One Pot French Onion Pasta

Rich, creamy, and comforting, this one pot French onion pasta is a simple but delicious recipe for any occasion. Loaded with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and tender pasta, this one pot pasta inspired by French onion soup is so flavorful and easy to make.

I'm somewhat obsessed with onions, especially caramelized onions. When shooting this how to make caramelized onions guide, I munched on so much of the onions that there wasn't enough left to make dinner with it! So if you're an onion fan like myself, then this one's for you.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• I won't lie to you and say that this is the perfect weeknight recipe because it's quick and easy. It's easy, but I'm sorry, it is definitely not quick. Caramelizing onions takes time, at least an hour, so this French onion pasta recipe does require patience but it is so worth it! It's such a flavorful and delicious one pot pasta that you're going to watch to make this monthly. It's savory but sweet while being cozy, comforting, and hearty.
• A one pot pasta means you've really only got one pot to clean! At least cleaning up won't take an hour!
• The ingredients are pretty basic, you might have a majority of the ingredients on hand already!

Ingredients You'll Need

• butter and oil — using butter to caramelize the onions will add a richer flavor but butter on its own will burn, so you'll need some oil to go with it. I use unsalted butter.
• onions — I use three yellow onions, but you can use more if you want to. Three onions might seem like a lot when you add them to the pot, but they shrink as they caramelize.
• sugar — adding some sugar to the onions will help them caramelize faster.
• garlic — I don't believe there's such a thing as too much garlic. I use 2 tablespoons of minced garlic but you can use less if you prefer.
• mushrooms — I use cremini mushrooms (baby bellas) as they have a richer umami flavor than white mushrooms.
• thyme — I love fresh thyme as the earthy flavor pairs well with the earthy mushroom flavors.
• broth — I use beef broth but you can also use vegetable broth to cook the pasta in.
• Worcestershire sauce — for more umami!
• pasta — I use a bag of mezzi rigatoni pasta from this brand.
• heavy cream — to make the sauce delightfully creamy. You can swap it for half and half if you want it to be a little lighter.
• parmesan — I use freshly grated parmesan to thicken the sauce.
• salt & pepper — kosher salt and freshly cracker pepper is ideal.

How To Make This Recipe

• Place a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of the butter and oil.
• Once the butter has melted, add the sliced onions. Sauté for 10 minutes until the onions have softened.

• Allow the onions to start caramelizing by leaving the onions alone and only stir every 2 to 3 minutes. If you stir the onions too much, it'll take longer to caramelize! Leaving it alone will give the onions touching the bottom of the pot to turn golden brown.
• When the onions turn light golden brown, add the sugar and salt.

• Continue to caramelize the onions for 50 minutes or until the onions are deep golden brown color and jammy. Add the rest of the butter and olive oil half way through if needed. Add up to ¼ cup of broth throughout the process if the bottom of the pot gets too dark and scrape it with a wooden spoon.
• Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.

• Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the fresh thyme and sauté for 1 minute.

• Deglaze the pot with a splash of broth if needed before adding the pasta along with the rest of the beef broth and Worcestershire to the pot. (Add a bit more salt here if desired).
• Stir to combine and cover the pot.

• Bring the pot up to a boil before reducing it to a simmer for around 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to ensure the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom. Simmer for longer if your pasta has not cooked through.
• Take the pot of french onion pasta off the heat and add the heavy cream and grated parmesan. Stir until everything is well combined.

Recipes Variations

• If you want to use dried thyme, one sprig of fresh thyme is equal to half a teaspoon of dried thyme.
• You can use half and half instead of heavy cream.
• Want even more savory flavor? Instead of minced garlic, use this air fryer roasted garlic or oven roasted garlic!
• Instead of parmesan, you can go with the classic choice of gruyere cheese. I simply prefer parmesan.

Tips and Notes

• If your onions start to burn, lower the heat and add a broth or water splash to the pot.
• Deglazing is adding some liquid and scraping then stirring the browned bits from the bottom of the pot and having the fond (browned bits) melt into the liquid that was added to the pot.
• You can make the caramelized onions in advance if you want to make this pasta on a weeknight but can't commit the time.
• Don't rush the caramelization process. It takes time to caramelize onions and it's worth the effort.

Recipe

One Pot French Onion Pasta

Rich, creamy, and comforting, this one pot French onion pasta is a simple but delicious recipe for any occasion. Loaded with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and tender pasta, this one pot pasta inspired by French onion soup is so flavorful and easy to make.

5 from 17 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 5 to 6 servings

Equipment

• Round Dutch Oven, 5.5 qt

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter, unsalted
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 yellow onions, sliced into ¼" (570 grams)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or more
• 8 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms, (227 grams)
• 3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves separated from the stems
• 4¾ cup beef broth, ¼ cup for deglazing
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 15 ounces rigatoni pasta, (450 grams)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, or more
• Freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Place a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of the butter and oil.
• Once the butter has melted, add the sliced onions. Sauté for 10 minutes until the onions have softened.
• Allow the onions to start caramelizing by leaving the onions alone and only stir every 2 to 3 minutes.
• When the onions turn light golden brown, add the sugar and salt. Continue to caramelize the onions for 50 minutes or until the onions are deep golden brown color and jammy. Add the rest of the butter and olive oil half way through if needed. Add up to ¼ cup of broth throughout the process if the bottom of the pot gets too dark and scrape it with a wooden spoon.
• Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
• Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the fresh thyme and sauté for 1 minute.
• Deglaze the pot with a splash of broth if needed before adding the pasta along with the rest of the beef broth and Worcestershire to the pot. (Add a bit more salt here if desired).
• Stir to combine and cover the pot. Bring the pot up to a boil before reducing it to a simmer for around 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to ensure the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom. Simmer for longer if your pasta has not cooked through.
• Take the pot of french onion pasta off the heat and add the heavy cream and grated parmesan. Stir until everything is well combined.
• Serve with some freshly cracked pepper and if desired, add more parmesan and fresh thyme as garnish.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 631kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 1579mg | Potassium: 679mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 525IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 368mg | Iron: 2mg

Course: One Pot

Cuisine: Comfort

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