French Onion Pull-Apart Loaf

Ingredients

• 1 large, about 1 lb / 450 g Crusty bakery loaf, such as French or Italian bread
• 3 large Yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 3 Tbsp, plus 4 Tbsp softened Unsalted butter
• ½ cup Beef broth
• 1 tsp Fresh thyme leaves, or ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp Kosher salt
• ¼ tsp Black pepper
• 2 cups Gruyère or Swiss cheese, shredded

Method

1. Melt 3 Tbsp butter in a wide skillet over medium. Add the onions and the salt. Cook, stirring often, until they are deep golden and jammy, about 35–40 minutes. If they start to scorch, lower the heat and add a spoon of water. Stir in the thyme, pepper, and 2 Tbsp of the beef broth. The onions should look glossy, not soupy. Let them cool until you can handle them.
2. Heat the oven to 375°F / 190°C. Cut the loaf in a 1-inch grid, going down to about ½ inch from the bottom so the loaf stays in one piece.
3. Stir the remaining 4 Tbsp softened butter with 1 Tbsp of the broth. Gently open the cuts and brush that butter inside. Tuck onions and cheese into the gaps. Sprinkle any leftover cheese over the top. Pour the rest of the broth slowly over the cuts so it sinks in.
4. Wrap the loaf in foil and bake 15 minutes. Open the foil and bake 8–10 minutes more, until the cheese is melted and the crust is crisp again. Rest 5 minutes, then pull the pieces apart.

Nutrition

Kitchen estimate only, not lab-verified. A rich bread. Broth, cheese, and butter are the main variables.

Guest diet / allergy swaps

Short kitchen notes for guests. A fuller gluten-free or dairy-free ingredient list, when we have one, is in the panels below.

• Low-sodium friendly

  Use no-salt-added beef broth and half the salt on the onions. Gruyère is salty. Use 1 cup of cheese if you need less.

• Gluten-free style

  Start with a crusty loaf labeled gluten-free. The filling has no flour. A gluten-free loaf is more fragile, so cut it gently.

• No beef

  Use vegetable broth instead of beef broth. You will have an onion-cheese loaf, not the soup-style pot.

• No pork

  There is no pork here. Skip any bacon some people stir into onion soup.

• Dairy-free

  The cheese and butter are the point of the loaf. Leave them out and you have onions in bread, which is a different snack.

• With wine

  Add 2 Tbsp dry white wine to the onions near the end and cook it off. That brings alcohol into the dish. Skip it if the table is avoiding alcohol.