French Onion Beef Casserole

French Onion Beef Casserole

French Onion Beef Casserole — prep 20 min, cook 6 hours 20 min, serves 4. View the full ingredients and method on SmartBites.

Prep time
20 min
Cook time
6 hours 20 min
Total time
400 minutes
Servings
4

Recipe tags

  • Dinner
  • Slow Cooker
  • French
  • Slow Sundays

Ingredients

  • 750 g Diced Stewing Beef
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 2 item Beef Stock Cube
  • 1 pinch Salt
  • 1 item Crusty Bread Loaf
  • 4 items Onion
  • 2 tbsp Plain Flour
  • 1 tsp Dried Thyme
  • 1 pinch Pepper
  • 120 g Gruyère

Method

  1. Peel the onions and slice them fairly thinly.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the beef and cook for 4-5 minutes until browned on the outside. Transfer the beef to the slow cooker.
  3. Add the sliced onions to the same frying pan and cook over a medium heat for around 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until softened and starting to turn golden. Make 500ml beef stock with the stock cubes.
  4. Sprinkle over the flour and stir for 1 minute, then gradually pour in the beef stock, stirring as you go. Pour the onions and stock into the slow cooker with the beef.
  5. Add the dried thyme and season with the salt and black pepper. Stir everything together, cover and cook on Low for 6 hours, until the beef is tender and the onions have cooked down into the rich gravy.
  6. When the casserole is nearly ready, preheat the grill. Place the crusty bread on a baking tray and toast lightly on both sides.
  7. Grate the Gruyère, scatter it over the bread and return to the grill for 2-3 minutes, until melted and golden.
  8. Spoon the beef and plenty of the soft onions and gravy into four bowls. Top each serving with two Gruyère toasts and serve straight away.

Notes

  • Slow-cooked beef and sweet, tender onions in a rich gravy, topped with crisp Gruyère toasts. It’s a proper comfort-food dinner with very little hands-on cooking once everything is in the slow cooker.

Tips

  • Give the onions enough time in the frying pan to soften and start turning golden. This helps create the French onion flavour.
  • If the casserole looks a little thin at the end, remove the slow cooker lid and cook on High for 15–20 minutes, if your slow cooker allows, or transfer some of the gravy to a saucepan and reduce it briefly.

Swaps and substitutes

  • Gruyère: Emmental or mature Cheddar can be used instead.
  • Crusty Bread: Use baguette, sourdough or another sturdy bread that will hold up to the gravy.

Equipment and cleaning

  • The slow cooker pot is easiest to clean if you soak it in warm soapy water soon after serving. Any gravy around the sides can become stubborn once it dries.

No-waste tips

  • Remaining Gruyère: Grate and freeze it for toasties, pasta bakes or another batch of cheesy toasts.