One-Pot French Onion Pasta

By Laura RegePublished: 06 April 2023

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one pot french onion pasta with cavatappi noodles

PHOTO: ANDREW BUI; FOOD STYLING: SPENCER RICHARDS

We’re big fans of one-pot pastas and French onion soup-flavored everything, so it was just a matter of time until we combined those two awesome things in one dish. Meet this one-pot French onion soup pasta, which is destined to become one of your favourite weeknight dinners.

At the heart of this dish are the caramelised onions. Almost a kilo of sliced onions might look like a lot, but they cook waaaayyyy down, and you want to make sure you have plenty of the jammy, deeply flavoured onions to pair with your pasta. There’s no way around it, it does take time to caramelise the onions, but it’s also 100% worth it. A little garlic and fresh thyme go in at the end, plus a glug of dry white wine to enhance all of the flavours and pick up those delicious browned bits in the bottom of the pan.

Once the onions are deeply golden brown, it’s pasta time. Pour the dry pasta and a mix of stock and water right on top of the onions and bring everything to a simmer. Cooking the pasta in the sweet onion-y broth infuses each bit with French onion goodness.

And don’t worry, we didn’t forget the cheese. A generous handful of grated Gruyère gets stirred into the pasta just before serving and we highly suggest passing more cheese at the table. Gruyère is on the expensive side, so feel free to sub in Swiss or even Cheddar. Just don’t skip the cheese (because, cheese). 🧀

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Yields:: 4 serving(s)
Prep Time:: 10 mins
Total Time:: 50 mins

Ingredients

3 tbsp.
unsalted butter
3
large white onions (about 900g), halved lengthwise, thinly sliced
4
cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp.
fresh thyme leaves, plus more for serving
120 ml
dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
350 g
dried cavatappi
950 ml
beef stock
230 ml
water
Flaky sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
85 g
finely grated Gruyère cheese, plus more for serving

Directions

1. Step 1In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until deeply golden brown and caramelised, about 20 minutes. (If onions are browning too quickly, stir in a few tablespoons of water, scraping up brown bits on bottom of pot.)
2. Step 2Add garlic and thyme and cook, stirring, until garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring, until almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Add pasta, stock, water, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until pasta is al dente, 14 to 16 minutes.
3. Step 3Stir cheese into pasta until melted and combined. Top with more cheese and thyme before serving.