This is an easy Instant Pot french onion soup recipe topped with french bread and cheese done in 3 minutes. Much faster than in the Crockpot but with the same great all day bold flavor.

5 basic ingredients is all you need to make this easy french onion soup recipe. We do not caramelize onions first but you can. It has become one of our favorite soup Instant Pot recipes our kids now ask for often.

We hadn't had french onion soup in forever but we once again had a bowl at our favorite restaurant while it was snowing. Seriously was the best bowl of comfort food we had remembered in the past. Thought “we must figure out how to make this myself” but faster. And that is what we did.

First time was in our IP and then made it as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe in that pot which skipped the step in the oven. With the air crisp method you can lay your pieces of day old bread right on the top and sprinkle on the cheeses of your choice. Then you close the air crisp lid (the one attached). Hit air crisp 400 degrees for 2-3 minutes or until it melts nicely and becomes a light golden brown.

If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let's start with a few basic tips:

You can PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
We HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won't have as many issues with this better liner.

For reference, this is the model we have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

A white Instant Pot with a Star Wars theme sits on the kitchen counter, ready to tackle your favorite beef arm roast recipe. The digital display glows "On." Next to it lie a patterned cloth and some green onions, all against the backdrop of blue kitchen cabinets and a stovetop.

Ingredient notes

You may get different answers depending on whom you ask but typically the classic method will call for yellow. Some like a mix of white, yellow and red onions though to give it a different flavor.

Remember that the thinner your slices are the softer they will get, that is personal preference really. You can saute first with butter or throw them into the beef broth and cook to softened.

If you want to make it the traditional way you will want a thick slice of French bread on the top with classic gruyere cheese to melt on that.

How Long to Cook French Onion Soup in Instant Pot

We tested how long it would take for our onions to be solid. We made it twice and varied the ways. You can choose either one and here are the differences. First time – caramelized onions and butter on the saute function first until deep brown and softened which took an additional 10 min. (or make Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions the morning of and use those to begin with).

The second time we made this we did it by skipping that step and cooking onions in the broth, that took 3 min. Yes if you take the extra time to brown and soften with butter with saute you will generate a richer deeper flavor BUT in a pinch this works too.

We will say that if you go the extra step with the bread and browning the cheese on the top the easier method is less noticeable because your focus is all the goodness and ooey gooey on the top. We bet you get our drift….try both and decide.

Instant Pot French Onion Soup Recipe

By we've got the easiest Instant Pot french onion soup topped with french bread and cheese for you! Done in 3 minutes in your Instant Pot. Prep: 10 minutes minsCook: 3 minutes minsTotal: 13 minutes minsServings: 4 Save Recipe Saved! Pin Recipe Comment Print Recipe

Equipment

Ingredients

3 large onionssliced
3 tbsp butter
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
3/4 tsp thyme
32 oz beef broth
3/4 cup gruyere cheese, shredded, for top – use whatever type of cheese you have
1 loaf french bread, day old, sliced
1/4 cup green onions, diced, optional

Instructions

Set your Instant Pot to saute and melt your butter, then add onions at this time and caramelize them a bit. Then turn your pot off.
Add salt, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and beef broth.
Close lid and steam valve and set to pressure high for 3 minutes.
Do a quick release.
Can serve immediately with bread on the side, or melt cheese on slices of french bread and serve on the side or put 1-2 pcs of french bread on top of soup with cheese on top, then put inside an oven safe bowl and put under the broiler for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and serve.

Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Appetizer, Entree, Main Course, SoupCuisine: American, French Tried this recipe?Mention @thetypical_mom or tag #thetypicalmom!

What do you top French onion soup with?

Day old french bread (best) and lots of cheese are key to the yumminess, and we decided to dice some green onions as well. We decided to also add a bit of parmesan into our mixture of shredded cheese for a little added punch of flavor and we was glad we did…..it turned out good!! You divvy it up into oven safe bowls when done, lay a piece on top and sprinkle cheese to brown.

How to Brown Cheese on Top

When done you can pour soup into oven safe bowls and set on a baking sheet to broil for a few minutes until golden bubbly. Another option at the end is to use a mini countertop toaster oven/air fryer/convection oven with your soup into an oven safe dish. That can melt the cheese on top as well. When that was all we had at the time it took about 4 minutes before cheese is melted to perfection.

Then we ate it for lunch immediately! Even our 10 year old who had never tried this type of soup loved it…now that is a win! Pressure cooking a vegetarian french onion soup is possible too if you use vegetable broth.

How do you deepen the flavor of French onion soup?

If you want a bolder richer flavor to your soup you can use half red wine instead of beef broth. Another option is to caramelize your onions more at the beginning to add to the overall flavor.