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This is my easy one-pot French Onion Pasta and it is rich, creamy, and packed with delicious caramelized onions. This recipe is inspired by one of my all time favourite soups, French Onion, and while the onions take a bit of time to cook down and caramelize, I promise you it’s well worth the richness and flavour it adds to the pasta.
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French Onion Pasta at a glance
Taste: So comforting! The caramelized onions add such an incredible depth of flavour to this recipe.
Time: About 45 minutes. But, the majority of this time the onions are caramelizing/sautéing a pan.
Effort: Minimal effort here! The hardest part will be slicing up those onions.
Difficulty: ANYONE can make this one-pot French Onion Pasta recipe, its simple, quick, and the best part is, that you only have one pot to clean at the end.
Ingredients
Here is a quick overview of the ingredients you’ll need to make my French Onion Pasta.
For the exact detailed measurements and ingredients, scroll to the bottom of this page to review my recipe card.
- Olive oil
- Butter
- Pasta
- Garlic
- Yellow onions
- Parmesan
- Gruyere
- Worcestershire
- Dry white wine
- Beef broth
- Heavy cream
- Fresh thyme
Tips before getting started
Slice your onions into similar sized pieces to ensure they cook evenly. To caramelize your onions, simply heat up your butter and olive oil and add way more onions that you probably think. Stir them over medium heat for at least 20 minutes. If the onions appear to be burning during this process, you can add a little water to deglaze and return moisture to the pan.
Once your onions are rich in colour you can add your garlic, fresh thyme and remaining spices to cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Add your pasta and then cover with beef stock. You want the stock to just cover your pasta. Keep in mind, depending on the type of pasta you use will determine how much broth you need. The recipe calls for 6.5 cups of stock, but you may need a cup more or less.
Once the pasta is cooked, add your heavy cream, shredded cheeses, and mix to combine. I love adding some extra fresh thyme and parmesan cheese to the top.
Substitutions & FAQ’s
How often do I need to stir the onions while they caramelize?
I recommend stirring them every 3-4 minutes to ensure they don’t burn.
Can I substitute the beef stock for vegetable stock?
You sure can. Keep it mind it does alter the flavours a bit, but it still tastes great.
Storing & reheating
Can I freeze this recipe?
I don’t recommend freezing this recipe as the pasta becomes too gummy.
If you have leftovers, add the French Onion Pasta to an airtight container and this will keep fresh in the fridge for up to 4 days. Simply add your leftover pasta to a small pot, add a splash of heavy cream or beef stock, re-heat and serve. Alternately, you can add your leftover pasta to a bowl and re-heat in the microwave for 35-55 seconds.
Watch the recipe video
Watch the recipe video on Instagram
French Onion Pasta
Ingredients
- 500 grams pasta of choice, I used mafalda
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 large yellow onions, sliced
- 1 tbsp worcestershire
- 1/2 cup dry white wine, chardonnay
- 6.5 cups beef stock, low sodium
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme, plus more for garnishing
- 1 cup gruyere, shredded, plus more for garnishing
- 1/2 cup parmesan , shredded
Instructions
- Begin by slicing your onions and set aside.
- To a large deep pan, add your olive oil and butter and set to medium heat.
- Add your onions and begin sautéing for at least 20 minutes, stirring often. You want them to cook low and slow, to avoid them from burning and to ensure they caramelize.
- Once your onions are caramelized and rich in color, add your garlic, nutmeg, pepper, fresh thyme and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with your white wine and worcestershire, scrapping all bits from the bottom of the pan. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes, or just until the wine is reduced by half.
- Add your pasta and beef broth, ensuring the broth just covers the pasta.
- Cover and let simmer on medium heat for 10-12 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked and the broth has been absorbed. Tip: be sure to stir the pasta every few minutes to avoid it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Remove from heat, add your heavy cream, shredded gruyere, parmesan cheese and mix until combined.Tip: you can add a little extra heavy cream or beef broth to loosen the sauce if needed.Tip#2: taste here to see if it needs any additional salt- depending if you use a salted or low sodium stock will determine if it needs salt.
- Dish up right away, top with extra fresh thyme and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello! This looks amazing! My husband has some lactose issues and heavy cream is a no. Any ideas for ways to make this without it?
I just wouldn’t add the cream! It would still be delicious. You can also just add a little extra stock if you need to thin it out.
husband and i loved this — added some sauteed peppers, swiss chard, and oyster mushrooms *chefs kiss* but i suspect a great many veggies would slip into this nicely.. thank you!
Such a delicious and interesting recipe! It’s so flavorful and easy. I made with farfalle pasta and it was a big hit.
Amazing! Everyone loved this one
This is the first recipe of yours I’ve ever tried, and my goodness it won’t be the last. Yes, caramelising the onion took a bit longer than expected, but it was so worth it. I substituted a smoked Gouda for the gruyère cheese (easier to get at my local shop) and I couldn’t find nutmeg so used equal parts cinnamon and ground ginger instead (I googled it before, yes they work as substitutes). It was honestly so amazing, and everyone at my little dinner party loved it. The recipe does make a big portion though, be careful with that lol. It was so delicious, creamy, and flavoursome. Sorry for the long comment but short version: make this.
Hi Sophie! I so appreciate the comment. Thank you for this, and thank you for trying my recipe!
This was our first recipe we tried of yours – we have since tried another 4 since December. We are officially big fans.
This pasta is wonderful and SO tasty. We let the broth reduce just a smidge before adding the pasta as we like the sauce a bit thicker – but holy smokes, we’ve made this three times now.
Five stars.
Hi Sam! I am so glad you are here! Thank you for making my recipes and for this lovely review.
I made this pasta, but the liquid didn’t get absorbed…what did I do wrong! 😩
Hi Maria, chances are it just needed to be cooked longer.
I’ve made this twice and it was absolutely delicious both times! Followed the recipe exactly (except took a bit longer to cook the onions and simmer the broth down, which is probably due to different stoves/temperatures). I put the pasta in uncooked and simmered until the broth was all soaked up into the pasta. The flavors were incredible, I’ll definitely be making this a staple in my house! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! 😍
Hi Brie! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review! I am so happy you enjoyed the French Onion Pasta!
This recipe was such a comforting meal!