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This One Pot Creamy French Onion Pasta Bake is the ultimate cold weather comfort food. Think French onion soup, with the addition of pasta, a creamy sauce, and melty Gruyere cheese. The secret to this one-pot pasta is a little bit of wine, to keep those classic French onion soup flavors we love so much. This pasta dish is great any night of the week but is also perfect for your next dinner party. Every last bite is delicious…everyone LOVES a GOOD cheesy baked pasta…especially when caramelized onions are involved. This dish will be your new go-to when serving family and friends over the holidays…and other times throughout the year too.
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It’s that time of year when all I want to be cooking, eating, and sharing with you is comfort food recipes. As I type this, I’m looking out my NYC window to freezing cold rain. The question I keep asking myself is, when will the rain turn to snow? I’m channeling my mom and little sister (snow dance please!) and putting out the positive thoughts for snow. Because what’s more magical than a snowy NYC in December? It’s going to happen. I will document it for you all.
Regardless of rain or snow, December days call for only the best comfort foods and easy dishes that we can feed our friends and family. When I return home from New York, I’ll only have a week or so until the bulk of my family members start arriving for the Christmas holiday. With that in mind, I’ve been working to come up with some creative recipes to feed everyone this year. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over my many years of serving large groups, it’s that pasta dishes are key.
Most everyone enjoys pasta and what I love about a baked pasta is that I can prepare everything in advance if need be. This pasta is extra special though…if you love French onion soup, you will absolutely love this pasta bake. It has all the rich flavors you get in a bowl of steaming French onion soup. But made better with the addition of pasta and a touch more cheese. You simply cannot go wrong.
Here are the details.
Start with the onions. They need to be deeply caramelized, just as you do when making French onion soup. My secret to the best caramelized onions? Butter, a touch of honey, and in today’s case…dry red wine.
The butter is used for obvious reasons…fat, flavor, and deliciousness. The honey helps to cook and caramelize the onions faster. I always find these ingredients to be key when trying to achieve the perfect caramelized onions.
Now, the wine. Use a dry red wine. Cabernet Sauvignon is pretty traditional in most French onion soups, so I wanted to carry those flavors over into this pasta. You’ll cook about half of the wine into the onions. This not only helps the onions to caramelize quickly and evenly, it also infuses the onions with incredibly rich flavor.
If you prefer not to cook with wine, I recommend using about half a cup of pomegranate or cranberry juice when caramelizing the onions. For the remaining amount of wine called for (another half cup), use chicken or vegetable broth.
Once the onions have deeply caramelized, add mushrooms, garlic, and fresh thyme. Cook all together until the mushrooms have caramelized. Add the broth and dry pasta right into the pot. I know it may seem odd, but trust me, it works. Just bring the mix to a boil and cook until the pasta is al dente. Cooking the pasta together with the sauce only takes a few minutes and saves you from having to break out another pot. It’s my secret to keeping pasta recipes simple and easy.
When the pasta has cooked, add the cream and a little cheese. Transfer everything to the oven and bake until the cheese on top is melty and golden and everything looks and smells delicious.
The best thing about one pot recipes?
Everything starts in one pot, and ENDS in the very same pot. YES. Dishes be gone!! Granted, I tend to transfer my dishes to a baking dish for a prettier look, but if using an oven safe pot, you can bake this right in the very same pot you started with.
One and done and so easy. It’s just what’s needed this time of year, easy dinners that are incredibly delicious.
Serve this with…
Since this is such a hearty pasta, I love serving this with a bright salad. This pretty salad is always my favorite (I leave the chickpeas off when serving this as a side salad).
Of course, you can also add some bread, which is never a bad idea in our house.
With that, you’ll have a complete dinner that will be great any night of the week. My recommendation? Serve this up on the next super cold night when you’re craving a steaming bowl of soup…but also a plate of mac and cheese. This pasta is soup and mac and cheese in one. It’s creamy, cheesy, and swirled with caramelized onions. So…it’s insanely GOOD!
If you make this One Pot Creamy French Onion Pasta Bake, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
watch the how to video:
One Pot Creamy French Onion Pasta Bake.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2-3 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 cup dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 cups cremini or wild mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves , (or 2 teaspoons dried thyme)
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth , (use vegetable broth, if vegetarian)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, (use soy sauce, if vegetarian)
- 2 leaves bay leaves
- 1 pound of your favorite short cut pasta
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, using more or less to your taste
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, whole milk, or canned coconut milk
- 1/3 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese , (optional)
- 2 cups shredded gruyere cheese
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 2. Melt the butter, onions, and honey together in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. At this point, you want to slowly add 1/2 cup of the wine, 1/4 cup at a time, until the wine cooks into the onions. Continue to cook another 8-10 minutes until you've used the 1/2 cup of wine and the onions are deeply caramelized. 2. Add the garlic, mushrooms, thyme, and season with salt and pepper, cook another 3-4 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup wine, the broth, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, and the pasta. Bring the mixture to a boil. Stir frequently until the pasta is al dente and the broth has been absorbed, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the cayenne, cream, gorgonzola, if using, and 1/2 cup gruyere cheese. Remove from the heat.3. If needed, transfer the pasta to a baking dish. Top with the remaining gruyere cheese.4. Transfer the baking dish to the oven and bake 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is lightly browned on top. Cool 5 minutes before serving. Serve with fresh thyme. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Could you add one pound of ground beef to this?
Hey Robyn,
Yes that would work well! I hope you enjoy the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Wonderful!
Thank you Magdalena! xTieghan
So delicious!
Thank you Rae! xTieghan
Incredible! I didn’t use the gorgonzola, but everything else is perfect as is.
Thank you so much John! xTieghan
Hi! Is there a good sub for the mushrooms (neither hubs or I is much of a fan) or would you just leave them out entirely?
Hey Sarah,
I would just omit the mushrooms:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I made this last night because I was having a friend over for dinner and holy Moley was it delicious, my sister sounded skeptical when I told her what I was making but EVERYONE has seconds. Definitely will be making this again!
Thank you so much Chiara!! I am really glad this one turned out so well for you! xTieghan
I’m not sure why the recipe calls for chicken stock. French onion soup is made with beef stock. I would have given the recipe the full five stars otherwise.
I did deviate from the recipe above and substituted in the beef stock. This made the richest, most flavorful pasta dish I’ve ever had. Wow! It was very creamy. I cooked everything in a Dutch oven. When I put it in the oven, the cheese melted on top, but didn’t brown on top. I had to turn the broiler on for 3 minute to get that French onion soup look on top.
I would also recommend adding meat to the dish for some protein and a true one pot meal. I sliced and browned up some locally made sausage with Caramelized onion in the Dutch oven first, removed it, made the recipe, and added the sausage back in before putting the dish into the oven.
I served dinner with some crusty bread/butter and a mixed greens salad with a lemon vinaigrette.
Hi Paul! I am so happy this recipe turned out so amazing for you! Thank you for trying this one! xTieghan
This is SO good. Added chicken to stretch it further for meal prep – just take the onions out before adding all the liquids, season with half a teaspoon each salt and pepper, and one teaspoon Italian seasoning, saute a bit, add onions back in and proceed with recipe. Used smoked gruyere for the cheese that was mixed in, aged gruyere for the topping. This is definitely going to be in our regular rotation!
YES!! So happy this turned out so amazing for you, Alexis! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
This is so creamy and delicious! I used penne and it took a little while longer to cook the pasta (maybe 5 min) and I had to add a little more chicken broth.
I am really glad you enjoyed this one, Maggie! Thank you! xTieghan
I made this last night and it was beyond delicious!! My husband kept saying between bites, “This is wonderful!” He couldn’t get enough of it. Thank you, thank you, Tiegan, for adding once again to my good cook reputation and saving us from boring meals during this crazy time. I love all your recipes!
You are too sweet! I am so glad you have been loving my recipes, Colleen! I hope you continue to! xTieghan
I noticed you told a reader on August 2nd 2020 that you used rigatoni when you made this recipe, but I’ve not seen any rigatoni with the ridges on the outside like the pasta pictured. What brand is that?
Hey Rayann,
I like to get my noodles from Whole Foods, any short cut pasta will work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
HI
What type of short-cut pasta did you use in this recipe.
Hi Jacki! I used rigatoni! I hope you love this recipe! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I would really love to make this recipe, but I cannot have most dairy (the exception being well aged cheese because the lactose is so low). Any suggestions for making a vegan version?
Hi Sessha,
I would recommend using coconut milk in place of the cream and I would use a cheese that you are able to tolerate. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
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Honest review 🙂 I noticed that there’s a lot of 5 star reviews but they aren’t from people who actually made the recipe. I made this last week and it was a hit. However, the recipe said it would take about 45 minutes and it took me over 2 hours (maybe I don’t know how caramelize onions as fast as other people because that took 45 mins alone). I had to add extra wine, broth and cream to continue cooking the pasta to al dente. I would make the recipe again but I’d give myself more time next time.
Hi Austin! I apologize that the timing was not accurate for you. I try to estimate the best I can, but it can take over that time as well. I hope you still enjoyed this recipe! xTieghan