Slowcooker French Onion Soup

Adapted slightly from crockpot365.blogspot.com

I love French Onion Soup.  I have always hated that restaurants seem to charge more for this soup than their other soups, because the ingredients are so simple and inexpensive.  

For a while now, I have wanted to make my own.  I saw this recipe on A Year of Slow Cooking, and loved how easy it sounded.  I knew I had to try it!

I think the onions I used must have been extra large, because about 5 hours into cooking, I noticed my onion to broth ratio was a little high.  Of course, I had only bought enough broth for what the recipe calls for.  So, I searched the Internet and learned that 1 T. soy sauce mixed with 1 cup water can be used as a beef broth substitute.  

I just happened to have light soy sauce on hand, so I mixed 1 T. of it with 1 cup of water and 1/4 teaspoon salt and added it to my slowcooker.  I tasted it, and decided to add 1 teaspoon of white wine as well.  These additions brought the flavor back to almost right where it was before I added to it.  

The diameter of the French bread I used was quite small, so I used two small pieces per serving.  I recommend toasting the bread and then dicing it into large pieces, simply to make it easier to eat.

This soup was delectable!  If you enjoy French Onion soup, please give this a try!  It's so easy!

Ingredients:

32 oz. beef broth

3 T butter

2 large yellow onions

¼ cup white wine

½ T granulated sugar

½ t salt

4 thick slices French bread (or 8, if they are small)

Gruyere cheese (or Swiss), shredded

Directions:

Set your slowcooker on high.  Place butter inside to melt while you slice the onions.  Separate the onion slices and mix them around in the melted butter.

Add the beef broth, wine, sugar, and salt.  Cook on high for 6-8 hours or low for 10-12 (I cooked mine for 7 hours on high).

When ready to serve, turn on the oven to the broil setting.  Toast the bread. 

Ladle soup into oven safe bowls.  Place one piece of toast in each bowl.  Top each slice with shredded cheese (amount to your liking).

Broil 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden.

Yields: 4 servings

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