Instant Pot French Onion Soup! French onion soup is comfort food at its finest. Rich, intensely-flavored broth and caramelized onions, topped with crusty, cheese-covered bread is sure to warm anyone on a cold winter’s night. Make this delicious soup in half the time by using your Instant Pot!

Photography Credit: Coco Morante

French onion soup is a bistro classic for a reason—the combination of deeply savory, onion-packed broth and a cheesy browned crouton makes for a satisfying, comforting dish.

As the crouton sits in the broth, it becomes soft enough to break apart with a spoon, giving you cheesy, bready goodness in every bite.

This pressure cooker version comes together in just over an hour (but if you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can also make Stovetop French Onion Soup).

Even better, it’ll stay hot on your pressure cooker’s warming setting for hours, so you can prepare the soup any time of day that’s convenient, then add the cheesy toasts just before serving.

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HOW TO MAKE FRENCH ONION SOUP IN A PRESSURE COOKER

Using your pressure cooker’s high “sauté” setting will speed up caramelizing onions for French onion soup—I find that it takes just half an hour for them to become golden and sticky-sweet.

I like to start by adding salt and sugar to the onions (this helps to draw out their liquid), then leave a lid on the pot for about 10 minutes to really kickstart the sweating process. Instant Pot makes a non-pressure cooking lid, or you can use any 9-inch tempered glass or metal lid from your cabinet.

Then, finish caramelizing the onions with the lid off for another 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until they’re golden brown.

Finally, you’ll add the rest of your ingredients and cook the soup under pressure for five minutes. The pressure cooking softens the onions even further and helps to meld all of the flavors together.

At this point, the soup itself is done—all you need to do is ladle it into bowls; add a slice of bread to each bowl, and broil some cheese on top in the oven.

New to the Instant Pot? Read our First Timer’s Guide to all things Instant Pot.

THE BEST ONIONS FOR FRENCH ONION SOUP

For the onions, yellow or red ones work equally well. Choose regular onions over the “sweet” varieties, since they’ll tend to have more flavor.

THE BEST BREAD FOR FRENCH ONION SOUP

A French baguette is traditional, but you can try sourdough if you like a tangier flavor. Just make sure the bread is nice and crusty so it can hold up well to being dunked in the soup.

THE BEST CHEESE FOR FRENCH ONION SOUP

Let’s be real—just about any melty cheese is going to be delicious when broiled on top of a crusty slice of bread.

The traditional cheese is Gruyere (and that’s what I’ve used here). Its nutty, slightly sweet taste complements the beefy, oniony broth. If you can’t find Gruyere, use Jarlsberg, Emmental, or any Swiss cheese for a similar substitute. Sharp cheddar would be tasty, too.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH FRENCH ONION SOUP

French onion soup makes a hearty first course for a roast chicken dinner. It’s also great as a light lunch or afternoon snack—either on its own or with some lightly dressed greens (and maybe some more cheesy croutons) on the side.

STORING AND FREEZING FRENCH ONION SOUP

This soup will keep for about five days in the fridge. To reheat, warm the soup on the stovetop or in the microwave, then top with bread and cheese, and broil before serving.

If you’d like to make ahead and freeze your French onion soup, freeze the soup separately from the bread and cheese.

My favorite method for freezing is to place a silicone mini-loaf pan on a baking sheet, ladle portions of soup into the pan, let them freeze solid, then pop out the “loaves” of soup into a freezer-safe bag or other container. They’ll thaw faster than if you froze the soup in a big block, and you can reheat them in a pot on the stovetop or in individual servings in a microwave-safe bowl.

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