French Onion Bruschetta
This blog post has been sponsored by Borden® Cheese. All opinions are mine alone.
Wow friends and family with this ooey, gooey, cheesy mash-up: French Onion Bruschetta! Onions cook down and caramelize before soaking up beef broth. Season with thyme, then scoop the onions onto sliced bread. Sprinkle with two types of Borden® Cheese and broil until browned and gooey. The creamy caramelized onions and cheese pair beautifully with crusty bread. French Onion Bruschetta is sure to become a new favorite appetizer or entree.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved working in the kitchen, and the older I get, the more I enjoy making food for my family and friends.
Cooking has always been about sharing love and telling stories for me, and this rings true now more than ever.
Whenever I’m preparing a meal, I put on music so I can sing and dance.
As I’m sure you can imagine, kitchen singing and dancing can be downright humorous. And I’ve made my fair share of mistakes while doing so, including one that I repeat weekly.
Y’all want to guess what it is?
Singing while chopping onions.
We love onions, but chopping them gets me every time. So most evenings as I bop and sing, tears stream down my face.
One of the first times my husband saw this, he thought I’d hurt myself. Nowadays, he just shakes his head and laughs as I cry through the chopping portion of prep.
These days, food preparation is a family affair. Instead of me working alone, our toddler joins in. She loves music, singing and dancing… and she loves being in the kitchen with her mama, too.
If I need broccoli transferred from the cutting board to a (cold) pan? She’s my girl. Want something measured out? She’s got it covered, even though half the ingredients might end up on the floor in the process.
We have a blast as we create meals together. I remember doing the same with my parents, and I hope this instills a lifelong love of cooking and food in her.
This French Onion Bruschetta was inspired by our toddler. She loves soup, but it’s a messy endeavor. I wanted to take a favorite wintertime dish and transform it into something that was easier for everyone to enjoy. Since bread is another household favorite, I decided French Onion Bruschetta would be a winner.
Unsurprisingly, she loved it. So did my husband, and so did I… and I can easily see this dish becoming a part of our meal rotation because it’s quick and utterly delicious.
I headed to my local Fiesta store to grab onions, bread, thyme, beef broth, and Borden® Cheese to make this soup-bruschetta mash-up.
I love using Borden® Cheese in my recipes. The cheese’s meltiness is the stuff dreams are made of, and since French Onion calls for that kind of melty ooey-gooey goodness, I knew I needed to find Borden® Cheese.
I’m so glad I picked some up because look how it melted and browned up on top of those onions! SO good!
For this recipe, I selected two different cheeses – Borden® Cheese Mozzarella Shreds and Borden® Cheese Swiss Slices – from the dairy section, thinking the mellow mozzarella would balance out the Swiss cheese’s stronger flavor and be a good fit for our toddler.
If you’re interested in finding Borden® Cheese in your neck of the woods, check out their handy dandy store locator and pick up a package or two at your local grocery.
French Onion Bruschetta is surprisingly a quick meal to pull together. It’s not one that requires babysitting. Caramelizing the onions takes the most time and attention.
Also, French Onion Bruschetta is a fun dish to make with your children. While my toddler isn’t old enough to chop onions or caramelize them on the stovetop, she is old enough to sprinkle the cheese on before we pop the bruschetta in the broiler. 🙂
Once the bruschetta is out of the broiler, it needs to cool for 5-10 minutes, then it’s ready to be devoured!
French Onion Bruschetta
Ingredients
- 4 small onions (about 4.5 cups), sliced thin
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme plus more for serving
- ½ loaf crusty French bread sliced into ½” thick slices
- 4 oz. shredded mozzarella
- 2 ½ oz. swiss cheese slices
Equipment
- Serrated knife
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Instructions
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When warm, pour in the olive oil.
- When the olive oil is shimmering, add the thinly sliced onions to the pan. Season with salt, and stir continuously with a wooden spoon.
- Let the onions caramelize slowly, constantly stirring so the onions don’t burn on the bottom of the pan. This process should take 20-30 minutes, depending on the heat in your pan.
- When the onions have browned beautifully, add the beef broth a quarter cup at a time. Stir with the spoon as the onions soak up the broth. Do this three more times. Add the thyme leaves, and remove the pan from the heat.
- When the onions are cooked through, turn the oven on to its broil setting. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper, then set aside.
- As the oven preheats, slice the bread. Place the sliced bread onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Spoon the onions evenly on top of the sliced bread.
- Lay down half a Swiss cheese slice, then top with shredded mozzarella. (There’s no exact amount here – eyeball it!)
- Transfer the baking sheet to the oven, and broil for 4-6 minutes, or until the cheese has browned and is bubbling.
- Remove from the oven, and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Sprinkle with additional thyme leaves, and enjoy!
Nutrition
Are you a kitchen singer/dancer, too?
What kinds of dishes do you like to make for your loved ones?
About the Author:
Erin Parker is a Southern gal living in Texas with her husband and two daughters. She started The Speckled Palate to share what she was cooking as a newlywed… and over the years, it’s evolved to capture her love for hosting. Specifically, the EASIEST, lowest key entertaining because everyone deserves to see their people and connect over good food. Learn more about her…
French onion soup is one of my fav soups (actually one of the few that I’ll actually finish a bowl of…) so turning it into bruschetta is basically the best idea I’ve ever heard of! And I totally can relate to kitchen dance parties!!! That IS my life. Every dang day.
French onion soup is one of my favorite soups, too, and I’d actually happily eat it (or a rendition of it) ALL THE TIME. I’m so happy you’re into this idea, and I sincerely hope you enjoy it if you make it! Also, hooray for kitchen dance parties!
This is wonderful! My husband is out of town for the MONTH and I’ve been making things just for me. I had half a can of French Onion soup the other night but was just not happy with it. Last night I cooked 2 small steaks for myself along with roasted vegetables. I cooked the steaks in a small iron skillet and deglazed the pan with red wine. So I saw this recipe and thought I could use the leftover soup and a last couple of pieces of Ezekiel Bread and the one big, sweet onion to use up leftovers and last of the bread. I caramelized the onions in the same iron skillet (I hadn’t washed the fond out of it) so there was added flavor of steak and red wine to add to the leftover soup. All turned out great! I will have the steak with some of these onions and still have enough to eat some on bread tomorrow. Thanks for a great idea! It tasted like onion marmalade on the Ezekiel bread and the cheese on top satisfied me so I won’t be just snacking on everything trying to get satisfied.
Diane,
I am SO happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe so much and that you made your own twist on it. Cooking the onions in the skillet where you cooked the steaks was a brilliant idea, and reusing the leftover French Onion soup was, too! Well done!
Oh heck yes! I love everything about this!
Thanks, Des! I love everything about it, too!
This sounds so delicious. French onion soup is one of my all time favorites. And now I feel like I need to make this soon! #client
Thank you, Michelle. We DEVOURED this bruschetta the few times we’ve made it, and I have no doubt that it is going to be a family favorite for years to come. You can NEVER go wrong with French onion goodness!
I love this idea! A warm appetizer for a light bite before going out on Fridays! Pinned it!
YASSS! I must make these for our next party!
Yasss! You must, Brandy! Enjoy!
These look SO GOOD! My idea of a perfect appetizer!
Thank you, Jessica! They really are a perfect appetizer!
I love this idea! A warm appetizer for a light bite before going out on Fridays! Pinned it!
Thank you, Michele! You can never go wrong with a warm appetizer before going out on a Friday. Enjoy!
Cooking is definitely a family affair is my kitchen, as well! While we don’t have children (yet), our two pups linger around the kitchen during meal prep hoping some ingredients fall their way 🙂
Cooking as a family is so much fun. I’m so glad yours does and that your pups join in on the fun. 😉
Aww! Chopping onions makes me sneeze lately. So strange! And this bruschetta looks awesome.
Sneezing while chopping onions? That’s so strange, Erin! Thank you – this bruschetta is delish!
Yum! You had me at the caramelized onions! But seriously this looks really great and a nice comfort meal!
Hooray for caramelized onions! 😉 Thank you so much. This is absolutely delicious.
I have to try this! My husband will love this onion bruschetta! 🙂
You should, Catalina! My husband loves onions like this, too, and we just adored this recipe. Enjoy!
This bruschetta recipe looks so delicious! I love the french onion take on it! Another great recipe, Erin!
Thank you, Elaine! You can’t beat French onion goodness. 😉 I appreciate it!
Anything on bread is divine at my house! Love that you dance and sing in the kitchen. I can see it now! 🙂 Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
I love this idea. What a great way to serve French onion soup at a party (well and without the soup). Onions get me every time too. I wear glasses and have to take them off and wipe my eyes mid-chop every time. And it lasts so long!
Thank you, Danielle! I hate that the onions get you, too. Good thing the end result is utterly delicious, especially when caramelized.
Anything on bread is divine at my house! Love that you dance and sing in the kitchen. I can see it now! 🙂 Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
Your house sounds similar to mine, Sue! Singing and dancing in the kitchen is a mainstay. Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy this recipe.
A great soup made into an appetizer–yes please!
RIGHT?!? You kind of can’t go wrong. 😉
That looks and sounds amazing. I love the melted cheese on top! This would be perfect with a nice bowl of soup.
Thank you, Angie! The melted cheese just makes this bruschetta. 🙂 Enjoy with that bowl of soup – it would be EXTRA decadent!
I made this tonight, with Kalamata olive bread. It was sooooooooooooooooo good!!! Thanks!
I made this tonight, with Kalamata olive bread. It was sooooooooooooooooo good!!! Thanks!
HOORAY! So happy to hear this, PJ! I can imagine it was just divine with that olive bread! 😀
Just in time for company tonight!!! Thanks so much, I love, and only buy Borden cheeses, they melt beautifully and have a creamier texture then other cheeses!!
So happy to hear this, Marilyn! I hope these turned out well for you and that you and your company adored this bruschetta. We love Borden cheeses, too, so I’m so glad to meet another fan!
Can this be made the night before and put in refrigerator until cooking and serving?
Hi Carole! I think you could definitely do part of this ahead of time. I advise cooking down the onions the day before and storing them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The day of, slice the bread, layer on the onions and cheese, and bake. Thanks for asking! Please let me know how this turns out. 🙂
This is wonderful! My husband is out of town for the MONTH and I’ve been making things just for me. I had half a can of French Onion soup the other night but was just not happy with it. Last night I cooked 2 small steaks for myself along with roasted vegetables. I cooked the steaks in a small iron skillet and deglazed the pan with red wine. So I saw this recipe and thought I could use the leftover soup and a last couple of pieces of Ezekiel Bread and the one big, sweet onion to use up leftovers and last of the bread. I caramelized the onions in the same iron skillet (I hadn’t washed the fond out of it) so there was added flavor of steak and red wine to add to the leftover soup. All turned out great! I will have the steak with some of these onions and still have enough to eat some on bread tomorrow. Thanks for a great idea! It tasted like onion marmalade on the Ezekiel bread and the cheese on top satisfied me so I won’t be just snacking on everything trying to get satisfied.
OK to use a mandolin to slice the onions or would that make them too thin?
It’s absolutely OK to use a mandolin here, Patricia! They might cook for less time, but that wouldn’t be an issue!
This looks so good. One quick question. Can I make this ahead and freeze?
Thanks so much, Tricia! 🙂 As far as making ahead and freezing it, you could probably do that with the onion mixture, though I’ve never tried that before. When you’re ready to make the bruschetta, let it thaw completely, then spread on the bread and top with cheese. If you give this a shot, let me know how it goes so I can share that with others, too!