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French Onion Soup - Instant Pot

FINALLY, I made good french onion soup.

This post comes after many attempts at making good french onion soup. I got hooked on french onion soup back when Panera was St. Louis Bread Company and their french onion soup was delicious (it's not worthwhile anymore), and in the 16 years since I left St. Louis, I've been trying to find a decent recipe.

Thank you, instant pot.

The recipe is from Gimme Delicious and I followed it exactly, except that I halved the entire recipe but kept the full quantity of garlic.

It only gets pressure cooked for 5 minutes, so I don't know if the pressure cooking is the secret. I think part of the instant pot magic here is that the "saute" function is at the perfect temperature for caramelizing onions. Normally, when I do that part in a pot, I get impatient and turn up the heat too high and it doesn't work. This took just under an hour but it came out perfectly. I think it would have been quicker in a big instant pot, since the onions stacked up pretty high in my little one.

Another key, I think, is the quality of the beef broth. I followed the original recipe's suggestion and used College Inn beef broth. This was unintentional... the real reason I chose College Inn is because it was the only beef broth at Trader Joe's. But I considered that another vote for College Inn, and it worked out well.

One day I might get fancy and broil the cheese in the bowls, but I just microwaved it, and it was fine.

I served it with tuna over greens. 


The Recipe:
1 lb yellow onions, sliced (about 3 large onions)
2 tb butter
1/2 tb brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tb flour
32 oz beef broth (1 tall box)
1 tb balsamic vinegar
baguette slices and swiss cheese, for serving
  • Place onion slices, butter, and brown sugar in instant pot on saute mode. Stir occasionally for about 45 minutes, until onions are caramelized.
  • Add flour and garlic. Stir for 1 minute.
  • Add beef broth and vinegar.
  • Pressure cook for 5 minutes. The original recipe says to do quick release, but I let it release naturally.
  • Top with toasted baguette slices and swiss cheese, and broil or microwave until cheese is melted.

The Verdict:
Overall grade: A
Overall reason: Delicious flavor, easy except for the time it takes to caramelize onions.
Time to prepare: An hour and a half
Kid quote: "Make sure to serve this with something green, so we are healthy." (He then ate his spinach and kale leaves before touching his soup, bread, or tuna.)
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