TikTok Viral One Pot French Onion Pasta
Updated Dec 07, 2025
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Back in January 2022, I shared a sneak peek of this One Pot French Onion Pasta recipe on TikTok, and I’ve never had so many people ask for the recipe so quickly! This One Pot French Onion Pasta continues to be one of my most popular recipes and I love seeing so many of you try it and love it.
Be sure to check out my Updated One Pot French Onion pasta recipe too! It features extra onions, a deeper caramelization, beef bone broth, gruyère cheese, and a fresh parsley garnish for added flavor.
And if you’re looking for more viral pasta recipes then be sure to try my Viral TikTok Pasta with Boursin or Viral Trader Joe’s Lobster Bisque Pasta!
🐝 Quick Look: One Pot French Onion Pasta Recipe
- ⏱ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🔥 Cook Time: 50 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour
- 🍽 Serves: 3
- ⚡ Calories: ~472 per serving
- 🍳 Cook Method: One pot on the stove
- 🧂 Main Ingredients: Yellow onions, rigatoni, beef broth, thyme
- 👩🍳 Flavor Profile: Cozy, savory, creamy finish
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy to moderate. One pot recipe but takes time to caramelize the onions.
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Why You’ll Love This One Pot French Onion Pasta
- Cozy French Onion Soup Vibes: If you love French onion soup and pasta, this recipe is the best of both worlds. It’s cozy, comforting, and packed with deeply caramelized onions that add rich, sweet, savory flavor to every bite. Caramelizing onions does take a little time, but the flavor payoff is 100% worth it. The timing can vary based on how thinly you slice the onions, your pan, and your heat level, but it’s mostly hands-off and so rewarding. Make sure to check out my Caramelized Shallot Dip for more caramelized onion flavors.
- One Pot Pasta: I’m also a big fan of one pot recipes because they simplify dinner and mean fewer dishes. This one requires minimal prep: just a cutting board, a cheese grater, and a good knife.
- Customizable: This recipe is flexible, too! I first made it using ingredients I already had on hand. Try adding garlic, mushrooms, or a little Gruyère cheese to boost that classic French onion soup flavor even more. And don’t be afraid to use several onions because caramelized onions cook down significantly, so it’s hard to go overboard.
Table of Contents
Recipe Ingredients
See the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients with exact quantities.
- Yellow Onion: feel free to add multiple onions. I have found they cook down to a reasonable amount no matter how many you add. I like using yellow onions the best for caramelizing, but other types of onions work as well if that’s what you have.
- Sherry: I love the flavor sherry adds to this dish. You could also substitute with more white wine, brandy, or dry vermouth.
- White Wine: I like using a dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio. You don’t need anything fancy, but I like using a wine that I would actually drink!
- Fresh Thyme: you can tie the thyme together with twine to make it easier to discard later
- Rigatoni: use uncooked pasta – super easy! The pasta will cook right in the pot. I have found rigatoni works best for this recipe because it holds its structure well without becoming mushy. You could use another short pasta shape if that’s what you have on hand.
- Beef Stock or Broth: I often use water and some Low-Sodium Better Than Bouillon Roasted Beef Base. I use broth in many of my recipes and a jar still lasts for months. I have found it’s much more convenient to keep a jar of it on hand rather than buying cans or cartons of beef broth all of the time. You could also use an unsalted Beef Stock and add a little bit of the Better Than Bouillon paste into the liquid for some extra flavor.
- Half and Half: this is a mixture of cream and milk that you can buy in the grocery store. It’s a lighter alternative to heavy cream. Feel free to use heavy cream for a richer sauce!
How to Make Viral One Pot French Onion Pasta
See the recipe card below for the full list of instructions.
- Cook onions in butter and add a generous pinch of salt to speed up the caramelization process. Cook until onions are very caramelized. Stir occasionally. This can take 20-45 minutes.
- Pour in sherry and wine. Deglaze by scraping up the brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Add sprigs of fresh thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Add uncooked rigatoni then pour in beef broth and Worcestershire Sauce. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes or until pasta is al dente.
- Turn off heat. Discard thyme sprigs. Stir in freshly grated parmesan cheese and half and half until well combined. Serve with additional parmesan cheese.
More French Onion Favorites
One Pot French Onion Pasta
This pasta recipe all cooks in one pot and is inspired by French onion soup.
Equipment
- Dutch Oven I love using my Le Creuset Dutch oven for this recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 large Yellow Onion, use 2 or 3 onions if smaller
- ⅛ cup Sherry
- ¼ cup White Wine, use a dry white wine like Sauvignon Blanc
- 5 sprigs Fresh Thyme
- Kosher Salt & Black Pepper, to taste
- 8 ounces Rigatoni, uncooked
- 3 cups Beef Broth, or use beef broth/stock of choice
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated, more to serve
- ¼ cup Half and Half, can use heavy cream for a richer sauce, use more or less to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Thinly slice onion and add to dutch oven. Season with a generous pinch of salt. Stir then cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove lid, turn heat to medium low, and cook until onions are very caramelized. Stir occasionally. This can take 20-45 minutes.
- Pour in sherry and wine. Deglaze by scraping up the brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Add sprigs of fresh thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Add uncooked rigatoni then pour in beef broth and Worcestershire Sauce. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes or until pasta is al dente.
- Turn off heat. Discard thyme sprigs. Stir in freshly grated parmesan cheese and half and half until well combined.
- Serve immediately. Serve with additional parmesan cheese.
Video
Notes
- The time it takes to caramelize onions will depend on many factors such as how thinly you slice the onions, the type of pan you’re using, and the cooking temperature.
Nutrition
Calories: 472kcal, Carbohydrates: 65g, Protein: 18g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 34mg, Sodium: 692mg, Potassium: 813mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 458IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 136mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
I made this as written but found the flavor rather bland. Second time around I used beef consommé to replace 50% of the beef broth and added 3 tbsp beef demi glace. Second time much better – closer to typical French Onion soup flavor I expect.
Thanks for leaving a review! I use beef demi glace in my regular French Onion Soup recipe and it’s delicious so I could see that being a great addition to this recipe as well!
LOVE this recipe! I like some of the others here didn’t have the sherry/wine and used balsamic vinegar – came out great. This will definitely go into my rotation.
Used heavy cream and a bit more Worcestershire sauce. Perfect! Thank you for sharing!AA
Thank you for trying it out and leaving a review!
I want to make this so bad but I don’t eat beef products. Do you think vegetable broth would still be delicious?
Yes I think vegetable broth would work well! You could try adding a splash of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar to amp up the flavor. Enjoy!
Is there anything you could sub for the Worscetershire for vegetarians?
I think a splash of balsamic vinegar would be good to help add some extra “french onion soup” flavor!
Is there a suggested substitution to the two wines? Thanks!
I would try a splash of vinegar such as balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar. For the sherry I just used a cooking sherry that you can find in the vinegar section of the grocery store if that helps! The purpose of the wine and sherry is to deglaze the bottom of the pan and add some additional flavor.
Hi there! Just wondering if the recipe is referring to sherry wine or sherry vinegar?
Hello! I used sherry cooking wine.
Made this tonight for dinner and it was so delicious and so easy! I love that it’s all one pot. We had this with a side salad and some french bread. I’ll be making this again soon!!
So glad you enjoyed! I’m a big fan of one pot recipes as well. Thanks for the nice review!
…where is the instruction as to when to add the mushrooms ..?
It’s part of step 3! “add the mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes without touching”
This was perfect!! Leftovers somehow tasted even better the next day. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
i don’t know why but those 20 minutes of cooking onions was way too much, I made coal lol still good tho
Would there be anything you would recommend to sub for the creme?
Just finished making this, following this pretty much to the T. Not entirely sure I bought Yellow Onions as my store didn’t have any labeled as such but this came out INCREDIBLE! I was also impatient but it was worth the wait!!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed! Sometimes yellow onions are labeled “spanish onions”. I’m sure this dish would work great with any onions as well!
Hi, what can I substitute for the sherry and white wine?
Hello! I haven’t personally tried any substitutes, but others have mentioned using apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar.
You can deglaze caramelized onions with several things! You can use vegetable/chicken/beef broth OR stock or you can even use just water!
This is amazing! Saw it on TikTok and had to give it a try, do you think it’ll freeze for batch cooking?
Thank you! I haven’t tried freezing it. I think it would work, but I would probably cook the pasta a little extra al dente so it doesn’t get mushy. Let me know if you try it!
Absolutely delicious ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I didnt have wine on hand but subbed for a bit of apple cider vinegar and it came out great. Tasted amazing, thank you!
Is it possible to make it without the sherry or wine??
Yes. You can just deglaze with more broth!
I made this last night and it was AMAZING! Easy prep and it was so nice cooking it all in one pot. I used canned French onion soup instead of beef broth. Will definitely be making it again!!
Thank you! So happy to hear you loved it. I agree that one pot recipes are the best!
SO GOOD!! My family and I loved it. I’ve been cooking dinner more recently and I’ve been looking for fun things. This is absolutely delicious and tastes just like French onion soup. I was a bit unsure at times if I was cooking it right, but it came out phenomenal. Not enough for a family of four grown adults, I’ll have to make three or four times the amount next time. But there will certainly be a next time!
One of my go tos! The only change I make is that I cut the amount of half and half and cheese in half as the amount listed REALLY mellows out the flavors!