French Onion Soup Recipes (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot) (2024)

FAQs

Does soup taste better in slow cooker? ›

Slow cookers can transform a few simple ingredients into the most delicious soups by simmering them for hours. This low and slow cooking allows the flavors to mingle, creating rich, flavorful soups perfect for chilly days, nights, or any day you want to enjoy a bowl full of goodness.

Update the cooking time: Instant Pots are designed to cook much faster than slow cookers, so you'll need to adjust the cooking time accordingly. As a rule of thumb, you can cook most slow cooker recipes in an Instant Pot on high pressure for one quarter of the slow cooker time.

A few sprigs of thyme and a bay leaf elevate the soup even more, but I take it a step further, adding a splash of fish sauce for complexity and depth—don't worry, it won't taste fishy—and a hit of cider vinegar to balance some of that oniony sweetness.

Generally, if your slow cooker meat, soup, or stew recipe calls for 8 hours on the low setting or about 4 hours on the high setting, it should be fully cooked in about 25 to 30 minutes in the Instant Pot. For chicken or turkey, use the 15-minute poultry button. While volume doesn't matter, density does.

Slow cookers and pressure cookers come in a variety of sizes up to eight quarts, but pressure cookers need extra room inside the pot for the steam to accumulate, which limits the batch size. If you have a large family or plan on making soups and stews you can store for later, you may be better served by a slow cooker.

The pressure cooker has no rival when it comes to preparing soup quickly and easily. Not only do pressure cookers speed up cooking time, but they're also energy efficient. With so many different pressure cookers, it can be overwhelming to pick the one that's right for you.

To amp up the flavor further, I add a generous amount of white wine, along with aromatic thyme and garlic. Then, I finish it all off with a classic French onion soup essential: toasty baguette topped with melty cheese!

Made slightly thicker than most watered down soups because every mouthful NEEDS a slightly thickened texture to compliment the caramelized onions.

The caramelized onions for this soup cook more quickly due to a pinch of baking soda but still have that deep, slow-cooked flavor. Topping the soup with hot, cheesy toasts prepared while the soup simmers, eliminates the need to bake the soup in specialty French onion soup bowls.

If a dish usually takes: 15-30 mins, cook it for 1-2 hours on High or 4-6 hours on Low. 30 mins – 1 hour, cook it for 2-3 hours on High or 5-7 hours on Low. 1-2 hours, cook it for 3-4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low.

Will soup reduce in slow cooker? ›

Our answer. Slow cookers can be useful for cooking stews, but generally the combination of low heat and a tightly fitting lid will mean that the auce doesn't get a chace to thicken (by reduction) and consequently the sauce can be a little thin.

"When a slow cooker is too full, it may not heat the food evenly," explains Leal. As a result, some parts of the dish may overcook, while others remain undercooked. "This can also increase the risk of foodborne illness, because the food might not reach a safe temperature throughout," she says.

Not only that, but any liquid that remains in slow-cooked dishes is likely to be soaked up by any starchy ingredients, creating more nuanced, developed flavors.