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–+ servings
canning jars of french onion soup lined up on a stainless kitchen prep table, backlit by a window.

French Onion Soup (Pressure-Canning or Freezer Recipe)

Alewyfe
This authentic bistro-style French onion soup is a safe pressure canning recipe or is ready to serve as a party-sized batch. Or, you can freeze portions for easy elegant meals!
5 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Pressure Canning Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Appetizer, Soup
Cuisine Contemporary, French
YIELD 5 quarts

Ingredients
  

  • 4 ½ lbs onions (yellow, white, sweet, or a blend)
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • salt
  • black pepper
  • 3 cups dry white wine
  • 1 gallon beef, venison, chicken, mushroom, or vegetable stock 4 quarts
  • ¾ cup sherry, Madeira, or hawthorn wine (can substitute apple cider or sweet wine, more white wine, or omit)
  • 3 large bay leaves
  • 4 tsp thyme
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

Instructions
 

Prep ingredients:

  • Peel and slice the onions in thin 1/4″ even slices. I like to cut the onions in half through the root end, then slice perpendicular to the root to get perfect spoon-sized slices (see photos in post).
  • Measure the herbs and assemble other ingredients.

Sweat onions:

  • In a large heavy-bottomed stock pot, dutch oven, or heavy saute pan, heat the olive oil on medium-low heat until it just begins to shimmer.
  • Add the sliced onions and stir. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and stir again.
  • Cover the pot and let the onions steam and soften, stirring occasionally, and adding a splash of water or wine if they begin to scorch.
  • Let the onions sweat and soften covered for at least an hour, adding the dried thyme and bay leaf about half-way through.

Caramelize onions:

  • Uncover the pot and increase the heat to medium-high. Stirring often, caramelize the onions. As they begin to brown, the sugars and flavor in the onions will develop.

Deglaze and add wine:

  • As the onions brown, first add the garlic, and then add most of the white wine gradually to deglaze the pan, a healthy splash at a time. Don’t add it all at once until the onions are richly colored, or the onions will simmer instead of caramelizing.
  • Continue to simmer, stir, and reduce the mixture for 10-20 minutes. If you caramelized your onions in a saute pan instead of a large pot, transfer them to a stockpot or dutch oven before the next step.

Add the stock:

  • Add the beef stock, stir, cover the pot, and bring back up to a boil. Uncover the pot before it boils over.
  • Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes, or until the flavor is well-developed.

Add sherry & serve or store:

  • Add the sherry or madiera (or a last splash of reserved white wine), and bring just back up to a simmer.
  • The soup is now ready to serve, freeze, or pressure-can.

Jar the soup:

  • Ladle the hot soup into clean canning jars. Use a slotted spoon to divide the onions evenly among the jars, then top up with the soup broth. Fish out the bay leaves as you fill the jars.
  • Leave 1″ of headspace at the top of the jars (top up with additional hot beef broth or bouillon if needed to fill the jars.
  • Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean cloth dampened with hot water or vinegar.
  • Top each jar with a new canning jar lid, and tighten the bands.

Pressure canning the soup:

  • Check the weighted vent of your canner to make sure it is clean and free to vent, then place the lid on your canner and latch it. Begin heating the canner over medium heat, with the weight off or the vent open (depending on your canner model) until it is steadily venting steam.
  • Once it begins to vent, set a timer for 10 minutes and let it continue to vent steam. Then, place the weight on your canner and/or close the vent valve.
  • Watch the dial gauge and/or listen for the appropriate jiggle on your canner to let you know it has reached your processing pressure- generally 10 lbs of pressure on a weighted gauge or 11 lbs on a dial, unless you are at an altitude above 1000 feet. Don’t start the processing timer until the canner has reached the proper pressure.
  • Process pint (500 ml) jars for 60 minutes or quart (1 L) jars for 75 minutes (adjusting pressure for altitude if needed).
  • If the canner drops below the recommended processing pressure at any time, you must restart the timer from zero, so keep an eye on that gauge or listen for the weight and adjust heat if necessary as you can.
    It’s best to make slow, gradual adjustments as sudden swings in pressure can cause siphoning in the jars.
  • When the processing time is up, turn the heat off under the canner. Let cool until the gauge reads zero (or a weighted canner doesn’t vent steam when you bump the weight).
  • Carefully remove the weight or open the vent, away from you in case there is still steam to vent. Open the canner away from you, and remove the jars with jar tongs.
  • Place the jars on a towel or cooling rack (not a cold counter top) and let cool undisturbed for at least 8 and up to 24 hours.

To serve:

  • Heat the soup in a saucepan, gently bringing it up to a simmer for ten minutes.
  • Top with a slice of crusty bread or a baguette crouton and melted cheese. You can make the cheesy bread separately and top the soup just before serving, but it's even more delicious if you melt the cheese on the soup in an oven safe bowl under the broiler.
Keyword comfort food, elegant, fall foods, food preservation, freezer meal, hobbit food, low carb, meal prep, meal-in-a-jar, one-pot, pantry meal, pressure-canning, sophisticated, valentine's day, winter, winter canning
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