French Onion Soup
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Caramelized onions, rich beef broth, and toasty bread topped with melted cheese, French onion soup is the ultimate comfort food.
Did you know that French onion soup, often a staple in restaurants, actually originated as a humble peasant soup made with just onions, stale bread, and water? Today’s versions might be a bit fancier, but this soup is still wonderfully simple to make at home. The key is patience. The onions need to be cooked low and slow so that they sweeten and turn a rich brown caramel color without burning. In addition to giving the onions the proper time and attention, I add a bit of sugar to enhance the sweetness of the onions, and I also stir in a bit of flour to add body to the broth—two tricks I picked up working in a French restaurant that made the best French onion soup ever. Finally, to add even more flavor, I top the croutons with two types of cheese.
If you don’t have ovenproof crocks for the soup, don’t worry—you can just top your soup with melty cheese toasts or serve them on the side. And if you want to get a head start, go ahead and make the broth and toasts several days ahead of time. When it’s time to eat, simply top the soup with the toasts and cheese and flash the crocks under the broiler. French onion soup pairs well with steak and/or a simple green salad.
Table of Contents
“I made this last night and it was amazing! I think it was even better than the French Onion Soup we had in Paris last summer.”
What You’ll Need To Make French Onion Soup
How To Make French Onion Soup
To begin, in a large Dutch oven or soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the oil, onions, salt, pepper, and sugar.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are deep golden brown and caramelized, 45 to 55 minutes.
In the beginning, you will only need to stir the onions occasionally. As they start to brown midway through cooking, you’ll need to stir them more frequently. Also, be sure to scrape the fond (or brown particles) from the bottom of the pan.
Add the wine and raise the heat to high.
Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape any fond from the bottom of the pan, until almost all of the liquid has evaporated and the onions are jammy, 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the flour.
Cook for about one minute to dissolve the flour.
Add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes. Add the sherry, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. If the soup needs a deeper flavor, try a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce. If it’s not quite sweet enough, add 1/4 teaspoon sugar.
While the soup simmers, preheat the oven to 400°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Arrange the baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Bake until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
Adjust an oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on a baking sheet and divide the hot soup among the crocks. Be sure the soup is very hot as it won’t warm up much in the oven. Top each crock with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices).
Sprinkle evenly with Gruyère and then Parmigiano Reggiano.
Slide the crocks into the oven and broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. (Alternatively, if using regular soup bowls: Top each toast slice with some cheese and return to broiler to melt, about 2 minutes more. Divide the soup among bowls and top each serving with two cheese toasts.)
Let the French onion soup crocks cool for a few minutes before serving.
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Video Tutorial
French Onion Soup
Caramelized onions, rich beef broth, and toasty bread topped with melted cheese, French onion soup is the ultimate comfort food.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 pounds Vidalia (or sweet) onions (about 5 medium), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 6 cups beef broth
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small baguette, cut into ½-in slices
- 1 tablespoon dry sherry
- 8 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (about 2 heaping cups; look for one imported from Switzerland)
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the oil, onions, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until onions are deep golden brown and caramelized, 45 to 55 minutes. In the beginning, you will only need to stir the onions occasionally. As they start to brown midway through cooking, you will need to stir them frequently, scraping the fond (the brown particles) from the bottom of the pan. If the onions are browning too quickly, reduce the heat slightly or add a few tablespoons of water to deglaze the pan and continue cooking.
- Add the wine and raise the heat to high. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape any fond from the bottom of the pan, until almost all of the liquid has evaporated and the onions are jammy, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.
- Add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes.
- While the soup simmers, preheat the oven to 400°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Arrange the baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
- When the soup is finished, remove the bay leaves and add the sherry; taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. If the soup needs a deeper flavor, try a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce. If it's not quite sweet enough, add ¼ teaspoon sugar.
- Adjust an oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on a baking sheet and divide the hot soup among the crocks (be sure the soup is very hot as it won't warm up much in the oven). Top each crock with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère and then Parmigianno Reggiano. Slide the crocks into the oven and broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let the crocks cool for a few minutes before serving. (Alternatively, if using regular soup bowls: Top each toast slice with some cheese and return to broiler to melt, about 2 minutes more. Divide the soup among bowls and top each serving with two cheese toasts.)
- Make-Ahead Instructions: The soup can be made and refrigerated up to 3 days ahead (without toasts or cheese), or up to 3 months ahead and frozen. Toasts can be made (without the cheese) and kept sealed at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (5 servings)
- Calories: 642
- Fat: 31 g
- Saturated fat: 17 g
- Carbohydrates: 53 g
- Sugar: 19 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 31 g
- Sodium: 1,697 mg
- Cholesterol: 82 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Excellent recipe, easy to make and delicious. I don’t add the sherry cos I don’t have it.
Disappointing. I followed the recipe exactly except no sherry on hand. I had high expectations for this but very little flavor at all. I finally added a packet of Lipton onion soup mix for flavor.
This recipe is great! It turned out so tasty!!
This was the first time I made onion soup. I liked the flavor a lot, but my onions broke down into very small pieces. When I have had onion soup in restaurants, the spoonful’s have pieces (almost strings) of onions. Did I do something wrong?
It sounds like it could have been one of three things – maybe you sliced the onions too thinly, cooked the soup a bit too long, or stirred the onions a little much. Hope that helps for next time around!
A little too sweet for me. I used homemade beef broth and was expecting a deeply rich soup but it was mainly sweet. I’ll omit the sugar next time but I can’t imagine the small amount included the recipe caused it to be overly sweet. I will try it again!
Rather one note in my opinion. Easy recipe. Just not enough depth of flavor for my taste. Made it a second time with red wine instead of white and it was more to my liking. Over all, a good basic recipe. Will def use going forward with some small changes like the wine and adding some garlic. Thank you!
I have a much loved but more complicated recipe for French Onion Soup which gives it super depth of flavor. It calls for deep red wine, like a merlot, and some port. About 1/2 cup of each once you get the onions carmelized. I used this recipe on once upon a chef because I didn’t have any wine at the time, and didn’t want to run to the store. This recipe is good, but I think you would be much happier with the addition of the wines. Just make sure to add enough cooking time for the alcohol taste to cook off. Make sure you cut the onions bigger to accommodate the longer cooking time so you won’t have mush. Enjoy!
Absolutely delicious! Followed the recipe exactly with the exception of the sherry ( none on hand) and it was perfectly flavorful and silky smooth. Can’t wait to make it again, Thank you!
I agree with those that said not enough depth of flavor. I added more Worcester a bit more salt and some salt free bullion beef, that perked up the flavor a bit but for such a lengthy recipe I would have hoped it would be more flavorful
This is a very good recipe. Just made it. It’s fantastic.
Easy to follow recipe with delicious results
Made this last night and it was really good, despite a few substitutions because I was too lazy to go to the store. I would make this again. I think the secret is making sure the broth used is of good quality. Awesome recipe!