French Onion Soup Recipe (instant pot)

In one hour (not the typical two +), you can be sitting down to a delicious instant pot French onion soup of rich broth and sweet caramelized onions, topped with toasted bread and gooey cheese.

Serve this classic soup as a starter or main meal.

As always, there are tons of recipes out there. I looked at various methods – stove top, slow cooker and instant pot recipes – and settled on trying a recipe in the instant pot. Mostly for the quicker turn around time and less hands on time.

I narrowed my research to 4 highly rated and best French onion soup recipes and [obsessively] took bits and tips from each. I added a small tip of my own with the bread part.

Heads up beginners:  If this is your first time making homemade French onion soup, don’t worry, it will be great. The recipe is organized with clear, easy-to-follow instructions in 6 steps.

1. Slice onions
2. Sauté onion
3. Pressure cook onions
4. Caramelize onions
5. Add liquids and cook. 
6. Make bread and cheese topping – broil. 

What to serve with French onion soup

When I make a pot of this soup, I eat it every day for lunch until it runs out – with or without the bread and cheese. I just love it.

My favorite way to serve this soup is in small 6 ounce ovenproof ramekins as a great appetizer or starter to a meal. It presents beautifully and always surprises my guests. You will get a lot of ooh’s and ah’s.

On the lighter side, serve the French onion soup with a great salad. For a bigger meal, I love it with rib steak, grilled marinated flank steak or lemon pasta with shrimp.

Tips

Broth

• This is a key component of the soup, so you want to get the best broth you can. It’s a good idea to taste it before using. The one I bought initially tasted almost like water, so I immediately switched to a concentrated undiluted beef broth in a can that I use regularly (Campbell’s) and added a little less than a can of water for each can I used. I combined beef broth and chicken broth.
• You can use all beef broth or a combination of beef and chicken broth.
• If you can’t find good beef broth, use all good quality chicken broth. Try googling “best beef broths on the market” to source one where you live. Obviously, homemade broth is best if you want to take the time to make it.

Onions

• You can use yellow onions (traditional) or sweet onions (milder). Even red onions will work. We’ve included a few tips on how to reduce tears when cutting onions in our article Onions: The Bare Essentials.
• There is no need to slice the onions thinly. They will still be very soft (partly disintegrated) after pressure cooking them.

Caramelizing the Onions

• Using a pinch of baking soda speeds up the caramelization process (it’s a science thing).
• If you don’t have any baking soda, use a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.

Bread

• I found using whole slices of bread more challenging to eat with a spoon especially if you leave the crusts on. So I now cut the toasted bread into cubes – much easier!

Cheese

• The best cheese for French onion soup is Gruyere cheese. It’s classic.

How to make this French onion soup recipe (instant pot)

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Tailor To Your Taste

A few variations and substitutions to try.

• Broth – use beef, chicken or a combination.
• Cheese – I use Gruyere, but other good options for melty cheese are Beemster, Provolone, Swiss, Parmesan or a combination of these.
• Bread – use a French baguette, French bread or any crusty bread.
• Flavors – Try adding a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar or fish sauce to add depth to the soup. 
• Wine – Red wine or a dry sherry adds great flavor to the soup, but there may be reasons not to use it. If you want to make a French onion soup recipe without wine, just leave it out and add a little extra broth. 
• Garnish – French onion soup includes bread and cheese on top. You can bake or broil the soup in a bowl for this last step. Or even make cheese toast separately and top the soup with it before serving. Add some fresh thyme leaves or chives on top just before serving for a pretty finish. 
• Vegetarian version – use vegetable stock or broth. Mushroom broth is even better. Find the richest broth you can. And omit the Worcestershire sauce which contains anchovies.

Shortcuts

• Use the slicer blade on a food processor to slice the onions thick. 
• Buy shredded cheese.

Make Ahead 

• The soup can be made up to a week ahead. Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat in a microwave or pot. Then add toasted bread and cheese and broil (or bake).

Other hearty soups you might enjoy

• vegetable barley soup
• root vegetable soup with barley
• red lentil soup recipe with vegetables
• ground beef vegetable soup recipe
• chicken lemon orzo soup Thai-style
• vegetable beef barley soup

This recipe was adapted from Amy & Jacky, Earth Food and Fire, The Spruce Eats and Smitten Kitchen.