Name: Instant Pot French Onion Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 6 medium yellow onions (thinly sliced); 3 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 bay leaf; 1 cup sherry; 8 cups beef broth; 1 tablespoon fresh thyme; 2 cloves garlic (minced); 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper; 1 tablespoon salt; 12 ounces Gruyere cheese (shredded); 1 French baguette

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Gooey cheese, crusty bread, caramelized and a rich beef broth...this Instant Pot French Onion Soup is ultra easy to make right in the pressure cooker!

bowl of soup with bread and cheese on top

Instead of spending 45 minutes over the stove caramelizing onions, they are cooked right in the Instant Pot. It makes it SUPER easy to make.

Cooked with a rich beef broth, lots of butter, caramelized onions, sherry and herbs, then topped with crusty French bread and Gruyere cheese and broiled to gooey perfection...

This soup is GOOD guys. I am just in love with how easy it comes together and how wonderful it tastes with the crusty bread and bubbly melted cheese.

Add this to your collection of body and soul warming soups, like this Instant Pot clam chowder, Instant Pot tomato soup, Creamy Tortellini Soup, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, Seafood Gumbo or this Chicken Curry Stew.

Plus, who can say no to cleaning only one pot?

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Ingredients
Step By Step Instructions
Expert Tips
Recipe
💬 Comments

Ingredients

I like to use yellow onions for their bright flavor, but any kind of onion can be used in this recipe.

Gruyere is the most common cheese used in French onion soup, however, you can substitute Swiss, Jarlsberg, or Emmantheler.

I STRONGLY recommend using Homemade Beef Broth for this recipe as the flavor will be better. However, store bought will work for convenience as well. Buy Beef Stock. (paid link)

A nice crusty French baguette is the best bread to use for French Onion Soup. However, you can also use crusty sourdough or any crusty homemade bread. Learn how to make your own French Baguette.

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Step By Step Instructions

Melt the butter in the Instant Pot on the sauté setting. Add the onions and stir to coat with the butter.

Switch the Instant Pot to the pressure setting and cook on high for 20 minutes. Use the quick release to release the pressure.

Turn the Instant Pot to saute and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions start to turn brown and much of the liquid has evaporated.

Add the garlic, sherry, beef broth, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes.

Use the quick release to release the pressure.

While the soup is cooking, slice the baguette into 1 inch slices. Ladle the soup into individual oven proof crocks (I love these oven proof crocks). (paid link)

Place 1-2 slices of bread over the soup and sprinkle with about ⅛ of the grated Gruyere.

Place the bowls under the broiler until the cheese is melted and browned, about 2-3 minutes. Be sure to watch it under the broiler to ensure it doesn't burn. All broilers act a little different.

bowl with bread and cheese over soup with a spoon in it

Make it a meal by serving this soup alongside this Chicken Liver Mousse as the start of a meal, as a precursor to this Roasted Duck, or as a meal with this Spinach Salad.

You may also like these French onion smothered pork chops.

Expert Tips

Use beef bone broth for the best results.
Substitute any type of onions for the yellow onions.
If using dried thyme, use half the amount called for in the recipe.
Substitute Swiss, Jarlsberg, or Emmantheler for the Gruyere if desired. They all have a great flavor and go very well with this soup.
A crusty French baguette is the best bread to use, but any crusty bread can be used. You can also toast the bread for extra crustiness.
Adjust salt to taste. Depending on the beef broth you use, it may contain more sodium than others. The recipe calls for a minimal amount of salt, but you will likely need to adjust it if using unsalted/low sodium broth.