Description
Classic French Onion Soup featuring slowly caramelized onions simmered in a rich beef broth, topped with cheesy toasted baguette slices, offering a comforting and flavorful dish perfect for any season.
Ingredients
Scale
Soup
- 100 g / 3.5 oz unsalted butter
- 1.25 kg / 2.5 lb brown / yellow onions, peeled, halved, thinly sliced top to bottom
- 3/4 cup (185 ml) dry white wine, optional
- 2 tbsp plain / all purpose flour
- 1.5 litres / 6 cups / 1.5 quarts good quality beef broth or chicken broth, low sodium/salt reduced
- 2 dried bay leaves (or 3 fresh), optional
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme, optional
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Cheesy Toast
- 6 – 8 slices French baguette or other softish bread
- 100 g / 3.5 oz gruyere or mozzarella cheese, or other melting cheese of choice
- Fresh parsley or thyme leaves, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Caramelize Onions: Melt the unsalted butter in a heavy-based casserole pot over medium heat. Once it starts foaming, add the thinly sliced onions and toss to coat thoroughly in butter. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook the onions for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes until they become soft and semi-transparent. Then increase heat to medium or medium-high, add salt, and continue cooking for another 20 to 30 minutes, stirring frequently until the onions attain a deep golden color and a sweet, caramelized flavor.
- Deglaze the Pot: Pour in the dry white wine to deglaze the pot, scraping up the browned bits stuck to the bottom. Simmer rapidly for about 2 minutes until the wine mostly evaporates, which adds depth and flavor to the soup.
- Add Flour: Sprinkle the plain flour evenly over the caramelized onions and stir continuously, cooking for about 1 minute to eliminate the raw flour taste and help thicken the soup later.
- Add Broth and Herbs: Pour in the beef or chicken broth along with the bay leaves and fresh thyme sprigs. Stir to combine all ingredients.
- Simmer the Soup: Cover the pot and lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Let the soup simmer for 30 minutes to meld the flavors together.
- Prepare Cheesy Toast: Preheat your grill or broiler to high. Toast the bread slices on both sides until they are lightly golden. Top each slice with your choice of melting cheese and grill again until the cheese melts and develops some brown spots.
- Serve: Season the soup with salt and pepper to your taste. Ladle the hot soup into bowls and top each with one or two slices of cheesy toast. Garnish with fresh parsley or thyme leaves if desired, and serve immediately for the best experience.
Notes
- Onions should be sliced top to bottom to retain their shape and reduce stringiness during cooking, but cutting them otherwise will not significantly impact the recipe.
- Using dry white wine is optional but recommended for deglazing to enhance flavor; any non-sweet, non-woody white wine like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris works well.
- Choosing a high-quality, low-sodium beef broth yields the best flavor; chicken broth is an acceptable substitute.
- Use a soft bread like French baguette or thick sandwich bread to allow easy cutting with a spoon when eating the soup; avoid chewy artisan breads like sourdough.
- For a slow cooker option for caramelizing onions: toss onions with melted butter in a slow cooker on LOW for 10 hours, then transfer to a pot with some juices and cook on medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes to deepen caramelization before proceeding with the recipe.
- Nutrition values are calculated per serving assuming 6 servings.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl with cheesy toast
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 14 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg
