French Onion Mac and Cheese

close up shot of fork digging into small white bowl of mac and cheese

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

All the classic flavours of French Onion Soup transformed into the most delicious Mac and Cheese imaginable!

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 5

Total Time1 15

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American, French

Servings:

Author: Chris Collins

Cost: £2 / $2.50

Equipment

Large Pot & Wooden Spoon
Jug (for stock/milk)
Cheese Grater
Serving Spoon

Ingredients

Caramelized Onions

2lb / 1kg Onions, halved, peeled & sliced
2 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp EACH: Salt, Black Pepper

Mac and Cheese

1lb / 500g Dried Macaroni
3 cups / 750ml EACH: Milk, Beef Stock
2 cups / 200g EACH: Gruyere, Cheddar
1/2 cup / 50g Mozzarella
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions

Add butter and oil to a large pot over medium heat then add the onion. Cook on medium heat, stirring every few mins, for around 25-30mins until the onions soften. Season with 1/4 tsp salt and pepper.
Increase heat slightly to medium-high and continue cooking the onions for another 20-25mins, or until deep golden with a soft and jammy texture, stirring more frequently to ensure they don't burn. If they begin to char/burn before they caramelize, just turn down the heat slightly. See step by step photos for how the onions should look when they're done.
Lower heat back down to medium and pour in beef stock, milk and Worcestershire sauce. Use your wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom of the pot, then add the pasta.
Give everything a stir, then bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the macaroni is al dente, stirring somewhat frequently. The sauce should be fairly thin at this point.
Turn off the heat and add in cheddar, gruyere and mozzarella. Give everything a really good stir until the cheese melts. If the sauce is still too thin/pasta is not fully cooked just pop on low heat for a couple of mins. If it's too thick just add milk a splash at a time. Season to taste and serve!

Video

Notes

a) Caramelized Onions - It takes a little while to really caramelize the onions, but do try and be patient as it's so worth it. The difference between these and Classic Caramelized Onions is that you increase the heat towards the end. By doing this you get a brown bits/char on the base of your pan, which adds a ton of flavour.

b) Consistency - The liquid should be enough to cook the pasta and melt the cheese. However depending on how thick your macaroni is, it might soak up a little more liquid, leaving the cheese sauce quite thick. You can easily adjust this by adding in more milk a splash at a time. I'd be very surprised if you find it too saucy (especially because it soaks up the sauce as it rests), but if you do, just pop the pot back on low heat.

c) Cheese - Gruyere is a must because it's the classic option in a French onion soup. The cheddar offers a more rounded flavour, whilst the mozzarella gives you a nice cheese pull.

d) Calories - whole recipe divided by 6.

Nutrition