Crock Pot French Onion Soup
Original Recipe
So this recipe is perfect for days when a) you’re around the house or running quick errands but don’t want to be standing at the stove for hours on end and b) you are dying for some French Onion Soup. It’s one of my favorites so criteria (b) is met almost daily, but that’s neither here nor there…
This soup is YUM. It takes some TLC, but it’s worth it. If you’re a fan of the lazy Sunday (I’m definitely a fan… of course, I’m a fan of lazy [insert any day that ends in “y”]), this is a great recipe to make while you’re catching up on TV or sitting around, spending the day reading a good book.
Ingredients
For soup
- 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 5 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 8 cups of low sodium beef broth
- 2 cups of water
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- pinch of thyme
For serving
- bread, sliced or cubed (I like using sliced mini baguettes)
- freshly shredded gruyere cheese
Directions
Place the chunks of butter in the crock pot and set the heat on high. Once the butter has melted (15-30 minutes), add the sliced onions, mixing well so that the onions get coated in the melted butter. Cover and cook for about an hour before stirring the onions and placing paper towels under the lid of the crock pot (to absorb the moisture). Cover again and set to cook on high for 6 hours – returning to stir and replace the paper towels every 45 minutes to an hour. Make sure to keep a close eye on the onions (especially after about 4 hours and 30 minutes have passed) to ensure that the onions don’t burn – you may want to stir more frequently (like every 30 minutes) for the last hour or so.
Remove the paper towels and turn the heat on your crock pot to low. Pour the beef broth, water, bay leaves, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and thyme into the crock pot and stir to combine with the onions. Add more spices to get the taste of the broth just right, if you wish. Cover and cook for 1 hour before removing the bay leaves. Leave on warm until you’re ready to serve.
When you decide that you’re ready to chow, preheat the broiler and place your oven-safe bowls (I used my ramekins) on a baking sheet. Spoon some soup (make sure to get the onions!) into each of the bowls and place some bread (I used 2-3 slices of mini baguette per ramekin, but I would use about a handful of cubed bread alternatively) in each bowl. Top with the shredded gruyere (make sure you spread it over the bread bread and the soup) – I used about 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese per ramekin. Place the baking sheet in the oven / broiler for 2-5 minutes, or until the cheese is a nice, golden brown and bubbly. Serve immediately.