French Onion Soup
This recipe for homemade onion soup is my go-to for comfort French cooking. Slow-cooked in butter caramelized onions, beef stock, white wine, and a slice of crunchy baguette with cheese. This is just magic words for me.
When I’m dining out and it happens to be a French restaurant or they have onion soup on their menu, I just have to have it. For me, a good restaurant will have excellent French onion soup, it’s just how it goes in my mind. Why? It might be a simple and straight forward recipe, but the key is time. No rushing, giving the onions all the time they need to caramelize and later for the broth to absorb and give back all of the beautiful flavors.
What do you need for this soup?
Onions. I mix red and white onions. The red onions are more delicate and much sweeter than the white. So, I like to use both kinds.
Broth. You can make a fresh beef stock which is highly recommended….but if you have a trusted ready stock I won’t judge anyone. I know that stock making is time-consuming.
Wine or Breton cider? To be honest I made this recipe with both options and both are great. The cider will add more sweetness to it. If you are making it for the first time, I highly recommend using dry white wine.
Bread and cheese. One of the most fun parts about this whole soup is melted cheese. Good melted cheese. Strong gruyere is the way to go. You can make croutons separately in the oven or if you have oven-safe serving bowls you can fill it up with the soup, put 2 pieces of baguette and top it up with cheese. Place it in the oven and wait for the magic. Ohh lala!
French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 4 Large Onions mix white & red
- 100 g Unsalted Butter
- 500 ml Beef Stock
- 250 ml Dry White Wine or a bottle of Breton Cider
- A Handful of Fresh Thyme
- 1 tbsp Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Plain Flour
- Fresh Baguette
- Gruyere Cheese
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pot on low heat. Add onions, thinly sliced, with a pinch of salt. Cook for 2 hours, stirring regularly, until deep, golden brown.
- Next, stir in the flour and thyme leaves, cook for 2 minutes. Then stir in the vinegar with wine, whisk in the beef stock. Bring to boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 1hour.
- Once the sup is almost ready, prepare your cheesy baguette croutons. Preheat the oven to 190C. Slice the bread and cover with grated gruyere. Place on the baking tray and bake for a few minutes until the cheese is melted.
- Serve in deep bowls. Place 2 croutons on top and enjoy zis French classic.