This is the easiest Instant Pot french onion soup topped with french bread and cheese done in just 3 minutes. Much faster than our Crockpot French onion soup recipe but with the same great all day bold flavor.
5 basic ingredients is all you need to make this easy french onion soup recipe. We do not caramelize onions first but you can. It has become one of our favorite soup Instant Pot recipes my kids now ask for often.
I hadn’t had french onion soup in forever but I once again had a bowl at our favorite restaurant while it was snowing. Seriously was the best bowl of comfort food I had remembered in the past. Thought “I must figure out how to make this myself” but faster. And that is what I did.
Ninja Foodi French Onion Soup
First time was in my IP and then made it as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe in that pot which skipped the step in the oven. With the air crisp method you can lay your pieces of day old bread right on the top and sprinkle on the cheeses of your choice. Then you just close the air crisp lid (the one attached). Hit air crisp 400 degrees for 2-3 minutes or until it melts nicely and becomes a light golden brown.
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
What onions are best for French onion soup?
You may get different answers depending on whom you ask but typically the classic method will call for yellow. Some like a mix of white, yellow and red onions though to give it a different flavor. Remember that the thinner your slices are the softer they will get, that is personal preference really. You can slice or make thick chunks.
Remember that you want them to be a size that will be able to be scooped up nicely with a spoon. There is nothing worse than slurping or slipping off your utensil when you’re trying to eat. Especially if you have kids smaller is a bit better so the mess is a minimized and you don’t have splattering all over your table and face when eating.
Test 1
I tested how long it would take for my onions to be perfect. I made it twice and varied the ways. You can choose either one and here are the differences. First time – caramelized onions and butter on the saute function first until deep brown and softened or make Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions the morning of and use those to begin with.
Test 2
The second time I made this I did it by skipping that step and just cooking onions in the broth. Yes if you take the extra time to brown and soften with butter with saute you will generate a richer deeper flavor BUT in a pinch this works too.
I will say that if you go the extra step with the bread and browning the cheese on the top the easier method is less noticeable because your focus is really all the goodness and ooey gooey on the top. I bet you get my drift….try both and decide.
What do you top French onion soup with?
Day old french bread (best) and lots of cheese are key to the yumminess, and I decided to dice some green onions as well. I decided to also add a bit of parmesan into my mixture of shredded cheese for a little added punch of flavor and I was glad I did…..it turned out amazing!! You just divvy it up into oven safe bowls when done, lay a piece on top and sprinkle cheese to brown.
How to Brown Cheese on Top
When done you can pour soup into oven safe bowls and set on a baking sheet to broil for a few minutes until golden bubbly. Another option at the end is to use a mini countertop toaster oven/air fryer/convection oven with your soup into an oven safe dish. That can melt the cheese on top as well. When that was all I had at the time it took about 4 minutes before cheese is melted to perfection.
Then I ate it for lunch immediately! Even my 10 year old who had never tried this type of soup loved it…now that is a win! Pressure cooking a vegetarian french onion soup is possible too if you use vegetable broth.
Variations
In this post I have included a video showing you how we make Instant Pot French onion soup at home. This one does not show sauteeing the onions first but you can with some butter to deepen the flavors.
- I would do this additional step if you have a bit more time, just;
- Set on saute low at the very beginning
- and any spices with your sliced onions you’d want
- allow them to cook down and caramelize a bit
- Then turn pot off and move to step 2 below, both ways are great.
Instant Pot French Onion Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 large onions, sliced
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
- 3/4 tsp thyme
- 32 oz beef broth
- 3/4 cup gruyere cheese, shredded, for top – use whatever type of cheese you have
- 1 loaf french bread, day old, sliced
- 1/4 cup green onions, diced, optional
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to saute and melt your butter, then add onions at this time and caramelize them a bit. Then turn your pot off.
- Add salt, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and beef broth.
- Close lid and steam valve and set to pressure high for 3 minutes.
- Do a quick release.
- Can serve immediately with bread on the side, or melt cheese on slices of french bread and serve on the side or put 1-2 pcs of french bread on top of soup with cheese on top, then put inside an oven safe bowl and put under the broiler for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you want a bolder richer flavor to your soup you can use half red wine instead of beef broth. Another option is to caramelize your onions more at the beginning to add to the overall flavor.
Thank you so much. I had just finished a batch of Sourdough croutons in the oven to use up a loaf before it went stale. I originally said tomato soup would be good but hubs chimed in with French onion. I’ve never made it before and was short on time, so slightly skeptical I could pull it off. Your recipe was spot on! I apparently used all of my beef broth and only had chicken on hand. I added a few splashes of soy sauce to deepen the flavor and color. I also let my onions caramelize longer to make up the difference.
This was a huge hit, even with the substitution, and will be in my recipe rotation from now on.
No H in Worcestershire