Beef Short Rib French Onion Soup

Though I love French onion soup, this twist with beef short ribs adds great beef flavor and is a bit more hearty! The crocks are something else to purchase, but at $30 for a set of four which are microwave-, oven-, and dishwasher-safe, and handy for all sorts of things, they are worth it.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 3 hr
• Total Time: 3 hr 30 mins
• Calories: 1162 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• ½ cup sherry
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 12 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese
• 2 quarts beef broth
• 8 meaty beef short ribs
• 8 sweet onions (such as Vidalia®), sliced and separated into rings
• 1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, thinly sliced

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven's broiler.

Step 2

Mix flour, 2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder in a bowl. Dredge beef short ribs in the seasoned flour mixture. Reserve 3 tablespoons of leftover seasoned flour.

Step 3

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and pan-fry the beef ribs until browned on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Remove ribs and set aside. Turn heat down to medium and melt butter in the pot; cook and stir sweet onions in the butter until soft and slightly browned, about 15 minutes. Stir constantly and reduce heat if onions begin to burn.

Step 4

Stir 3 tablespoons of reserved seasoned flour mixture into the onions and cook and stir for 10 minutes; pour in beef broth and sherry. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until soup is slightly thickened; season with more salt and black pepper, if desired.

Step 5

Strip leaves from thyme sprigs and add leaves to the soup. Gently return short ribs to the pot, reduce heat to low, and simmer soup until ribs are tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Stir soup every hour or so.

Step 6

Ladle soup into oven-safe soup crocks, placing a short rib into each bowl. Top soup with 2 slices of French bread per bowl and sprinkle about 1/4 cup of Gruyere cheese over each crock.

Step 7

Place crocks under broiler until cheese is browned and bubbling, 2 to 3 minutes.