There are few composed dishes in this world that I enjoy more then a legit French Onion Soup. There’s something so amazingly filling, comforting, rich and if made right, luxurious about a blazing hot crock of rich broth that is loaded with sweet onions and then topped with a bubbly hot blanket of melted and caramelized cheese. Turned on? I get it. That might have been the sexiest sentence I’ve ever written.
Obviously by the name, we already know where this onion soup originated. But onion soup itself was even noted back in Ancient Rome as it was an easy to make soup for the poor beings that onions were easy to grow and plentiful. The modern day take of French Onion soup surged in the 1960’s thanks to my girl Julia Child exposing the world to the delights of French Cuisine. One of my favorite episodes of her original tv show was the second episode where she made her French Onion Soup, burned it and basically said, “Oh well” and served it anyways. No multiple takes for Julia!
In French, the soup can be known as Soupe à l’oignon à la Parisienne or Soupe à l’oignon Gratinée. The usual suspects for the broth are of course, onions, beef broth, butter, sugar, salt, flour and thyme. Some will use a red or white wine or sometimes even a vermouth to deglaze their pan. I switched things up and thought, why not use Bourbon? As noted in some of my other articles, I’m not a sweets girl and especially not with alcohol. I like dry wines and prefer bourbon and whiskey as my hard liquors of choice. You can use a whiskey if you’d like but I went with a Texas Bourbon to add another level of flavor.
The world has gone Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker crazy and with good reason. It’s ability to complete meals quickly and easily has brought it up to the ranks of Air Fryers as the current popular and accessible kitchen electronic. While I am a traditionalist normally when it comes to French Cuisine, using my pressure cooker to make this soup seemed like a natural and easy choice.
The onions sweated down easily on the “Brown/Saute” option. Occasional stirring of them went down as I emptied my dishwasher, rotated laundry and tidied up around the house. After 20 minutes of stirring and adding in the spices and flour, it was time to add the bourbon.
What a wonderfully alcoholic based smell! The onions, the butter and the bourbon all united and ensured that this was going to be French Onion Soup 2.0.
After cooking off some of the alcohol, the beef broth went in. Now, it’s time to let our little pressure cooker/instant pot do it’s job. 15 minutes later and the soup itself was done.
While the soup had been cooking, I toasted off some french bread slices in a pan. You can just put regular bread in, but toasting it locks in the moisture and allows it to hold up a bit more, especially when you get to the broiling part.
Next, was building this bowl of French Gold. Bowl, Broth, Croutons and my favorite part, cheese. Traditionalists call for Gruyere, a more mellow swiss cheese without the holes. Many modern takes opt to use provolone instead. I met them half way and used both. While gruyere can be found normally in slices, never fear if you can’t find it, like I couldn’t. Shredded can work just fine.
I layered on the provolone and then added a pile of the shredded gruyere right on top.
You could just put the whole crock into the oven but a tip is to either use a sheet tray or my preference, a saute pan to hold it. This gives you a handle to get the screaming hot soup out of the oven and ensures more stability taking it out.
Lastly, please let this thing cool before you eat it. It is blazing hot and will burn the ever living life out of your tongue. The broth itself can be frozen for future enjoyment. On the go? Can’t build a crock? Add the cheese into your container that you are heating it in and throw some croutons in when it’s done.
Pressure Cooker Boozy French Onion Soup
Makes 8 Crocks
- 1/4 cup butter, non salted
- 6 cups Yellow Onions, sliced
- Salt & Pepper to Taste
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Thyme, Fresh and Chopped
- 1/4 cup Flour
- 1/2 cup Bourbon
- 1 3/4 Quarts Beef Broth
- 10 Slices of French Bread, Toasted
- 24 Provolone Slices8 Gruyere Slices or 4 Cups Shredded Gruyere
Set pressure cooker to a “Brown/Saute” option and add butter. Once melted, add in onions.
Stirring occasionally, allow onions to sweat down. Once translucent, add salt and pepper, thyme and flour.
Continue cooking until onions start to caramelize.
Add bourbon in to deglaze pan. Allow alcohol to cook off for 3 minutes and then add beef broth in.
Put lid on and allow to cook for 15 minutes.
In a crock, ladle hot soup, croutons, 3 slices of provolone cheese and 1 slice of gruyere or 1/2 cup of shredded gruyere.
Place in oven on Broil Setting for 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and golden brown.
Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.