National Soup Month - French Onion Soup

Recipe Box
Written By Jody Linn

January is National Soup Month in North America! Of course, we’re in the coldest months of the year and it’s the fastest way to warm up from the inside out. I grew up thinking that this was the fanciest of the soups, rumor had it that it took many hours of hard work, standing over the caramelized onions before you could even get to the soup part! Once I got a slow cooker, most of those objections were demolished. Freezing it into servings took care of the rest. Here’s how I do it:

Slow Cooker Onions

  • 3-4 pounds white, yellow, or red onions peeled and sliced

  • 3 T butter melted

  • S&P

  • Optional:

  • 1 T brown sugar

  • 2 t balsamic vinegar

Pour butter over sliced onions in slow cooker. Toss till coated and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours. Give them a stir and season. If they're juicy at this point, offset the lid by an inch before continuing. Cook for another 3-4 hours until the extra liquid is gone and they're jammy. Use immediately or fridge for 3 days, freeze for 3 months.

French Onion Soup (serves around 4)

  • 1/2 c unsalted butter

  • 2 T olive oil

  • 4 c sliced onion (1/2-3/4” wide slices) CARAMELIZED

  • 5 cups beef broth

  • 3 T dry sherry

  • 2 t Worcestershire sauce

  • 1 t dried thyme

  • S&P TT

  • 4slices French bread

  • 4 slices Provolone cheese

  • 2 slices Swiss cheese

  • 1/2 c Parmesan cheese

  • Extra Butter & Parmesan cheese for toasting bread.

Preheat the oven to 250F

Melt butter in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the caramelized onions and stir until they’re back up to temperature. Add the broth, sherry, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme. Season with salt & pepper. Bring just to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer around 30 minutes.

Cut the bread to bowl size (I use one of the actual bowls as a guide and cut around the edge). Butter the bread, sprinkle with Parmesan and bake around 30 minutes @ 250 till dry and crisp. After the bread is out of the oven, preheat the broiler.

Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon Parmesan into the bottom of oven-safe serving bowls. Ladle soup into the bowls and place one slice of toasted bread on top. Layer each slice of bread with a slice of Provolone cheese, 1/2 slice of Swiss cheese, and 1 Tablespoon of Parmesan cheese.

Place bowls on a cookie sheet and broil in the oven until the cheese bubbles and browns slightly, ~2-3 minutes.

I always have leftover soup, it freezes really well and torn up toast works well as a shortcut for fancy bread rounds. Don’t skimp on the cheese though!

Jody Linn