When you live with a person who hates soup with a passion, creativity is key.
Like with a standard grilled cheese: The addition of tomato soup is not an option. It’s soup after all, and soup is just unacceptable. What is acceptable? A small cup of soup (AKA grilled cheese ketchup) exclusively for dipping.
What a weirdo. But hey, more soup for meeee.
So french onion soup, what a beauty. It was one of the first soups I ever had the courage to make. I assume it was a disaster since I blocked out most of it. Then I learned how to make it from a self-proclaimed chef and my calorie-obsessed teenage mind was horrified to watch stick after stick of butter drop into the pot.
Then I became a college student who was certain I knew everything. I found myself shaking my head and laughing at a Disney World restaurant menu.
“This says that their french onion soup is vegetarian. Ha. Do they think I would forget all about the beef stock?”
“Actually,” The waiter kindly informed me, “It’s all onions. We simmer them down all day long. We don’t use any stock at all.”
“Woah,” I said. “Woah,” I said again after I tasted it. It would make sense for this to happen in Disney. Where dreams come true and all.
So now I’m an adult who is certain of nothing except my husband hates soup and I’m dying for an excuse to try out the onion theory.
You know what everyone likes? Grilled cheese. Add onions and it’s pretty much a different form of french onion soup. Just not scary to my husband. Confusing, but not scary.
“So wait, it’s soup?”
“No, it’s a grilled cheese and you can dip it in the onion broth.”
“Will the broth have the cheese and bread on top of it?”
“No, that’s where the grilled cheese part comes in.”
“Darn, I liked the idea of the cheese and bread part.”
“Yeah I know, that’s why there’s going to be grilled cheese.”
“So… will I have to eat soup?”
*groans dramatically*
So we’ve got bread, gruyere/swiss/mozzarella, onions that had been simmering for hours, all dipped in onion broth made from said onions. Hopefully, that clears up any confusion.
Also, I did add a few cups of vegetable stock to the onions near the end to speed things up. Give me a break, I’m not Disney World.
French onion grilled cheese
Ingredients
- 3 sweet onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 cups low sodium veggie broth
- 4 high-quality hoagie rolls
- 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese. shredded
- 1/2 cup swiss cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup gruyere cheese, shredded
Instructions
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Combine onions, butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a slow cooker. Set to HIGH for six hours. Stir once after a few hours.
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Add two cups of vegetable stock and cook on high for another hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
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Slice each roll lengthwise and place open-faced on a baking sheet. Divide cheese evenly, covering both sides of each roll.
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Using a slotted spoon, scoop onions out of the slow cooker and squeeze out excess liquid by pressing another spoon on top of the slotted one. Pile onions onto the bottom half of each roll.
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Bake for 5-10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the bread is golden. Ladle onion broth into small bowls and serve with sandwiches for dipping.
