The kids are off school this week, I am trying to catch up on blog work, house work… all the work. So the last thing I want to do is cook. My crockpot gets a lot of use in the winter months because I want meals that are easy as we go about the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I have been craving French onion soup so I picked up just a few ingredients at the store and with minimal effort I made an Easy French Onion Soup.
You could go super fancy with layers of flavors with this soup, or you can just use my recipe and have an easy to make good to eat soup that is sure to please. I was able to find some huge sweet onions for this recipe so I only used two, but if you can’t find the big ones then just use 4 regular ones. Chop the onion into small chunks. Now if you want to add a simple step that would give the soup a great flavor boost then I suggest sauteing the onions in some olive oil until browned and slightly caramelized. If you want to keep it easy then skip that step.
Place the onions, 4 garlic cloves, small bunch of fresh thyme, and 1 quart of stock into your crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The crockpot does all the work of cooking down the onions and making a delicious soup. I put the whole stems and leaves of the thyme in the soup and the leaves will eventually fall off as it cooks. When finished, just pull out the stems since those aren’t the most pleasant to eat. If you have some red wine leftover… haha I know that rarely happens.. then add some to the soup.
To make it like you would find in a restaurant, ladle some soup into an oven proof bowl, top with a chunk of baguette, slice of smoked gouda or your favorite cheese then broil until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. I didn’t have any of my good gluten free bread so I just did the melted cheese topper.
This soup is soul satisfying. So simple. Yet so delicious. You could make a few simple tweaks with some sliced mushrooms, other herbs, or even some smoky paprika to amp the flavors.
What is your favorite soup to make in the crockpot?
Looks fantastic!