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French Onion Soup is one of those epic recipes that is known all around the world. Can you believe that I have not had it until now? It had been on my bucket list for so long, and now that we are just days away from Christmas, it was time to check it off!
If you’re looking for the ultimate soup to serve your family this holiday season on a chilly winter’s day, then you must make The Greatest French Onion Soup ever! The holidays are the perfect opportunity to check off recipes you’ve always wanted to make, so be sure to serve up this life-changing rich and cheesy caramelized onion soup as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! Sign up to my free email newsletter to get started on your cooking journey today, plus all of my latest recipes will be sent straight to your inbox!
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Why You’ll Love This Ultimate French Onion Soup
- Hot and fresh: Everything about this French Onion Soup is just fresh and piping hot! Gooey cheese, hot soup, warm bread… What’s not to love, especially for Christmas (particularly if you’re in a very cold climate, like myself!)
- Cheesy goodness: If you’re a cheese lover, then you really must have a French Onion Soup! That’s what I was told for all the years I had gone without having a French Onion Soup in my life (very sad, I know!)
- Minimal ingredients: As you’ll soon see, you don’t need much to make an extraordinary French Onion Soup. More likely than not, your grocery list will be very small, if anything at all except perhaps some extra onions and fresh thyme.
- Crowd pleaser: French Onion Soup is adored by all, so putting your heart in a dish with this classic French recipe will have your family talking about this and asking you for the recipe!
What Onions are Used for French Onion Soup?▼
The typical choice in a French Onion Soup is yellow onions. This is because they caramelize very nicely and are perfectly sweet. However, you can use white onions or Spanish onions if that’s what you have on hand - even red onions will work, they just won’t be traditional! As I describe in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!!, if you’ve got a suitable substitute on hand - especially when it comes to perishables - then definitely use it! If you were to have all the ingredients listed below and plenty of white or Spanish onions, then don’t stress that you don’t have yellow onions! The onions you already have at home should be finished before purchasing new ones. Trust me, you will be totally fine!
What Wine is Used For French Onion Soup?▼
You want to use a dry white wine for some extra sweetness and to deglaze your pot to bring out all the flavours from the caramelized onions. Personally, I’m not much of a wine drinker, so I don’t go out of my way to get a super fancy white wine if I’m just purchasing it for cooking. My go-to white wine for cooking is Sauvignon blanc, so that’s what I went for here. It’s budget-friendly and will do the job! The common choice in French Onion Soup is to use dry sherry, but you could also use other white wines such as Chardonnay, Pino grigio, or Pino blanc.
Do I Have To Use Wine in French Onion Soup?▼
If you are worried about alcohol in your soup, then you don’t need to to be! Quite honestly, the alcohol will almost entirely get cooked out as you keep cooking the onions and making the broth. Therefore, that means that this French Onion Soup will be safe for children and folks who do not regularly consume alcohol, so I would really encourage you to use the wine as it is truly an authentic ingredient in French Onion Soup that serves an important purpose.
Now, on the other hand, if you don’t want to use wine simply because you don’t want to buy a bottle and be stuck with it, I understand that. You could simply use extra broth to deglaze the pan, but you will miss out on the sweetness that wine provides.
Can I Make French Onion Soup Vegetarian?▼
Traditionally, French Onion Soup is actually made with beef broth. While I won’t be using beef broth in this recipe, I will be using chicken bouillon paste. You can definitely make the French Onion Soup completely vegetarian by using either vegetable broth or mushroom broth. Another option is that can follow my method of using the bouillon paste and water in this recipe by substituting the chicken paste with Better than Bouillon vegetable flavoured paste!
Tools Needed to French Onion Soup
- Kitchen scale
- Salt crock
- Pepper mill
- Garlic press
- Butter block
- Pot
- Baking sheet
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Cutting board
- Sharp chef’s knife
- Wooden spoon
- Olive oil spray bottle
- Ladle
- Cheese grater
- Wire rack
- Oven-safe soup bowls
Ingredients for the Best French Onion Soup
You can find the complete list of ingredients and their quantities by scrolling to bottom of this post or by pressing the “Jump to Recipe” button for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card. The recipe card will also let you scale the recipe based on how many portions of French Onion Soup you want to make so that you’ve got the perfect amount of onions for maximum flavor! By default, the recipe will yield 4 portions of French Onion Soup if you have 3 pounds of yellow onions.
- Olive oil: I’m using a combination of olive oil and butter to caramelize the onions. Olive oil protects butter because butter has milk solids which are likely to burn. Having olive oil mixed with the butter prevents the butter from reaching its smoke point and burning so that it can cook for longer to help brown those onions to caramelize them and develop the rich flavors needed for the soup!
- Butter: Unsalted butter to cook the onions. Butter also helps to add richness and flavor to the soup. A lighter version would use just olive oil, but I really wanted this French Onion Soup to have the extra luxurious shiny texture from butter!
- Bay leaf: One bay leaf really goes a long way in delivering lots of flavor.
- Thyme: You can use dried thyme if this is what you have on hand. A general guideline is that one tablespoon of fresh herbs is equivalent to a teaspoon of dried herbs.
- Onions: I’m using yellow onions and I’ll be slicing them thinly.
- Garlic cloves: Whole garlic cloves freshly minced.
- Better than Bouillon paste chicken flavored: Typically, beef broth is used in a French Onion Soup. However, I like the lighter flavor of chicken broth, plus it results in a paler color in the final product of your soup. In particular, I really enjoy the concentrated flavor that is in Better than Bouillon paste. If you already have chicken broth, then that will work just fine!
- Worcestershire sauce: The traditional choice in a French Onion Soup is balsamic vinegar, but to be honest I didn’t have any and didn’t want to buy it. Worcestershire sauce is a go-to of mine that really delivers umami flavor to whatever dish it’s added to.
- Dry white wine: Recipes call for dry Sherry, but I used Sauvignon Blanc. Whatever dry white wine you have will work.
- Gruyère: The iconic cheese used to finish off the French Onion Soup. Alternatively, you can use another sharp semi-hard cheese, such as Emmental, Parmesan or Gouda.
- Baguette: The bed for our cheese on top. Yes, it is normal that the bread will break in the French Onion Soup, so don’t worry when this happens!
- Salt and pepper: Essential seasoning for the soup to bring out all the rich flavors.
How to Make French Onion Soup
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter with the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onions, a generous pinch of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 10 minutes).
Lower the heat to medium-low, and cook for 40–50 minutes, stirring frequently using a wooden spoon, until the onions are deeply golden brown and caramelized. Make sure to clean the bottom of the pot as much as you can.
Increase the heat to medium-high and pour in the white wine to deglaze the pot and scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pot. Let it simmer for 2–3 minutes until slightly reduced.
Stir in the minced garlic, chicken bouillon paste and Worcestershire sauce and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Optional: If using flour for a thicker soup, sprinkle it over the onions, stir well, and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the water, the thyme sprigs, and the bay leaf and stir well. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 20–30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
While the soup simmers, preheat your oven or broiler to high. Toast the baguette slices until crisp.
Ladle the hot soup into oven-safe bowls. Place a toasted baguette slice on top of each, and generously sprinkle with Gruyère cheese.
Place the bowls on a baking sheet and broil for 3–5 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown.
Carefully remove the bowls from the oven and serve immediately, garnished with a sprig of fresh thyme if desired.
Enjoy!
Tips for a Life Changing French Onion Soup
- Don’t be in a rush: You really need to slowly caramelize the onions to build lots of flavor! This process will take at least 40 to 50 minutes. You will then need to gently cook the soup down for 20 to 30 minutes after adding broth to get the soup thick and delicious!
- Thickness: If you’re looking for a thicker soup, then add some flour. This is not a traditional ingredient in the ingredient, but will act as a thickening agent for a more robust texture. Add this after the wine and Worcestershire sauce step, and cook it out for 2 to 3 minutes to cook out the rawness of the flour.
- Adjust seasoning: At the very end of making your soup, be sure to taste and adjust with some salt and pepper so you’ve unlocked all of the flavors!
- Completely cover the bread with cheese: Make sure to cover the entire surface area of the bread with your cheese before broiling so that your bread does not get too crispy and dark! It should be a nice light color if the cheese completely envelopes the bread.
- Broiling the soup: Ensure that the soup is piping hot when you’re broiling the soup with the bread and cheese. You wouldn’t want an ice cold soup underneath hot and molten bread and cheese!
Can I Make French Onion Soup in Advance?▼
Yes, you can! Keep in mind that you can make the French Onion Soup base in advance, but do not finish it completely! Please do finish with the baguette and cheese the moment you are serving it! However, you can certainly make the caramelized onions and broth ahead of time.
Storing French Onion Soup
All you need to do is allow the French Onion Soup base to completely cool down. Then, transfer it into an airtight container and place in the fridge. If you are storing hot soup in the fridge, be sure to store uncovered until the soup has completely cooled down. Due to the garlic in the French onion soup, it will stay good in the fridge for 3-4 days. If you can’t eat your soup within this time, then do not worry at all! The French onion soup base is very freezer-friendly, so you can keep it in the freezer for 3 to 4 months. Ensure to let it thaw overnight before serving.
How to Reheat French Onion Soup▼
You can reheat the soup itself over the stove in a heavy bottom pot. Ensure that the soup is warm before following through with the assembly and serving part of the recipe. You don’t want to put cold soup under the broiler with bread and cheese! While you could microwave the French onion soup base, the stovetop is certainly the preferred reheating method since it will be gentle and even. If you are preparing French Onion Soup for Christmas, then it is worth the extra attentiveness and care!
What Do you Serve With French Onion Soup?▼
French Onion Soup is an appetizer. If you’re making French Onion Soup as part of a holiday meal, then here are some other dishes so that you can mix and match with your soup to make the ultimate gathering that your loved ones will always remember!
- Salad: Arugula Goat Cheese Salad with Roasted Almonds or Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad.
- Mains: No-Fail Roast Chicken, Oven Pot Roast, Hearty Beef Bourguignon, Blackened Pan-Seared Salmon or Coq au Vin.
- Desserts: Banana-Raspberry Nutella Galette, Festive Gingerbread Eggnog Creme Brûlée, No-Bake Single-Serve Pumpkin Cheesecake, No-Bake Oreo Mud Pie, or Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding with Coffee Whiskey Caramel Sauce.
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