Juicy cheese-topped pork chops roasted in French onion soup sauce. A meal worthy of company, but so easy, it’s also perfect for a weeknight meal!

Here’s a meal that will make your guests or your family feel very special because they’ll think you fussed big time. But you will have a secret–this meal is stupidly easy to make!

It contains caramelized onions, as any good onion soup will. This doesn’t rely on any canned or dehydrated versions of the soup either. I can hear groaning about making caramelized onions–and yes, made conventionally they are a huge pain in the butt because you have to watch over them and they seem to take forever (much like the proverbial watch pot), but did you know you can make them with little or no babysitting in your slow cooker?

I made a whole bunch of slow cooker caramelized onions the other day. I was dying to use some so I went searching for recipes that used them.

This recipe is a composite of several that I found on the net. Some had cheese, some didn’t. Some used canned onion soup–I really don’t like the condensed variety anyway. So I made a sort of patchwork quilt out of what I saw.

Years ago a restaurant in Middle Village, NY, where I’d eat frequently, always served their French onion soup with sharp provolone over the toasted bread. It was the best part of the soup and I wanted that factored in here. Of course Swiss and mozzarella are lovely too, but there’s just something about a GOOD aged sharp provolone (hint: it smells) that makes the soup so awesome. You have to get this provolone sliced in the deli department of your store. I always buy Bel Gioioso because it’s just the best. Ask to taste any other brand though–some are so mild, they taste like mozzarella. Avoid the pre-sliced in the dairy case–it’s not worth it.

The chops are coated with a nice whole-grain dijon mustard. I won’t lie, it’s pretty pricy. However, it’s SO worth it for the taste and the little crunch from the seeds. But if you have regular dijon on hand, that can be used in place of the whole-grain variety.

These are made in the oven, but they can also be made in the slow cooker. The best way to accomplish that is to start the caramelized onions in the linked recipe above either very early the same day or the night before, then when they are done, add the pork chops and the stock. However, I feel it’s more efficient to make the onions one day and this meal the next day and use the finished product.

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French Onion Soup Pork Chops

Juicy cheese-topped pork chops roasted in French onion soup sauce. A meal worthy of company, but so easy, it’s also perfect for a weeknight meal!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Pork, Slow Cooker, soups

Cuisine: American

Keyword: french onion soup, pork chops

Servings: 4

Calories: 383kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 4 boneless center-cut pork chops about 1-inch thick
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup caramelized onions
• 3/4 cup beef stock
• 1/4 cup dry white wine see NOTES
• 4 tsp whole-grain dijon mustard -OR- regular dijon mustard
• 4 slices sharp provolone cheese
• 1-2 sprigs fresh thyme -OR- 1/8 tsp dried see NOTES
• 1/2 tsp salt optional
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat a large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil.
• Sprinkle pork chops with pepper and salt if using.
• Brown chops on both sides in hot skillet. Remove pork chops and set aside.
• Add the stock, thyme (if using) and wine to the pan and deglaze (that's scraping up all the browned bits so they dissolve in the liquid).Add the caramelized onions. Cook for about 3-5 minutes until liquid is slightly reduced.
• Spread 1 tsp of the mustard on top of each chop. Place chops in skillet with the onion/stock mixture.
• Place the pan in the preheated oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until chops register 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.
• Place slice of cheese on top of each chop--I find folding the cheese in half works best and creates a double layer of cheese.
• Place the skillet back in the oven and cook for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and just begins to brown.

Notes

If you used thyme in the recipe for the caramelized onions, it can be omitted in pork chop recipe.

The white wine can be substituted with an equal quantity of beef stock

SLOW COOKER DIRECTIONS--Follow the recipe for caramelized onions bearing in mind they take about 10 hours so plan accordingly if you plan to make this meal along with the onions. If you do, at the end of the 10 hour cooking time, add the browned chops with the mustard spread on each as in the main recipe, and the stock and wine. Cook for an additional 5-6 hours. You can melt the cheese over the chops either in the microwave or regular oven.
I feel it's better to make the onions on one day and make the pork chops on another day. To do it that way, add the caramelized onions to the crock pot along with the stock and wine. Brown the pork chops, spread the mustard over them and place them in the slow cooker. Cook for about 5-7 hours on low, 4-6 on high, but check for doneness at the MINIMUM times. If you are using a casserole crock and you have the pork chops in a single layer, at the end of the cook time, place the cheese on top of the chops, cover and let the cheese melt. If you had to pile the chops in the cooker, you will have to melt the cheese either in the oven or microwave.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 383kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 749mg | Potassium: 719mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 246IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 241mg | Iron: 1mg

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Here’s another side dish that can double as a meal.  This onion casserole is loaded with flavor, crunch and gobs of Swiss cheese!

I ended up with a little too many onions when a store had them on sale.  Since they don’t seem to keep like they used to, I wanted to use them–at least quite a few of them.

So late one night I was net surfing and ran across an absolutely great-looking casserole from Forkable, who said this was a Thanksgiving tradition in their home.

Creamy, sweet and cheesy

This really looked SUPER plus I’d get to use some Italian bread I also bought that got pushed aside and almost forgotten.

I only made slight changes in their recipe.  I tend to use undiluted or slightly diluted evaporated milk instead of plain milk in things I want to be extra creamy and since my bread was not fresh, I brushed the tops with some melted butter not only for added flavor, but for better browning.

Like grilled cheese with onion soup…YUM

Truthfully, I had to stop before I ate the whole casserole–that’s how good this is!!! It’s sort of a cross between a creamy and sweet onion soup and grilled cheese.

Adding some Italian seasoning to the onions and brushing the bread with garlic butter and using a nice sharp Provolone would make this like a garlic cheese bread casserole.  I’m trying that one next.

Creamy Onion Cheese Casserole

This one’s a keeper.

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Creamy Onion Cheese Casserole

Here’s another side dish that can double as a meal.  This onion casserole is loaded with flavor, crunch and gobs of Swiss cheese!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheese casserole, creamy onion cheese casserole, onion, side dishes

Servings: 6

Calories: 436kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 4 medium onions sliced
• 3 tbs butter
• 1 10.75 oz cream of chicken soup
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk or light cream
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 6-8 slices about 1-inch thick French or Italian Bread
• 8 oz shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 tbs butter melted
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

• *Cream of mushroom may be substituted to make the dish vegetarian.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large sauce pan or saute pan, melt the 3 tbs butter over medium-low heat. Add onions and saute until onions are limp and turn translucent (they will look pearly).
• Place onions in an ungreased 1.5-2 quart shallow baking pan.
• In the same pot used to saute the onions, add the soup, soy sauce, water and evaporated milk, adding the milk slowly, while stirring to avoid lumps. Heat through. Add any additional salt & pepper to taste at this point.
• Pour soup mixture over onions in baking dish. Add 1/3 of the shredded cheese; stir and spread onion mixture evenly over bottom of the pan.
• Top with the sliced bread. Brush tops of bread with the 1 tbs of melted butter.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-25 minutes or until bread is a nicely toasted golden brown.
• Slightly press toasted bread slices down in the sauce, but do not let them get covered in the sauce! Top casserole with remaining cheese and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and is beginning to bubble.
• Makes 6-8 side-dish servings.

Nutrition

Serving: 1person | Calories: 436kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 660mg | Potassium: 291mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 707IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 399mg | Iron: 1mg

Perfect side or make it a meal

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