Better than restaurant quality, this Crock Pot French Onion Soup is an elegant classic soup for everyday or special meals. With its beefy broth loaded with caramelized onions, it will become a regular at your home with these easy step by step photo instructions.
Chop 1 1/2 pounds of onions about 3 medium size onions. Add to a smaller crock pot. If doubling recipe then a full-size crock pot is correct.
Add one teaspoon coarse salt, two tablespoons butter, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 teaspoon thyme. The butter can go in unmelted, but you will need to stir in 1 hour or melt it first in the microwave.
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.
Preheat broiler to high. Arrange ramekin or oven-safe bowls on a cookie sheet. Ladle hot soup it into the bowls, float toasted crusty bread on soup and cover each bowl with cheese of your choice.
Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden, 2-4 minutes.
Notes
Pro Tips:
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.
Also, using a much larger crock pot for this small recipe may cook a bit faster.
Please check the onions half way though due to the above.
This recipe can be easily double but could also be cut in half.
As written, use a 2 1/2 to 4-quart crock pot. For a double recipe, you will need 4-quart or more.
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.
Quality matters here in the choice of broth. Do not cheap out on generic.
Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and 3-4 months frozen.
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