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    🏠Home » Recipes » Soup Recipes

    Crock Pot French Onion Soup

    Sep 25, 2021 | Last Updated Apr 10, 2022 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.32 from 215 votes

    Classic French onion soup features beefy broth loaded with caramelized onions with crusty bread and melted cheese. Elegant comfort food made ridiculously easy with your slow cooker. Perfect for a small crock pot or double to make the family size.

    bowl of onion soup covered with browned cheese.

    Table of Contents
    • ❓What is French Onion Soup?
    • 🧅Ingredients for French Onion Soup
    • 👨‍🍳How to Make Onion Soup in a Crock Pot
    • ♨️What Crock Pot to Use for Onion Soup
    • ❓FAQs
    • ❄️Storage of French Onion Soup
    • 📖Crock Pot Soups
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📖Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    Introduction

    Better than restaurant quality, this crock pot French Onion Soup is perfect for everyday or special meals.

    I love good French onion soup. I mean really love it. If it's on the menu, I usually make sure I have it.

    Unfortunately, that means the good, the bad, and the ugly. I should put adequate on that list too. I can live with adequate, but most seem to be wanting and falling into the bad/ugly range.

    My Rating

    My rating system. Great 5 out of 5

    Very nice solid lower 5. You can make a little better French onion soup but with more work. This is much better than most restaurants. I have had only a few better.

    ❓What is French Onion Soup?

    From the 18th century, this traditional French soup can be used as an appetizer. But I love a bigger bowl for the main course.

    Good onion soup is more than a beef broth with some onions. You need to get the caramelization going well, or you have nothing. You need some long cooking to get there.

    Caramelization is the browning of sugar through the oxidation of those sugars. When correctly done, it results in a deep nutty flavor and brown color. Just what we need for a great soup

    While many techniques require multiple rounds of caramelization on the stovetop, you can do it in a crock pot. I'm lazy. I pick number two.

    Start by loading a slow cooker with some chopped-up onions. Cook with butter, salt, pepper, and thyme. Add a little Worcestershire sauce to deepen the flavor. Cook on high for a long time, add the broth, and cook a little longer. Then serve your favorite way. Yum.

    🧅Ingredients for French Onion Soup

    With many other recipes, you can use cheaper generic ingredients and get away with it. But with so few ingredients, quality matters here. So only use ingredients you trust.

    Onions

    Regular yellow or white onions are best. I consider white and red onions equivalent to my usual yellow onions, and some people like a mix.

    Sweet onions like Vidalias, Mauis, and Walla Wallas are probably not a good idea here. I don't like much sweetness here, and that may spoil the broth. But some people prefer the sweetness of these onions and may even add sugar, so your choice.

    Seasoning and Worcestershire sauce

    The seasoning is limited to some thyme with salt and pepper.

    Worcestershire sauce will make the "beef" flavor pop. It can be used in many cooking applications to boost that beef test, especially when using beef broth.

    I'm using Lee and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, which I trust, but I suspect there are other good choices.

    Beef Broth

    Very few commercial beef broths or stocks are above adequate, and many are just bad.

    I like Swanson broth. It has improved in quality over the years and is quite good now. The Swanson stock is also good, but I detect no difference in use, so I don't spend the extra money.

    You can do home stock or broth. It is easy to make and store but is not this recipe. It seems a little the top for a crock pot soup.

    Is wine or alcohol needed?

    Wine is not required for onion soup.

    Wine has traditionally been used to de-glaze the pan after caramelizing the onions—not really needed with a crock pot. But the wine also added flavor to the soup.

    Never cook with a wine you don't like. While I can enjoy food cooked with wine, it is not a taste I need in the food. I prefer mine in a glass.

    If you are using a wine (an option in the tips of the recipe card), I suggest a non-sweet, dry white, or red wine. A few suggestions: Sauv Blanc, Semillon, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Merlot or Pinot Noir.

    👨‍🍳How to Make Onion Soup in a Crock Pot

    1. Trim 1 ½ pounds of onions (about 3 medium onions) into rings or petals.
    2. Add the onion to a 2 ½ quart or larger crock pot with butter and seasonings.
    3. Cook on high for 9 to 10 hours to carmalize. This is variable depending on you crock pot. Check early several times.
    4. Add beef broth and cook one more hour on high.
    5. Serve usually with crusty bread and topped with cheese browned under a broiler.

    ♨️What Crock Pot to Use for Onion Soup

    This recipe can be easily doubled but could also be cut in half. The volume of this recipe is about 6 cups.  Slow cookers should not be overfilled, which means more than 75% full.  Most feel that bigger is fine but may cook a bit faster.

    So this fits well in a small crock pot of 2 quarts minimum. Double recipes (what I suggest making) need 4 quarts or bigger.

    Trouble shooting crock pot temperature

    Several readers have had trouble with 9 hours on high "burning." Whether they are interpreting deep caramelization for burning or they are really burnt, I can't say, but let's talk crock pots and their temperatures a bit.

    On a crock pot, both low and high should be 212° range and take a different time to get there. That is all controlled by a thermostat that has improved over the years.

    Some crock pots (especially older ones) can run over 300°, which may be the issue. Also, even newer crock pots can have a malfunctioning thermostat.

    So be advised that some crock pots may run hotter, so watch for "softened and deep golden brown" as the endpoint for the onions being done. If your crock pot boils on low, it may be in the "runs hot" category, then use low for this recipe.

    If you are using a full-size crock pot for this smaller recipe, you have less material to heat, and it may cook a bit faster. So right size crock pot is important, or watch the endpoint carefully.

    My 9-10 hours on high stands and is consistent with other similar recipes and less than Cooks Illustrated, which is 10-12 hours on high.

    ❓FAQs

    What cheese to use to finish?

    For the cheese, we like provolone, but some prefer gruyere or Swiss cheese. I like to use slices of cheese, but shredded cheese works fine.

    Again, quality matters.

    What bread to use?

    You can use what you want, but a nice crusty French baguette is my choice.
    Some crusty bread is used to float cheese on top. You can skip it, but it is traditional and helps keep the cheese on top.

    The bread must be toasted to prevent a sloppy mess. I use thinner slices, but many like cubes of bread, more like large croutons.

    ❄️Storage of French Onion Soup

    Store in an airtight container. Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and 3-4 months frozen.

    📖Crock Pot Soups

    Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup

    Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup

    Crock Pot Taco Soup

    Thick Crock Pot Cheeseburger Soup

    This recipe is part of Our Best Soups.

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    Crock Pot Recipes, Featured | Crock Pot Recipes, Small Crock Pots Recipes, Soup Recipes
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    onions and ingredients for soup

    Start with simple ingredients. The butter may be with or without salt.

    slicing onions on black board

    Chop 1 ½ pounds of onions, about 3 medium size onions. Some people will want rings or some petals—add to a 2 ½ quart or larger crock pot. If doubling the recipe, a 4 quarts or larger crock pot is needed. Triple needs larger than 6-quarts.

    onions with butter in a crock pot

    Add one teaspoon coarse salt, two tablespoons of butter, ½ teaspoon pepper, 1 ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, and ½ teaspoon thyme. Then stir together. The butter can go in unmelted, but you will need to stir in 1 hour or melt it first in the microwave.

    adding broth to cooked onions

    Cook on high for 9-10 hours until nicely darker brown. Be warned that some crock pots may run hot, and please watch for the endpoint and don't go by time alone. Using a larger crock pot may also lead to cooking too rapidly. Then add 4 cups of beef broth and cook on high for at least one hour more.

    toasted bread on bowls of soup

    Preheat broiler to high.  Arrange ramekin or oven-safe bowls on a cookie sheet. Ladle hot soup into the bowls, and float toasted crusty bread on the soup.

    cover soup with cheese

    Cover each bowl with cheese of your choice.

    bite of onion soup on a spoon

    Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden, 2-4 minutes.

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    📖Recipe

    French Onion in a bowl covered with browned cheese

    Crock Pot French Onion Soup

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Classic French onion soup features beefy broth loaded with caramelized onions topped with crusty bread and melted cheese. Elegant comfort food made ridiculously easy with your slow cooker. Perfect for a small crock pot or double to make the family size.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.32 from 215 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 hours 4 minutes
    Total Time: 10 hours 14 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 4

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 1 ½ pounds onions - about 3 medium size onions
    • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • ½ teaspoon pepper
    • 1 ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
    • ½ teaspoon thyme
    • 4 cups beef broth
    • Crusty bread
    • Cheese of choice for topping
    • ½ cup Wine - optional

    Instructions

    • Chop 1 ½ pounds of onions about 3 medium size onions. Some people will want rings or some petals—add to a 2 ½ quart or larger crock pot. If doubling the recipe, a 4 quarts or larger crock pot is needed. Triple needs larger than 6-quarts.
      slicing onions on black board
    • Add one teaspoon coarse salt, two tablespoons of butter, ½ teaspoon pepper, 1 ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, and ½ teaspoon thyme. Then stir together. The butter can go in unmelted, but you will need to stir in 1 hour or melt it first in the microwave.
      onions with butter in a crock pot
    • Cook on high for 9-10 hours until nicely darker brown. Be warned that some crock pots may run hot and please watch for the endpoint and don't go by time alone. Then add 4 cups of beef broth and cook on high for at least one hour more.
      adding broth to cooked onions
    • Preheat broiler to high. Arrange ramekin or oven-safe bowls on a cookie sheet. Ladle hot soup into the bowls, float toasted crusty bread on sou
      toasted bread on bowls of soup
    • Cover each bowl with cheese of your choice.
      cover soup with cheese
    • Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden, 2-4 minutes.
      bite of onion soup on a spoon
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    My Private Notes

    Click here to save your own private notes only you will see. These will print and be saved for your next visit.
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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips

    1. Be advised that some crock pots may run hotter so watch for softened and deep golden brown as the endpoint for the onions being done. I would say if your crock pot ever boils on low, it may be in the "runs hot" category, then use low for this recipe. More discussion in the post.
    2. Also, using a much larger crock pot for this small recipe may cook a bit faster.
    3. Please check the onions halfway through due to the above.
    4. This recipe can be easily double but could also be cut in half.
    5. This makes about 6 cups of soup. I call that 4 servings of 1 ½ cups each.
    6. As written, use a 2 ½ to 4-quart crock pot. For a double recipe, you will need 4-quart or more. A triple recipe fits in a 6 quart or larger.
    7. Some type of crusty bread is used to float cheese on top. You can use what you want, but a nice crusty French baguette is my choice. For the cheese we like provolone, but some prefer Gruyere or Swiss.
    8. Quality matters here in the choice of broth. Do not cheap out on generic.
    9. Wine can be added to the soup with the broth. A half cup would be about the right amount. Suggestions discussed in the post.
    10. Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and 3-4 months frozen.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Calories : 278 kcal (14%) | Carbohydrates : 33 g (11%) | Protein : 11 g (22%) | Fat : 12 g (18%) | Saturated Fat : 7 g (35%) | Polyunsaturated Fat : 1 g | Monounsaturated Fat : 2 g | Cholesterol : 31 mg (10%) | Sodium : 807 mg (34%) | Potassium : 284 mg (8%) | Fiber : 3 g (12%) | Sugar : 9 g (10%) | Vitamin A : 400 IU (8%) | Vitamin C : 15.7 mg (19%) | Calcium : 240 mg (24%) | Iron : 2.7 mg (15%)
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Soup
    Cuisine : French

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Editors Note: Originally published July 12, 2015. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. joan

      December 23, 2017 at 12:11 pm

      Recently made this. Turned out great. So much easier than slowly cooking onions on the stove. 9 hours on high was good. Will be making onion soup a lot more now.

      Reply
      • DrDan

        December 24, 2017 at 7:40 pm

        Hi Joan and Happy Holidays

        This does turn out a great soup. Once you know your crock pot, this is a put it on in the morning and have a great dinner type recipe.

        Thanks for the note.
        Dan

    2. Melanye

      December 20, 2017 at 11:34 am

      Does the cook time change if using a larger crock pot?

      Reply
      • DrDan

        December 20, 2017 at 2:55 pm

        General rules are that too small may prolong cooking time if more than 75% full. Too big is usually considered fine. BUT here we are prolonged cooking on high. I would expect it to cook faster. And if you have one of those pots that boils on low (IE a hot pot) we could be burning the onions. If in doubt, cook on low and look for the end point of soft and deep golden brown.

        Dan

    3. Lisa Huff

      December 14, 2017 at 6:13 pm

      Oh wow, this looks so good!

      Reply
    4. Mary

      November 18, 2017 at 11:22 am

      I've had mine cooking for 2 hrs so far and my house smells Ah-MAZING! Can't wait for dinner tonight.

      Reply
      • Mary

        November 18, 2017 at 5:41 pm

        It didn’t disappoint! No burnt onions even cooking on high for 9 hrs. Perfectly carmalized and a fantastic soup!

    5. Emily

      October 14, 2017 at 11:22 am

      I made this recently and it was SO easy and delish! I ended up buying jarelsburg cheese. I will make this again for sure!

      Reply
      • DrDan

        October 17, 2017 at 11:19 pm

        Thanks for the note. It is one of my favorite soups.
        Dan

    6. Chris

      October 07, 2017 at 10:49 am

      At what point to you add the ingredients from 2nd crock pot? 😊

      Reply
      • DrDan

        October 07, 2017 at 11:44 am

        No second crock pot. Carmalize onions then add broth and cook some more. Then is ready to put into bowls with bread and cheese.
        Dan

    7. Colette Watts

      September 19, 2017 at 11:49 am

      Before I make this can you freeze the soup.
      Tks

      Reply
      • DrDan

        September 19, 2017 at 11:55 am

        Yep

    8. Cera

      August 26, 2017 at 11:14 am

      Cut a huge portion of time off by quickly caramelizing your onions in butter prior to adding to the crock pot. Adds a ton more flavor and onions are not mush.

      Reply
    9. Paige

      February 23, 2017 at 2:14 pm

      What kind of cheese and bread do you prefer to use? And how much of each?

      Reply
      • DrDan

        February 24, 2017 at 6:39 pm

        I like a crusty French or Italian bread with Provolone cheese. About 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick slice of the bread to cover the dish and just enough cheese to cover also.

    10. Jennifer

      January 25, 2017 at 7:53 pm

      Should I use yellow onions??

      Reply
      • DrDan

        January 25, 2017 at 7:58 pm

        Yellow or white.

    11. Nicole

      December 02, 2016 at 3:12 pm

      So I'm like Dan, mine burned a lil. I started it at 730am, it is now 111pm can i add the broth and let it sit on low all day? The onions are pretty camerlized but my husband and son don't get home till about 5pm

      Reply
      • DrDan

        December 02, 2016 at 3:20 pm

        I think some crock pots run too hot for this recipe on high. With your pot, do low next time. Remove from heat now since they are caramelized and refrigerate. Then about an hour and a half before you need it, add the broth and cook on low. It does need to simmer some with the broth and not just reheat.

    12. Willie Mitchell

      September 06, 2016 at 11:53 am

      Sound delious.. Only thing I dislike onions ?

      Reply
    13. Dr. Horshenschwartz (from the clinic)

      March 02, 2016 at 4:13 pm

      5 stars
      Excellent. Made it a couple months ago, making it again today with 6 pounds of onions. Smells amazing!

      Reply
    14. Dan

      January 28, 2016 at 8:58 pm

      You must have a typo. When you cook onions on high for 9 hours you get burnt onions. I know because I did it. I'm mad that I didn't use my own common sense. You should change that to say LOW for 9 hours. Please fix this so others like me dont have their whole house smelling of burnt onions.

      Reply
      • DrDan

        January 28, 2016 at 9:49 pm

        Hi Dan...

        Sorry it didn't work well for you but high is correct. I did it twice and 9 hours on high worked great in two different pot I have. I check some references before I replied and they are all over the place. 8 hours on low to 14 hours on high. Cooks Country does high for 10-12 hours...

        So what went wrong. 1) your crock pot runs hot and/or 2) some variation in the onions.

        I'm putting an advisory on the recipe stating to cook to "softened and deep golden brown". You want the caramelization.

        Thanks for the note

        DrDan

      • Paula Mencucci

        November 13, 2017 at 5:40 pm

        I had the same problem. Burnt onions....I'm sad because I use the crockpot when I"m not home to cook and when I come home after a long day to ruined dinner, I'm extremely disappointed :( Apparently my crockpot runs hot, but only on one side...

      • DrDan

        November 13, 2017 at 8:38 pm

        Hi Paula,

        I changed some wording about hot pots. I believe it was Crock Pot brand that had the heating element located in one location near the front if I remember right and not around the pot. They had a lot of localized burning from what I understood.

        The warning I added about hot pots was if you see boiling when cooking on low, then you should assume a hot pot. On low a crock pot should be 207 or less. Most run right at 200. It is harder to measure the temperature on high since it should be about 250 but some pots run 300. Since both are above the boiling point you can't get an accurate measurement without special equipment. That, of course, does not address hot localized spots.

        Again, sorry you had an issue.

        Dan

    15. Kathy Heiber

      November 19, 2015 at 8:52 pm

      This is delicious....I have always loved French Onion Soup and now I can have it whenever I want....YAY!!!

      rating...+10

      Reply
    16. Peg

      November 03, 2015 at 4:23 pm

      Do you leave it covered or open?

      Reply
      • DrDan

        November 03, 2015 at 8:27 pm

        Covered.

    17. Steven House

      September 27, 2015 at 1:03 am

      5 stars
      I LOVE french onion soup, but rarely make it since caramelizing the onions is almost a day long affair. For some reason I never considered using my crock pot. I can't wait to try this. Many thanks!

      Reply
    18. Cheryl S.

      August 25, 2015 at 7:52 pm

      4 stars
      LOVE the onion soup. Even my very picky 10 year old gave it a definite thumbs up! Who knew it could be so easy?!?

      Reply
      • DrDan

        August 26, 2015 at 11:52 am

        Thanks for the note and rating. I have repeated this several times.

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