Recipe: French Onion Soup Mac & Cheese
A couple of weeks ago I shared some BTS on my stories of this french onion soup mac & cheese I was making and I received so many messages from y’all asking for the recipe. Well my friends, the time has come that I finally share the recipe!
I don’t know about you but I’ve always been a fan of both french onion soup and of mac & cheese. A few years ago after chatting with my brother I said, “Well wait, why couldn’t you combine the two into one?!” and the rest is history! This has easily become an entire family favorite at all times throughout the year, for holidays, birthdays and beyond. This is sure to be a crowd pleaser and a perfect cozy meal to make for the family right now during quarantine
The sweetness of the slowly caramelized onions, the meatiness from the beef stock, the cheesiness from oodles of melty goodness and the cozy factor of homemade mac & cheese will leave your taste buds (and stomach) oh so happy! So without further ado, here’s the recipe for my homemade french onion soup mac & cheese.
RECIPE: FRENCH ONION SOUP MAC & CHEESE
INGREDIENTS
4 large white onions
1 lb pasta of choice (I prefer to use cavatappi or penne)
32oz beef stock
Fresh thyme (about 10-15 sprigs)
Cheese: white sharp cheddar, mozzarella and havarti - 8-10oz of each (if you don’t have or can’t find havarti, use 10-12oz each of the white sharp cheddar and mozzarella)
Butter (salted or unsalted, whatever your preference is)
~4 heaping tbsp flour
Milk of choice (I typically use skim milk in this recipe)
Panko (this is for the crispy topping - IMO, the more the better!)
Optional: drizzle of honey
DIRECTIONS
Peel 4 large white onions. Cut onions in half and then cut into half moon slices (you want them to be similar in thickness for even cooking time).
Add oil (I use avocado oil) to a large pan over medium heat. My stove uses numbers so medium is about 6-8.
Add onions to the pan - time to let them cook low & slow! The key here is to be patient; you cannot rush this part of caramelizing and cooking down the onions. You’ll also want to make sure you stir the onions fairly frequently to avoid them from sticking, to help get an even cook and to continue to meld all of the flavors. Trust me, it is so worth it and the flavor (and smell) is divine!
Once onions are added to the pan, season onions with salt and pepper to taste. Option here to also add 2 turns around the pan of honey.
After a few minutes of letting the onions start to soften slightly, slowly begin to add beef stock (I typically will do 1-2 turns around the pan). Season onions and stock with salt and pepper. I will also slightly lower the heat to a 6.
Once the onions soften a bit more, add in the 10-15 sprigs of fresh thyme. Fresh here is key and adds such a beautiful flavor to the dish. I have tried this with dried thyme and it just was not the same.
As the onions absorb the beef stock, keep adding 1-2 turns around the pan of the beef stock.
After some time, you will notice the thyme leaves have started to fall off the stems or they begin to soften. When I notice this, I will pull any remaining thyme leaves off the stems/sprigs and remove all stems from the onions.
Your goal is to get the onions super soft and this beautiful brown color, like french onion soup! When they are close to being done, you’ll notice they aren’t absorbing any more beef stock and that is okay! If you have extra stock in the container, we’re going to use it to cook the noodles for more layers of flavor.
While the onions are finishing up, I like to get the pasta cooked so it is done and ready to go. Add water to a pot and any remaining beef stock you have (it’s typically not a ton left but any bit helps to add more flavor!). Cook the pasta about 2 minutes less than the box suggests; they will cook more when the dish gets baked in the oven.
Once the pasta is cooked, strain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
When the onions have reached their peak deliciousness stage, I transfer them to a glass baking dish that I’ll use to bake the mac & cheese. Don’t worry about getting all of the liquid out of the pan, we’re going to use that in the roux for the cheese sauce.
For the cheese sauce, we’re going to make it in the same pan the onions cooked in to just keep building flavors. I typically get brick cheese so be sure to cut up into cubes that are of the same size so that they melt evenly.
First for the cheese sauce, we’re going to make a roux. I turn down the heat on the stove to medium low (about 4-6 on mine). The roux is equal parts butter and flour. I typically add 4 pads of butter to the pan with any remaining liquid from the onions, and then will add 4 heaping tbsp of flour. Your goal is to get this to a paste/dough consistency. You may need more butter or flour so adjust as needed.
Once the roux is made, slowly add milk to start creating the sauce. You’ll want to add this slowly and make sure it mixes in smoothly with the rue. You’re looking to get a smooth sauce consistency here.
Next, add half of the cubed cheese and stir consistently to avoid it sticking to the pan. Once the first half of cheese is nearly all melted, add the remaining.
Once the cheese sauce is complete, add the onions back in to the pan. Mix until the onions are evenly combined into the cheese sauce. You can also turn the heat off the stove at this point.
Next, add the noodles to the cheese sauce and onion mixture, and stir until evenly combined.
Transfer everything to your glass baking dish. I typically will lightly oil the pan just to ensure nothing sticks to it.
When you’re ready to bake the mac & cheese, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. I typically will get the mac & cheese made early in the day and bake right before dinner.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20-minutes. Remove from the oven, stir/mix everything and return back to the oven for another 20-minutes. Based on your elevation (hello, Denver) it may need an additional 10-minutes of cooking time.
When the mac & cheese is looking pretty near done, you’re going to add a crumb topping. I don’t know about you, but the crispy parts might be my favorite! I like to use panko and I combine it with a few pads of butter like you would with any crumb topping.
Evenly spread across the top of the mac & cheese and bake until golden brown on the top. This will only take a few minutes.
Remove from the oven and dive into this cozy, delicious french onions soup mac & cheese!
There you have it, the recipe for my homemade french onion soup mac & cheese! I hope y’all enjoy this as much as my family and I do. It has become a staple for us and always highly requested! If you give this recipe a try, be sure to share on social media and tag me so I can see it! Cheers - enjoy!