French Onion Meatballs
Everything you love about French Onion Soup, in meatball form! These French Onion Meatballs are insanely delicious, with an oniony beef sauce infused with thyme, juicy meatballs, and melty gruyère broiled to perfection. These meatballs are incredibly warm and comforting. Serve it over some mashed potatoes for the ultimate comfort food, make a sandwich with the meatballs, or soak up all of the beef stock by serving this with crusty bread.
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French Onion Soup-Inspired Meatballs with Gruyère
It’s no secret that I LOVE balls–there’s a whole section of my dedicated to meatball recipes. I grew up eating my grandma’s Italian meatballs, and my entire diet as a kid consisted of three main food groups: Pasta, Meatballs, Cheese. So yea, I’m a bit obsessed with balls.
I make SO many different kinds of meatballs now–one of my favorite ways to come up with recipe ideas is to combine two dishes that I love. That’s how this French Onion Soup x Meatball collab was born! Check out some of my other recipes that were created with the idea of fusing two dishes together: Orange Chicken Meatballs, Thanksgiving Turkey Meatballs, and Apple Cider Crème Brûlée Pie.
This French Onion Meatball recipe has become one of my favorites. It’s everything I love about French Onion Soup but with added protein from the meatballs. I love to serve this with some crusty buttered bread, because I’m a dipper–I want to soak up all of the broth with my bread and alternate bites of meatball and stock-soaked bread. But serving these over mashed potatoes is also TO. DIE. FOR! Or a French Onion Meatball Dip Sandwich?! Are you kidding me?! So many possibilities, all totally delicious.
Ingredients for French Onion Meatballs
- Ground beef. Use 85/15 for the best flavor. I typically use 90/10 or 93/7 for a balance between flavor and lower fat, higher protein content.
- Beef stock: A core ingredient in a French Onion Soup!
- Onion: It wouldn’t be a French Onion recipe without the onion!
- Flour: A thickening agent for the sauce.
- Breadcrumbs: A binding agent for the meatballs.
- Parsley and Thyme: To add freshness to the meatballs and infuse the sauce.
- White cooking wine: An optional ingredient, but great for deglazing the pan. Replace with more beef stock if you prefer to cook without alcohol.
- Gruyere: A classic cheese option for a French Onion Soup recipe.
- Garlic: Because, duh.
How to Make This
Keep scrolling for the full recipe, including ingredients, measurements, and step by step instructions. Here’s a brief overview (with photos!) of how to make French Onion Meatballs!
- Form the meatballs: Combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, thyme, gruyere, garlic, salt, and pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Mix with your hands until just combined. Roll into balls, about 1.5 ounces each.
- Cook the meatballs: Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, then add oil. Cook the meatballs about 3-4 minutes per side, then set aside. Alternately, you can bake the meatballs at 375ºF for about 20-25 minutes, until meatballs are browned and cooked through.
- Caramelize the onions: Using the same skillet, reduce heat to medium. Add a knob of butter or 1 tbsp oil to the skillet, then add sliced onion. If there is a lot of frond in the pan, deglaze with about 1-2 tbsp white cooking wine or beef stock. Cook onions for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If onions start to brown too quickly, reduce heat to medium-low. About halfway through caramelizing, add chopped thyme and season with salt and pepper. Once caramelized, add garlic and cook for another minute.
- Make the sauce: Add flour to the onions and toss to coat. Keep cooking until there are no more dry flour spots in the onion. Add white cooking wine and cook until alcohol burns off. Add beef stock and bring to a simmer.
- Add meatballs to the sauce: Return the meatballs to the sauce and continue simmering until meatballs are cooked through. Preheat your oven’s broiler. Sprinkle the tops of the meatballs with a generous amount of shredded gruyere cheese. Transfer the skillet to the oven and broil on high until cheese is melted, bubbly, and browned in some spots (about 5-7 minutes depending on the distance of your oven’s top rack to the broiler).
- Serve: I like to eat mine with crusty, rustic bread and butter. But these are delicious on top of mashed potatoes or in a sandwich!
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- Swap out the ground beef: You can always use chicken, turkey, or pork in this recipe, but I prefer ground beef because it pairs so perfectly with the beef stock to really bring out the flavors of a classic French Onion Soup!
- Make it vegetarian: This would be a great opportunity to use plant-based ground “beef”! To replace the beef stock, I recommend using Better Than Bouillon No Beef Base (it’s certified vegan). You can mix that with water or vegetable broth.
- Make it vegan: Use your favorite plant-based ground “beef” meatball, replace the egg in the meatball recipe with a flax egg, replace beef stock with Better Than Bouillon No Beef Base, and use a vegan cheese (if you’re lucky enough to find a vegan gruyere, that would be best, or you can use a vegan mozzarella).
- Make it gluten free: Replace the breadcrumbs with gluten-free breadcrumbs. Almond flour, crushed cornflakes, or rolled oats are also gluten-free alternatives if you don’t have gluten-free breadcrumbs on hand. Instead of using flour as the thickening agent in the sauce, use a corn starch slurry.
- Mix up the cheeses: Gruyere is typically the cheese used in French Onion Soup, but I also recommend a blend of half gruyere, half mozzarella to keep some of that nutty gruyere flavor while adding in the supreme melt factor of mozzarella. Fontina or sharp white cheddar are also good additions here!
What to serve with French Onion Meatballs
- Crusty Bread. If I want to keep it simple or eat leftovers for lunch, I’ll simply toast a thick slice of rustic bread or sourdough and use it to mop up the delicious sauce.
- Mashed Potatoes. If I want a more hearty meal, I’d make some mashed potatoes and spoon the sauce and meatballs on top.
- Rice. You can also cook some (washed) rice directly in the beef stock for more of a one-pot complete meal! You can adjust the recipe to include a 2.25:1 ratio of liquid:rice (for example, if you want to cook 1 cup of dried rice, make sure you have 2 1/4 cups of beef stock in the recipe.
- Make a Sandwich. Slice a French baguette and stuff it with the cheesy meatballs. Set aside some of the beef stock to use as a dipping jus. It’s like a French Dip Au Jus but French Onion Soup sandwich-style!
FAQs
What’s the difference between caramelizing onions and sautéing onions?
The difference comes down to time and heat. Caramelized onions are cooked low and slow, while sautéing onions means cooking them for a shorter amount of time at higher heat.
- Caramelizing onions are cooked on lower heat for a longer period of time, around 30-45 minutes. The moisture from the onions evaporates as they cook and the sugars caramelize, leading to a deep amber color, soft and jammy onions, with a sweeter taste.
- Sautéing onions means cooking them quickly at higher heat settings. Many recipes call for sautéing onions for about five minutes until tender and starting to brown. Sautéd onions still have some texture and crunch to them, as opposed to the soft and jammy onions from caramelizing.
What is the best lean to fat ratio for ground beef meatballs?
There is no one answer for this, as it does come down to preference. If you are trying to cook lighter recipes lower in fat and higher in protein, any ground beef from 90/10 to 97/3 will be fine, but you will lose some of the fatty flavor the leaner you get, and the meatballs will come out a bit tougher with less fat content. An 85/15 ground beef will lead to the most flavorful meatballs for this recipe. I typically use between 90/10 to 93/7 for meatballs that strike a balance between flavor and higher protein.
What is the best way to make this recipe ahead of time?
If you’re not planning on serving this dish immediately, but you’d like to get some of the prep work done ahead of time, you can follow a few simple steps:
- Make the meatballs. Choose your favorite method of cooking meatballs, whether it’s on the stovetop or baked in the oven. Make sure they are cooked fully, then let them cool slightly before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
- Make the sauce. Follow the instructions in the recipe to caramelize the onion and add beef stock. At this point, you can transfer the sauce to a container, let it cool slightly, then store covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days until you are ready to assemble.
- Reheat the sauce and meatballs together. Add everything to a skillet and bring the sauce to a simmer with the meatballs. Reheat until the sauce thickens.
- Add the cheese and broil. Sprinkle shredded gruyere over the meatballs, then transfer the skillet to your oven to broil until the cheese is melty and slightly browned.
Equipment
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French Onion Meatballs
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Meatballs
- Method: One Pot
- Cuisine: French American
Description
Everything you love about French Onion Soup, in meatball form! These French Onion Meatballs are a delicious way to add some protein to this classic soup. Serve with thick rustic bread to mop up the sauce, or over mashed potatoes for a hearty meal!
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 6–8oz shredded Gruyere cheese, divided
- 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp oil
For the French Onion Sauce
- 2 tbsp butter or oil
- 2 large white onions, halved and sliced from root to tip
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup white cooking wine
- 1 1/2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp beef stock
Instructions
- Form the meatballs: In a medium mixing bowl, combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, thyme, 1/4 cup shredded gruyere, garlic, salt, and pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Mix with your hands until just combined. Roll into balls, about 1.5 ounces each.
- Cook the meatballs: Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, then add oil. Cook the meatballs about 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through, then set aside. (See notes below for alternate cooking instructions to speed up the entire recipe process).
- Caramelize the onions: Using the same skillet, reduce heat to medium. Add butter or oil to the skillet, then add sliced onion. If there is a lot of frond in the pan, deglaze with about 1-2 tbsp white cooking wine or beef stock. Cook onions for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If onions start to brown too quickly, reduce heat to medium-low. About halfway through caramelizing, add chopped thyme and season with salt and pepper. Once caramelized, add garlic and cook for another minute.
- Make the sauce: Add white cooking wine and cook until alcohol burns off. Add flour to the onions and toss to coat. Keep cooking until there are no more dry flour spots in the onion. Add beef stock and bring to a simmer.
- Add meatballs to the sauce: Return the meatballs to the sauce and continue simmering until meatballs are warmed and cooked through. Preheat your oven’s broiler. Sprinkle the tops of the meatballs with 1 cup of shredded gruyere cheese. Transfer the skillet to the oven and broil on high until cheese is melted, bubbly, and browned in some spots (about 5-7 minutes depending on the distance of your oven’s top rack to the broiler). Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh thyme leaves.
- Serve: These meatballs are absolutely delicious served with some thick, crusty rustic bread to mop up the sauce. Or you can serve over a bed of creamy mashed potatoes.
Notes
This recipe is meant to be a one-pot meal, but due to caramelizing the onions in the same pan in which the meatballs are cooked, the total cook time is quite high. So, if you’d like to cut down the cook time slightly, you can bake the meatballs in the oven while you caramelize the onions on the stovetop. Bake the meatballs spread out slightly in a baking dish at 375ºF for 20-22 minutes until browned and cooked through. Then, transfer them to the French Onion sauce when it’s simmering.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 meatballs
- Calories: 593
- Sugar: 4.5 g
- Sodium: 1328.1 mg
- Fat: 36.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.4 g
- Protein: 41.4 g
- Cholesterol: 182.1 mg
SO easy and so delicious!