Name: Slow Cooker French Onion Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 8 h
Total time: 8 h 20 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 kg onions, thinly sliced; 50 g butter; 1 tsp salt; 1 tbsp plain flour; 100 ml dry sherry; 1 ¼ litres beef stock; 4 sprigs thyme; 1 bay leaf; ½ tsp black pepper; 6 slices baguette, about 100 g; 150 g Gruyère, grated

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

Sliced onions slow cooked for 8 hours into deep amber sweetness, then simmered with beef stock and sherry and finished with cheese toasts.

8 hr 20 min total Serves 6 servings Easy

The Case for Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

Why does French onion soup need so many onions? Because they shrink to almost nothing as they caramelise, and a pot that starts overflowing ends up a third full. Plan for about a kilo of onions for six bowls, and slice them evenly so they cook at the same rate.

The slow cooker makes the hardest part, the caramelising, nearly effortless. Instead of standing at the hob for 45 minutes, you put the sliced onions in with butter and salt, switch it on and leave it for 8 hours. The onions turn soft, dark and sweet as their sugars slowly brown. Salt helps by drawing out moisture.

Deglaze before the stock goes in. After the 8 hours, stir in a splash of sherry or white wine and a spoon of flour, then the beef stock and thyme. Cook for another 30 minutes on high. The flour thickens the soup lightly and the sherry adds depth.

For the cheese toasts, toast slices of baguette, cover with grated Gruyère, and grill until bubbling. Float one on each bowl. Use ovenproof bowls and grill the bowl with the toast for 3 minutes if you want the cheese to melt over the rim.

Build the Meal Around Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

Green salad
Crusty bread
Red wine
Cornichons

How to Make Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

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Put the onions, butter and salt in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, stirring once or twice, until deep amber.
Stir in the flour, then the sherry, stock, thyme, bay leaf and pepper.
Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes. Remove the thyme and bay leaf.
Toast the baguette slices, top with the Gruyère and grill until bubbling.
Ladle the soup into bowls and float a cheese toast on each.

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A Few Notes

Slice the onions evenly.

Stir once or twice during the long cook.

Use Gruyère for the best melt.

Keeping What's Left

The soup keeps for 4 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. Make the toasts fresh.

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. The calories include 3 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.

387Calories

16gProtein

35gCarbs

18gFat

4gFibre

11gSugar

960mgSodium

No Added Sugar

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

Build the Meal Around Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

How to Make Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

A Few Notes

Keeping What's Left

Nutrition per Serving

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

Build the Meal Around Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

How to Make Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

A Few Notes

Keeping What's Left

Nutrition per Serving

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

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