Since Mark and I have historically used our slow cooker for only one dish (red beans and rice), I decided it would be fun to participate in the Peanut Butter Fingers Crockpot Challenge. By March, I hope to have tried at last 10 new recipes utilizing this wonderful piece of equipment.

Last Sunday, we enjoyed an easy French Onion Soup from Will Jog for Food.

The first and only other time we attempted onion soup, it was a disaster. We prepared it on the stove top per the usual; however, we used chicken broth rather than beef broth and failed to add much seasoning other than salt and pepper. It was bland—and severely lacking in the richness you find in most restaurant soup.

Café Degas (New Orleans) and T. P. Crockmiers (Mobile, AL) serve some of the most outstanding French onion soup I’ve tasted. Both are incredibly flavorful—and have generous amounts of bubbly, gooey Swiss cheese melted on top.

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This simple recipe was full of the same flavor and depth. Since we began cooking late in the day, we sautéed the onions (we used 4 instead of 3) in a small amount of butter, olive oil, salt, and sugar on the high setting for several hours. After the onions were caramelized and softened (filling the house with the most appetizing aroma!), we added the beef broth (we used 50% reduced sodium), red wine, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper, leaving the soup to simmer.

Since we don’t own any small oven-proof bowls, we simply served the soup straight from the Crockpot, topped with a bit of grated gruyère. I often find the melted cheese slices to be difficult to eat, so we chose to grate some gruyère onto whole wheat baguette crostini, toasted in the oven.

I was amazed at how delicious the soup turned out. I would not recommend omitting the red wine, as it added an incredible (but not overpowering) sweetness and body to the soup.

Leftovers heated up nicely for lunch the next day.

I’m excited to try some other slow cooker recipes, particularly during the busy work week. Next, we’re considering pulled pork, but I’d like to try some other soups, a turkey meatball and marinara, and even some Korean-style barbecue!

If you own a slow cooker, do you use it often?

What are some of your favorite, fool-proof slow cooker recipes?