This French onion pasta recipe is easy to make in one pot with simple ingredients. It's like French onion soup in pasta form—rich, comforting, and packed with umami flavor!
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This French onion pasta recipe is a perfect cozy dinner for a chilly night. Inspired by French onion soup, it stars rich, savory caramelized onions, tangy white wine, and plenty of Gruyère cheese. The cheese melts into the broth-based sauce, creating a lightly creamy, deeply flavorful coating for the pasta. Easy to make in one pot with simple ingredients, this French onion pasta is on repeat in my kitchen every fall. I hope you love it as much as I do!
Why You’ll Love This French Onion Pasta
- It cooks in one pot. No need to boil and drain the pasta separately. The noodles release starches into the sauce as they cook, enhancing its creamy texture. Bonus: Cleanup is a breeze!
- We take a caramelized onion shortcut. Making true caramelized onions can take over an hour, so I cheat the process in this recipe to speed things up. I cook the onions for just 20 minutes, until soft and browned, then add a splash of wine and balsamic vinegar to help them soften and caramelize more. They come out flavorful and tender in a fraction of the time!
French Onion Pasta Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this French onion pasta recipe:
- Pasta, of course! Mezzi rigatoni are my favorite shape to use because I love how the short, ridged tubes catch the savory sauce. Feel free to use any short pasta shape you like though. Orecchiette and medium shells would be great!
- Yellow onions – They cook down in olive oil until they’re silky, sweet, and full of umami flavor. I love the natural sweetness of yellow onions in this recipe, but white onions work well too if they’re what you have on hand.
- Garlic – For sharp, savory depth.
- Dried thyme – I call for dried thyme here for simplicity, but fresh thyme is wonderful too. If you have it on hand, use 1 tablespoon fresh leaves instead of the 1 teaspoon dried.
- Dry white wine – It adds delicious tangy flavor to this one-pot French onion pasta. To make this recipe without alcohol, replace the wine with 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar.
- Vegetable broth – The pasta cooks right in it, creating a delicious velvety sauce.
- Tamari and balsamic vinegar – I use both these ingredients in my French onion soup recipe. They’re not traditional, but they help build rich, savory flavor without beef broth, the classic base for this dish. I use the same trick in this pasta to create savory depth.
- Gruyère cheese – It adds delicious nutty flavor to the sauce and makes it lightly creamy.
- Heavy cream – You only need a little—1/4 cup—to perfect the sauce’s creamy texture. I also tested this recipe with a store-bought plant-based heavy cream substitute, and it worked great! I think cashew cream would work well too.
- And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make French Onion Pasta
This one-pot French onion pasta comes together in 3 simple steps:
1. Start by caramelizing the onions. Thinly slice them, then sauté them in a large, deep skillet over medium heat until very soft and well browned, about 20 minutes. Stir in the garlic and thyme, then add the wine and balsamic and let them cook down.
2. Simmer the pasta in the sauce. Add the pasta, tamari, and broth to the pan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente and the broth has reduced.
3. Add the cream and cheese, stirring in the cheese a little at a time to help it melt into the sauce.
Season to taste, garnish with parsley, and serve warm.
Recipe Tips
- Scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. While you’re cooking the onions, brown residue will build up on the bottom of your pan. This stuff is packed with umami flavor! Make sure to scrape it up when you add the wine and balsamic. They’ll create steam that will help loosen the browned bits from the pan.
- Add the cheese a little at a time. This will help it melt smoothly into the sauce. If you add it all at once, it will clump up and be difficult to incorporate into the dish.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They reheat nicely in the microwave or over low heat on the stovetop. If needed, add a little extra broth or water to loosen the sauce when you reheat. It can thicken in the fridge!
More Cozy Pasta Recipes to Try
If you love this French onion pasta, try one of these cozy pasta recipes next:
French Onion Pasta
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 8 ounces mezzi rigatoni or other short pasta
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 3½ cups vegetable broth
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- Fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, salt, and several grinds of pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until very soft and well browned.
- Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, then add the garlic and thyme. Cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant.
- Stir in the wine and balsamic and let them cook down, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the pasta, tamari, and broth and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking.
- Uncover and cook until the pasta is al dente, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cream, then gradually add the cheese, stirring until it melts into the sauce.
- Season to taste, garnish with parsley, and serve.
Can we skip the cream?
What would make a good substitute for tamari in this recipe, please?