Soup season is HERE! Ahhh … I wish you could smell this. I mean, you can, you just have to make it first. Good thing it’s really easy! Yes, this Bourbon and Apple French Onion Soup with Crispy Prosciutto Toasts is just beyond wonderful. Read below for a good onion slicing tip, and be sure to read the notes in the recipe card for a slow cooker method and also a quick-fix, 30-minute version. We’ve got options today, y’all!

Table of Contents

Bourbon & Apple French Onion Soup with Crispy Prosciutto Toasts

What you’ll need to make this Bourbon and Apple French Onion Soup

I’m just going to say right here that I * highly * recommend purchasing a good mandoline to help with the slicing of the onions. I mean, it’s still going to give your eyes a real run for their money – but it helps. It’s faster, I think. I just slice them directly over the pot, so they fall right in and begin cooking immediately.

Just please be careful and use the protective guard, okay?

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons butter

Two tablespoons olive oil

3 pounds sweet or yellow onions, thinly sliced (usually sold in 3-pound, bags)

2 red or golden apples, thinly sliced

Two sprigs of thyme, leaves removed (amount is approximate)

2 bay leaves

Two ounces bourbon whiskey

1 teaspoon beef stock concentrate

6 cups beef stock

1 baguette

6 slices prosciutto (any sliced ham you like is great)

1.5 to 2 cups shredded gruyere or Swiss cheese OR shredded cheddar cheese (Or a mix! Use blue cheese, even!)

How to make this French Onion Soup Apples and Crispy Prosciutto Toasts

This soup can really be made a few different ways, depending on what your preference is, and how your day looks, time-wise. You can throw all of the ingredients (apples, bourbon, herbs and all) save for the bread, prosciutto and cheese into a slow cooker and cook it on low for 6 hours or high for 4. Then, just ladle into individual bowls just before serving, top with bread, torn slices of prosciutto, and lots of cheese. Broil, et’ voila!

Or, you could skip the roasting of it and just cook it on the stovetop until it has simmered for at least 30 minutes. This will ensure that the flavors have developed enough and the ingredients have had a chance to mellow and marry. We all love a mellow marriage, yes? Yes.

The recipe that I have written, however, is my favorite way to do this soup. We’ll get everything in the pot, saute the onions on the stovetop just a little bit, and then send it into the oven to roast and caramelize in the way that only ovens know how to do. Then, we’ll take it out, add more stock, and then back into the oven to roast for a while longer. The soup LOVES to be made this way, because long cooking in an oven does magical thing to onions and stock, drawing out flavors from the bay leaves, thyme, and sweet apples.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Set the rack to the middle position.

Add the butter and olive oil to a large, deep pot set over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the onions, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook until tender; about 5 minutes. Add the sliced apples, bay leaves, thyme and bourbon. Cook, stirring, for a few minutes. Add the stock concentrate and 1 cup of the beef stock. Put the lid on the pot and place in the oven for about an hour.

Add 3 more cups of stock, put the lid back on, and roast for 1 more hour.

Preheat the broiler to high. After the final hour of cooking, put the pot back on the stovetop over medium heat, add about two more cups of stock. Ladle into individual oven-safe bowls and top with torn pieces of baguette, however much you see fit. Tear pieces of prosciutto and lay them over the bread, just tucking and twisting them around. Top with a big pile of shredded cheese and broil on high on the middle rack for about a minute, until bubbly and golden. Enjoy!