Slow cooker French onion soup
The slow cooker does the long, patient caramelizing for you, turning a pile of onions jammy and sweet, then it’s topped with bubbling cheese toasts.
- 690 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.06 a serving
- 440 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 6 yellow onions, about 3 lb, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups beef broth
- ½ cup dry white wine (optional)
- 4 slices French bread, about 1 inch thick
- 1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
From your pantry
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Each serving has about 440 calories, 18 g protein, 47 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $3.06 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No beef broth? Bone broth works.
- No French bread? Sourdough bread works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onions from top to bottom and them thinly. the garlic.
Halve. Halving means cutting something into two equal pieces. Even halves cook at the same speed, so one doesn’t dry out while the other finishes.
How you’ll know: The two pieces look like mirror images of each other.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Dolly’s tip: Chill the onions in the fridge for 30 minutes first and they’ll sting your eyes much less.Toss the onions in the slow cooker with the butter, salt and brown sugar. It will be piled high.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Cover and cook on LOW for 10 hours, until the onions are soft, jammy and deep golden brown.
Timer: 600 min
Dolly’s tip: Overnight is perfect. If they’re still pale after 10 hours, prop the lid open a crack and cook on HIGH for another hour.Stir in the garlic and flour, then the broth, wine, thyme and bay leaves.
Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour, until hot and slightly . Stir in the vinegar and pull out the bay leaves.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Timer: 60 min
Turn on the . Lay the bread slices on a and toast them under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes, until golden.
Broil. Broiling means cooking under the oven’s top heating element, with strong heat from above. It browns and crisps the top in minutes, and it can burn fast, so stay close.
How you’ll know: The top bubbles and spots golden brown; check every minute and pull it before it blackens.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Timer: 1 min 30 sec
Flip the toasts, pile the cheese on top, and broil for 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbling and in spots.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Timer: 1 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Stay right by the oven. Under the broiler, cheese goes from golden to burnt in seconds.Ladle the soup into bowls, taste for salt, and float a cheese toast on each.
Food safety: Put leftovers in the fridge within 2 hours and eat them within 3 to 4 days. Reheat until steaming hot, 165°F.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
