French Onion Beef Stew
This French Onion Beef Stew recipe takes the caramelized onions and melty Gruyère toast from a bowl of French onion soup and folds them into a thick, spoon-coating beef stew with fork-tender chuck roast and a deep, savory-sweet onion broth.
Equipment
- Enameled Dutch oven - or heavy braising pot, 6 quarts or larger
- Sharp chef's knife - for slicing onions and cubing beef
- Wooden spoon - for scraping up the browned bits
- Rimmed baking sheet - for the toasts
- Box grater or rotary cheese grater
- Tongs - for turning the beef as it sears
- Oven-safe soup bowls or crocks - (optional) if you want to broil the cheese right on the stew
- Paper towels - for patting the beef dry
Ingredients
For the Stew
- 3 lb boneless beef chuck roast - 1.4 kg, cut into 1.5-inch (4 cm) cubes
- 2 lb yellow onions - 900 g, halved and thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter - 60 g
- 2 tbsp olive oil - 30 ml, divided
- 4 cloves garlic - minced
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour - 24 g
- 1/2 cup dry sherry - 120 ml, or dry white wine
- 4 cups beef broth - 960 ml
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce - 30 ml
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar - 15 ml
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1.5 tsp salt - plus more to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For the Gruyère Toasts
- 1 small French baguette - sliced into 12 rounds
- 6 oz Gruyère cheese - 170 g, grated
- 2 tbsp olive oil - 30 ml, for brushing
Instructions
- Melt the butter with 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your Dutch oven over medium heat. Add all the sliced onions along with the sugar and a pinch of salt, stir to coat, and cook, stirring every few minutes, for 30 to 40 minutes until the onions collapse and turn a deep caramel brown. Scoop the onions out into a bowl and set them aside.
- Pat the beef cubes very dry with paper towels, then season them with the salt and pepper. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the same pot. Working in batches, sear the beef on all sides until deeply browned, about 4 to 6 minutes per batch, then transfer finished batches to a plate.
- Return all the beef to the pot and sprinkle the flour over it, stirring for about 1 minute so the flour coats everything and cooks off its raw taste. Pour in the sherry to deglaze, scraping up every bit of fond stuck to the bottom, and let it bubble and reduce for about 2 minutes until nearly evaporated.
- Stir the caramelized onions back into the pot, then add the garlic, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and balsamic vinegar. Tuck in the thyme sprigs and bay leaves, bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Uncover and continue simmering for another 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the beef is fork-tender and the broth has thickened. Fish out the thyme stems and bay leaves, then taste and adjust the salt.
- Arrange the baguette slices on a rimmed baking sheet and brush them lightly with olive oil. Broil for 1 to 2 minutes until just golden, watching closely so they don't burn. Pile the grated Gruyère onto each toast and broil again for 2 to 3 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
- Ladle the hot stew into bowls and float one or two cheesy toasts on top of each. For an even more soup-like finish, ladle the stew into oven-safe crocks, top with toast and extra Gruyère, and broil until the cheese browns.
Notes
- Slice the onions evenly so they caramelize at the same rate and you avoid a mix of burnt and raw pieces.
- Don't rush the caramelizing — the 30 to 40 minute mark is where the flavor lives. Anything faster leaves you with soft onions that taste sweet but flat.
- Dry the beef thoroughly before searing; surface moisture prevents browning, and a good sear is where a lot of the savory depth starts.
- Deglaze fully — those stuck-on browned bits carry concentrated flavor, so scrape them all up when you add the sherry.
- Simmer uncovered at the end to reduce the broth and thicken it naturally.
- Salt in stages: beef broth and Worcestershire already bring salt, so taste before adding more at the end.
- Rest the stew for 10 minutes off the heat before serving so the flavors round out.
- A splash of balsamic vinegar right at the end brightens the whole pot far more than adding it early, when it just cooks away.
- Store the stew, without the bread topping, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days, or freeze the base for up to 3 months.
- Always broil fresh Gruyère toasts when serving leftovers, since day-old bread goes mushy in the broth.
- For a slow cooker version, caramelize the onions and sear the beef first, then transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours.
- Add diced potatoes and carrots during the last hour of simmering to make it more like traditional beef stew.
Nutrition
Serving: 1BowlCalories: 560kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 42gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 13gSodium: 980mgFiber: 3gSugar: 8g
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