French onion soup is one of those incredibly flavourful dishes that is very much worth the time it takes to make. If you use high quality ingredients and take the time to slowly caramelize your onions the flavour is truly amazing. This mean a good beef broth, wine, onions, cheese and fresh herbs. French onion soup is a very easy recipe to make with only a few core ingredients. You can even caramelize your onions overnight in a crockpot to get the process started.

This recipe screams fall to me with the deep reich brown colour it creates and the warm comforting taste. I use a combination of 2 different types on onions in this recipe as well to make sure you get all of the rounded out onion flavour. Every-time I make this recipe it reminds me of my dad too cause he loved it.

Ingredients:

4 large yellow onions
2 large sweet onions, Vidalia
6 Tablespoons butter
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 Bay leaves
¾ cup dry white wine (Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio)
3 tablespoons flour, optional
4 cups beef broth (high quality is key)
1 beef bouillon
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt/Pepper to taste
1 baguette
3 Tablespoons olive oil, optional
6 slices Gruyere cheese

Tips & Tricks:

Slicing Onions: Don’t chop the onions too thin. As the onions reduce they will shrink and thin onions become very stringy. Aim for 1/4 inch thick.
Wine: The best wines to use in this recipe are dry white wines like pinot grigio. If you don’t want wine you can substitute 3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar + chicken or beef broth to make 3/4 cup.
Caramelizing the Onions: This process takes a long time potentially several hours. Make sure to coat you onions well in butter, cook on low, and mix the onions every 15 minutes. At first there will not be a ton of change but things go quickly near then end.
Cheese: Gruyere cheese is best. Other cheese options include Comte, Emmental (Swiss), Provolone, or Mozzarella.
Freezing: This soup freezes great! Allow it too fully cool before adding it to a freezer safe container. It will stay good for up to 3 months. Do not freeze the bread though.

Crockpot Version:

The beauty of making this in a crockpot is that you don’t have to stir it all the time! The whole recipe can’t get made in the crockpot but you can definatly get the process started.

Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter in the Crock Pot. Add the onions and toss to coat. Cook on low for 10 hours.
After cooking for 10 hours add 2 Tablespoons of butter to a large pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Wait until it begins to foam. Add the onions and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Decrease heat to medium. Add the white wine and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Pour in the beef broth, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, and add the bay leaves and thyme.
Simmer for another 45 minutes on the stove with the lid cracked. OR, transfer back to the Slow Cooker and cook for 2-3 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low.

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