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 it's been simmering all day, you come home to an amazing aroma and a fabulous meal for a cold winter day. 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!
- Preparation:
- Cooking:
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Ingredients
- 6tablespoons butter
- 4large yellow onions, sliced and separated into rings
- 1tablespoon white sugar
- 2cloves garlic, minced
- ½cup cooking sherry
- 7cups reduced-sodium beef broth
- 1teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
- ¼teaspoon dried thyme
- 1bay leaf
- 8slices of French bread
- ½cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- ⅓cup shredded Emmental cheese
- ¼cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Step 1
Heat butter in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add onions; cook and stir until translucent, about 10 minutes. 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.Step 2
Stir sherry into onion mixture; scrape the bottom to dissolve the small bits of browned food. Transfer onions into a slow cooker and pour in beef broth. Season with sea salt; stir in thyme and bay leaf. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 to 6 hours.Step 3
Preheat the oven broiler about 10 minutes before serving. Set an oven rack about 8 inches from the heat source.Step 4
Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet; broil until toasted, 1 to 2 minutes per side.Step 5
Lightly toss Gruyere, Emmental, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses in a bowl. Fill oven-safe soup crocks 3/4 full with onion soup and float a bread slice in each bowl. Top each with about 2 tablespoons cheese mixture.Step 6
Place filled bowls onto a baking sheet and broil until cheese topping is lightly browned and bubbling, about 2 minutes.