Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

This slow cooker French onion soup is ridiculously easy to make, mainly since it cooks in a slow cooker! After you caramelize the onions, it simmers all day, and you come home to an amazing aroma and a fabulous

Basic Details:

Prep time:

30 mins

Cook Time:

4 hrs 45 mins

Total Time:

5 hrs 15 mins

Servings:

8

Yield:

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Ingredients

Original recipe (1X) yields 8 servings

  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 4 large yellow onions, sliced and separated into rings
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup cooking sherry
  • 7 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 8 slices of French bread
  • ½ cup shredded Gruyere cheese
  • ⅓ cup shredded Emmental cheese
  • ¼ cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

  1. Gather all ingredients.

    Ingredients to make slow cooker French onion soup
     

  2. Heat butter in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add onions; cook and stir until translucent, about 10 minutes.

    A large pot with sliced onions cooking down in butter
     

  3. Sprinkle onions with sugar; reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring constantly, until onions are soft and caramelized, at least 30 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

    A large pot of caramelized sliced onions
     

  4. Stir sherry into onion mixture; scrape the bottom to dissolve the small bits of browned food.

    A large pot of caramelized onions and sherry, being stirred with a wooden spoon
     

  5. Transfer onions into a slow cooker and pour in beef broth. Season with sea salt; stir in thyme and bay leaf.

    A slow cooker with caramelized onions, with beef stock being poured over the onions
     

  6. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 to 6 hours.

    A slow cooker with caramelized onions cooking in beef broth
     

  7. Preheat the oven broiler about 10 minutes before serving. Set an oven rack about 8 inches from the heat source. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet; broil until toasted, 1 to 2 minutes per side.

    A baking sheet with toasted slices of bread
     

  8. Lightly toss Gruyere, Emmental, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses in a bowl.

    A small glass bowl of shredded cheese
     

  9. Fill oven-safe soup crocks 3/4 full with onion soup and float a bread slice in each bowl.

    Two crocks of onion soup, next to a slow cooker of onion soup
     

  10. Top each with about 2 tablespoons cheese mixture.

    Two crocks of slow cooker French onion soup topped with shredded cheese
     

  11. Place filled bowls onto a baking sheet and broil until cheese topping is lightly browned and bubbling, about 2 minutes.

    A crock of slow cooker French onion soup, topped with melted cheese
     

Cook’s Note

You do not have to caramelize the onions; you can melt the butter in your crockpot, stir in the onions to coat, add the remaining ingredients, and cook. However, caramelizing the onions makes for a much, much better soup!

If you like, put all the soup components — soup, toasted bread, and cheese mixture — out on the table and let people make their soup! This seems to be the favored method when I host a craft night. People can make their own decisions about what they want in or on their soup!

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

Calories

442

Fat

16g

Carbs

57g

Protein

18g