French Onion Bread
French onion bread is an indulgent pull apart bread that will be the hit of any party. This cheesy French onion bread is a perfect Super Bowl appetizer. This stuffed bread also makes a scrumptious holiday appetizer. Make it whenever you entertain or just want to treat yourself.
This bread. OMG.
This bread is what I would have as an appetizer for my last meal. It’s everything I want in life. Carbs. Cheese. Rich, savory, slightly sweet French onions. This bread is life.
Sometimes when I cook, I get these ideas. I just start to think about cheese or caramelized onions and thoughts swirl around in my head until a picture of some insane dish takes shape. Then I test it out for my friends. If they love it, I know I have a winner.
I made this French onion bread for a New Year’s party with a bunch of foodies. The bread was a hit! Everyone loved it and polished off the bread well before the ball dropped. Friends said I needed to make it again for Super Bowl. And so I will. And you should too!
The Best Ever Pull Apart Bread Recipe
You need to make this amazing pull apart bread recipe because it is hands down one of the best recipes I have ever made or eaten in my entire life. The French onions are buttery, rich and totally melt into the bread. Layers of cheese cover this whole kitten caboodle.
It is the very definition of indulgence and worth the time it takes to prepare.
Ingredients to Make French Onion Bread
To make this French onion bread you’ll need:
- Onions. Sweet or yellow onions work better in this white onions, but use whatever you like. You’ll need 3 pounds of onions and you’ll want to slice them.
- Butter. A lot of butter. Unsalted butter is best for this recipe so you can control the salt content.
- Sugar. A bit of white granulated sugar will help the onions caramelize beautifully.
- Spices. Just a bit of thyme and sage to give the onions more depth of flavor.
- Garlic. Honestly, it’s a given. I like using fresh garlic, but dried would be ok if you must.
- Sherry. Don’t want to use sherry? White wine would work as well.
- A sturdy loaf of bakery bread. You don’t want a soft loaf of Italian but something with some crust and body like sourdough.
- Cheese. I like a mix of Italian cheeses- shredded mozzarella and Parmesan with slices of Provolone. Swiss and Gruyere would also work well.
How to Caramelize Onions
The first part of making this French onion bread is caramelizing the onions. Caramelizing onions isn’t difficult but it does take some time, sort of like making risotto. You can’t really shortcut it but it’s worth it for the yummy onion goodness.
To caramelize onions, thinly slice either yellow or sweet onions. Then melt some butter in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Add the onions to the pan. Season them with the dried spices and salt and pepper. Pour on sherry and sugar.
And now we wait.
And stir.
Then wait.
And stir.
In all seriousness, the onions need to cook low and slow for about an hour. For the first half an hour, you want to stir them occasionally. For the second half an hour, you’re going to need to stir them pretty frequently so they don’t burn.
As the onions cook, they will turn a beautiful golden brown color. Let them go until the onions are totally golden brown and very soft. They shouldn’t have any white on them at all. For a detailed step by step on how to make caramelized onions check out my post here.
Making the French Onion Bread
Now that you’ve got the onions ready to go, it’s time to make the bread. To make this deliciously cheesy French onion bread:
- Cut a checkerboard pattern into your bread as shown. Don’t cut all the way through the loaf but about 3/4 of the way through so that all the bread cubes are still attached to the loaf of bread on the bottom.
The grid you want to cut into the bread. - Spoon melted butter into the bread cubes. Just some added richness.
- Stuff the caramelized onions into the bread cubes. Scoop them in with a spoon and use your fingers to push the onions to the bottom of the cubes.
Stuff the onions into the bread - Top with shredded cheese. Push the cheese gently into the bread cubes on top of the caramelized onions.
Add the cheese and gently push it into the cracks - Bake. Bake the bread at 400 until the cheese gets nice and melted.
Then serve hot and enjoy!
Other French Onion Recipes You Might Love
I love French onion everything. If it has deliciously sweet and savory caramelized onions in it, I will eat it. These are some of my other favorite French onion recipes:
- French onion chicken. Parmesan coated chicken topped with buttery sweet onions and melted cheese. Yes please.
- Caramelized onion cheese dip. These caramelized onions added into a rich marscapone cheese base and served with crusty baguette slices. A million yeses forever.
- Pumpkin pizza with caramelized onions and kale. A fall favorite with a rich pumpkin Parmesan sauce and brown butter onions.
- French onion pizza. Because of course.
- Caramelized onion and asparagus pasta. A different method for caramelizing onions with a delicious pasta result.
Make this cheesy stuffed French onion bread for your next party and see why it’s one of my favorite things ever or try another one of these delicious French onion appetizers. Did you make this? Leave me a comment below or find me on Instagram @Seasonedsprinkles or on Facebook and let me know what you think!
Ingredients
- For the onions
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter
- 3 pounds of sweet or yellow onions sliced
- 1/4 c granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup of white wine or sherry*
- 6 cloves of garlic pressed
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp of dried thyme
- To assemble the bread
- 1 large sturdy loaf of bakery bread
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1.5 cup Italian blend shredded cheese
Instructions
For the onions
- Thinly slice the onions. Add the butter to a cast iron skillet. Melt the butter over medium low to medium heat. Pour the onions in. Add the sugar, white wine or sherry, garlic, salt, pepper and spice. Cook over medium heat stirring every few minutes for the first half hour. During the next half hour, stir very frequently, almost constantly, until the onions are soft and deep golden with no white left. This will take about another half an hour.
- When the onions are caramelized, remove them from the heat and let them cool enough to work with.
To assemble the bread
- Preheat the oven to 400.
- Cut a sturdy loaf of bakery bread like sourdough in a grid pattern as shown. Don't cut all the way through the bread but leave each end attached to the bottom crust of the bread.
- Once you've cut the pattern into the bread, spoon butter into the crevices. Then stuff the onions into all the crevices, using a spoon to gently push it down as much as you can. Next gently stuff shredded cheese into the crevices.
- Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
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