If you are looking for a beautifully simple side dish then these roasted french onions are for you.
Tender roasted onions basted with a luscious beef broth are topped with a pinch of gruyere and some fresh thyme to create a side dish twist on the classic comforting french soup. They pair perfectly with everything from pot roast to salmon and can be made ahead, making them a flexible side dish for holiday dinners.
Let’s get started…
Begin by preparing your onions. I like to have 1 medium onion for each person and this recipe works with 3-4 onions, but is easily expanded to make larger portions.
Slice each onion in half width wise, so you don’t cut thru the ends. Peel the onions and clean up the ends, but don’t trim so much off that the onions start to come apart.
In addition to the onions, you will need 4 tablespoons of butter, a tablespoon of soy sauce, a tablespoon of tomato paste, a teaspoon of worcestershire sauce and 2 cups of beef broth.
For topping, you will need about 1/2 cup of finely shredded Gruyère and some fresh thyme and I highly recommend keeping some crusty bread nearby to soak up the broth. You’ll be glad you did…
Place 2 cups of beef broth into a large oven safe skillet and bring the broth up to a boil. As soon as the broth is boiling, whisk in 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and 1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce and turn off the heat.
Place the onions into the broth, cut side down…
Cover the skillet tightly with foil and transfer it into a 425 degree oven.
Roast the onions for 30 minutes and then remove the foil and flip the onions cut side up.
Roast the onions uncovered for another 40 minutes. Carefully baste the onions with the beef broth every 10 minutes or so until the broth has thickened and the onions are super tender.
Before you pull the onions out of the oven, sprinkle a little bit of finely shredded gruyere cheese over each onion and close the oven door back up until the cheese melts.
Top each onion with a little bit of thyme and these beauties are ready to enjoy.
When you plate up these tender roasted french onions, spoon a little bit of the broth onto the plate and nestle the onions next to whatever is lucky enough to be paired with this delicious vegetable.
They have beautiful caramelized flavor and that broth is good enough to drink. Its like a thickened version of the classic french onion soup and create a side dish that is easy enough for any weeknight dinner, but fancy enough to make an appearance on your holiday table.
Buon appetito!
Roasted French Onions
Ingredients
- 3-4 medium yellow onions
- 4 tablespoons of butter, salted
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups of beef broth
- 1/4 cup of gruyere, finely shredded
- fresh thyme
- crusty bread (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
- Slice the onions in half, remove the peel and trim back the base to clean it up, but leave enough to hold the onion halves together
- Place the onions cut side down into an oven safe skillet and set aside for now
- Place 2 cups of beef broth into a small sauce over medium high heat and bring to a boil
- As soon as the broth is boiling, remove from the heat and whisk in 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and 1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce until everything is fully combined
- Place the onions into the broth cut side down and cover the skillet with foil
- Bake the onions covered for 30 minutes in a 425 degree oven and then carefully transfer the skillet out onto a heatproof surface
- Remove the foil and carefully flip the onions cut side up
- Spoon the sauce over the onions and place them back into a 425 degree oven
- Bake uncovered for another 40 minutes basting the onions every 10 minutes
- Serve with crusty bread and garnish with finely shredded Gruyère and fresh thyme