! With just a few ingredients, it’s comfort food for dinner served with a piece of cheesy bread. If you loved our pressure cooker french onion soup this is a winner too.
This is one of our favorite dinners to make and serve with cheese bread. I’m busy and make a lot of easy crockpot recipes for dinner but this one tops the list of old fashioned family favorites.
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.
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 bone broth in Instant Pot, thyme and bay leaf with salt and pepper and tried this out.
How Long to Cook French Onion Soup in Crockpot
There are two ways to do this. Dump and go is faster but for a deeper flavor to this dish you can make Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions first and then follow the rest of the instructions. Without this added step it takes about 6 hours!
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….
Ingredient Notes
Onions – duhhhh, opt for yellow onions, sweet onions are another option. You will want them thicker if you don’t want them to disintegrate especially if starting with caramelized onions
Butter will make it a deeper flavor. If you need a dairy free alternative you could use those sticks instead. Note that those don’t have as much flavor and aren’t as salty either so the flavor will change.
Beef broth is the base of your broth, better than water because it offers the beefy flavor for the dish
French bread – day old is best if you do want to serve it up the traditional way. You can serve it as stated below or just melt cheese on top and serve side by side.
Cheese on the top is what you would expect from the classic dish. Gruyère is best but harder to find. Otherwise you can always grab mozzarella and mix with some parmesan
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
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.
Overnight Option
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!!
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!
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.
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.
Crockpot French Onion Soup Recipe
Equipment
- 1 slow cooker
Ingredients
- 4 large onions, yellow, large, sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 6 cup beef broth
- 1 loaf french bread, day old
- 2 cup mozzarella cheese, and parmesan, a mix is good
Instructions
- Slice your yellow onions into rather thick / wide slices. Set aside (can caramelize onions on stovetop with butter now for a richer flavor)
- Turn crockpot on high and add onions inside spread out.
- Add salt, beef broth, butter, pepper, worces. sauce and thyme.
- Cook oh high for 7-8 hours or until it turns a darker brown color.
- Get bowls that can be placed into the oven ready 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.
- Put under broiler until cheese is melted and golden brown color, maybe 3-4 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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.
