Move over soup season.
If you haven’t noticed by now, there’s a long-running tradition of applying the flavor profile of the best soup ever, the opulent French Onion, and applying it to, well…. pretty much all other foods – things like grilled cheese, baked potatoes, and pizza.
So that’s what we are doing here. But we are taking things up a notch on the decadent scale – throwing in some rich, boneless beef short rib for extra beefy flavor. And then turning the whole soup concept into a caramelized onion and Gruyere and Swiss cheese encrusted pot pie.
It’s the best new way to enjoy French Onion baby.
Notes: If you’re having trouble getting your hands on the beef short rib, you can also try cutting a similar weight of chuck roast into cube-sized pieces, or also country-style beef ribs, or even regular grocery store stew meat. Between the simmering with the onions and the baking of the pie, you’ll end up with some slow-cooked, tender beef pieces.
Time You Need
- Prep: ~40-50 minutes
- Baking: ~40 minutes
- Yields: ~ 6 servings
What You Need
- ~7 onions (3 sweet, 4 large yellow onions)
- 1.5 pounds of boneless beef shortrib, diced into stew-sized pieces (alternatively, you can use chuck roast, stew meat, or country style beef ribs).
- 1/2 cup of beef broth
- 4 cloves of minced garlic
- 3 tbsp of flour + extra (1-2 tbsp for meat)
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- ~1 tsp French onion soup mix
- 1 cup of Pinot Grigio (or similar dry white wine) You could also swap out the white wine for Guiness, or a nice quality dry red wine
- 1 package of pie crust (2 count)
- 1 cup of shredded Gruyere
- 1 cup of shredded Swiss cheese
What You Do
- In a small bowl, toss the pieces of beef with about a tablespoon of flour and a tsp of the French on onion seasoning mix until pieces are evenly coated.
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and then add in the meat. Cook until the meat is evenly browned on each side.
- Then toss in butter and melt.
- Add in the sliced onions and stir. Toss in 1/4 cup of beef broth, cover, and let cook until onions begin to brown and caramelize (about 45 minutes. The goal is to get the onions to a develop a nice brown without burning, so feel free to turn down the heat if they start to brown up too quickly).
- Next, add in the white wine and bring to a simmer.
- Mix in the garlic powder, minced garlic, thyme, nutmeg, brown sugar, and flour and cook for another minute.
- Then, add in the rest of the beef broth and mix together well. Bring to another simmer and continue to cook until mixture thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Now it’s cheese time. Add in ½ cup of both Swiss and Gruyere and stir.
- Cook covered, over low heat for another 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425. Using a 9 inch glass pie pan, prepare the pie crusts as directed on the container instructions, using one pie crust to coat the pie pan.
- Once the beef and onions are done, remove the skillet from the heat and let everything cool.
- Carefully scoop the mixture into the crust-lined pan. Continue until the pie pan is full, then top the with the second crust. Seal the edges together using a fork, and use a sharp knife to open small vents near the center.
- Before placing in oven, brush the top of the pie crust with the melted butter and top with the rest of the cheeses.
- Then bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. During the last 20 minutes, cover the edges of the pie with foil to avoid burning the crust.
- Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Enjoy!