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A big bowl of Instant Pot French onion soup is simple, delicious, and so comforting. This cozy soup is packed with your favorite flavors and is ready in less than half the time as making it on the stovetop.
Nothing beats the rich and deep flavor of homemade French onion soup, but it can be really time-consuming to make.
With this French onion soup in the Instant Pot, you get an amazing soup in under half the time!
To develop the deep flavor that the soup is known for, you’ll want a strong onion. For that, I usually use a mix of red (we all know they’re really purple. Lies!), yellow, and white onions.
Having used sweet onions in the past, I do not recommend them as I think it throws off the flavor profile. Adding in a shallot or two is always a great way to develop the flavor even more.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- If you don’t want to use wine, sub in 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar.
- If cutting onions makes you cry, put them in the fridge for 30-60 minutes prior to cutting them.
- The saute function on some Instant Pot models can run really hot and burn the onions. Reduce the level of saute to “normal” or “low” if your model runs hot.
- Instead of using the French bread on top, try some of our air fryer croutons instead.
Instant Pot French Onion Soup (Quick and Easy)
Ingredients
- 4 cups white, red, or yellow onions {thinly sliced} {~6 medium onions}
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 3 cloves garlic {finely minced}
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp dry sherry wine
- 6 cups beef broth
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 slices French bread
- 8 slices provolone cheese
- 2 cups gruyere cheese {grated}
Instructions
- Press "Saute" and let the Instant Pot heat up until it says “hot”.
- Melt the butter and add the onions and 1/4 tsp of kosher salt. Stir occasionally until browned (15-25 minutes). Some of the onions might stick a bit, but keep pushing everything around.4 cups white, red, or yellow onions, 6 tbsp unsalted butter, 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- Add the garlic, and cook for 1 more minute.3 cloves garlic
- Sprinkle flour over the onions and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- Deglaze the pot with the sherry, and add: beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaf.2 tbsp dry sherry wine, 6 cups beef broth, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 sprigs fresh thyme, 1 bay leaf
- Lock the lid into place and set the steam release handle (valve on top) to “Sealing”. Press Manual>High Pressure>5minutes.
- When it has finished cooking, allow the pressure cooker to sit for 5 minutes. Then, carefully flip the steam release handle to "venting" and allow any additional pressure to be released.
- Discard stems from the thyme and the bay leaf.
- Place oven-safe bowls/ramekins on a baking sheet.
- Fill each bowl with soup, and top with 1 slice of French bread, 1 slice of provolone cheese, and ¼ cup of grated gruyere.8 slices French bread, 8 slices provolone cheese, 2 cups gruyere cheese
- Place the baking sheet under the broiler set to high for 1-4 minutes, or until the cheese is lightly browned and bubbling. Watch carefully so that it doesn’t burn.
Notes
- The saute function on some Instant Pot models can run really hot and burn the onions. Reduce the level on saute to “normal” or “low” if your model runs hot.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
French Onion is my husband’s favorite soup. He ranks this top 3 he has eaten. I don’t have an instant-pot, so it cooked covered on low for 3 hours. Using the mandoline made slicing the onions super easy. This is a really delicious soup and even on stovetop it was so easy.
Laurel, I think he and I would get along well then. It’s one of my favorite and no one else in the house wants it. 🙂
Stay tuned for next week because there is going to be a new French onion recipe coming soon. It’s not soup but has all the soup flavors.
This was so easy to prepare and so delicious! Using my mandoline slicer helped with the onion prep and using minced garlic from a jar. I used Apple Cider vinegar and my broth was left over from a roast and potato dinner. I’m kind of a semi-made from scratch cook 🙂
Enjoying it for lunch right now!
Brenda, that is a genius tip about the broth! I bet the flavors were incredible in this soup.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe. It’s one of my favorites, but no one else in the family likes French Onion Soup. Boo!