French Onion Soup

Classic French Onion Soup is one of the most good soups in the world! With a rich, golden brown gravy and no shortage of flavour, you will love everything about this dish.

Caramelised onions in a rich stock with an intense depth of flavour is what makes this classic French Onion Soup stand out from the rest. Simmered with fresh herbs, optional white wine and a side of Cheesy Garlic Breadthis soup is worth every second you spend in the kitchen.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

French onion soup is loved and enjoyed by people all over the world; however, many are too intimidated to try making it at home. Well, fear no more, because we're going to take you step by step through this classic French onion soup recipe, to help you create a restaurant quality soup in your own kitchen.

Is there anything better on a cold day than a hot bowl of soup? Made slightly thicker than most soups, which are slightly more watered down, because the texture of French onion soup calls for a compliment the caramelised onions. Onions cook low and slow for about 45 minutes to draw out their natural sweetness, creating deep, meaty flavours with a subtle spice.

INGREDIENTS

With so much flavour in French onion soup, you'd certainly be forgiven for thinking the soup itself is made up of complex ingredients. Surprisingly, this recipe only requires a few core ingredients:

• Butter: use a good quality unsalted butter.
• Onions: so much flavour!
• Flour: thickens your soup.
• Dry white wine: deglaze the pot and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pot. You can skip the wine and use extra beef broth if you wish!
• Beef stock/broth – or chicken.
• Fresh herbs – thyme and bay leaves.

WHAT TYPE OF ONIONS FOR FRENCH ONION SOUP?

Caramelised onions can develop different flavour profiles depending on the type of onion you use:

• White onion: sweet and mild.
• Red onion: stronger onion flavour, slightly bitter and not as sweet.
• Yellow onion: our favourite for this type of soup. Nice and mild with a naturally occurring sweetness you want for caramelised onions.

Cut onions in half from top to bottom and slice just a little bit of the root section off – but not all of it. Place onion cut-side down and slice from the side of the onion.

As a result, the onion rings stay together while slicing and cooking, instead of falling apart.

On the stove

Firstly, onions are cooked until browned and caramelised. You may be tempted to cut corners and sauté them until softened without cooking them to a golden brown, but please keep going! It makes all the difference in flavour.

The trick to caramelising onions is to let them fry for a good 5-8 minutes in between stirring to get those important browned bits on the base of your pot. Then, with each stir, you're going to scrape the bottom of the pan to get those browned bits thoroughly mixed through the onions.

The pot is then deglazed with a touch of wine or extra broth, before flour is added to thicken the soup. Once the broth and herbs are added, your soup just needs boil, then simmer, until done.

Lastly, while the soup is cooking, make your cheesy garlic breads for an easier way to get French onion soup served without oven-proof bowls.

WHAT CAN we USE INSTEAD OF GRUYERE IN FRENCH ONION SOUP?

You can follow our recipe and use a blend of mozzarella and parmesan cheese, however you can also use Swiss, Gouda or Provolone. You can also try it with a slice of rindless Brie.

BEST WINE IN SOUP

We recommend a dry white or red wine, such as a good quality Pinot Grigio/Gris, Sauv Blanc, Sémillon, Chardonnay, Merlot or Pinot Noir. Generally, if you can't drink it, don't cook with it.

WHAT CAN we USE INSTEAD OF WINE IN FRENCH ONION SOUP?

Replace wine with extra beef stock.

MORE SOUP RECIPES

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What you need

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 large yellow onions peeled, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon garlic minced, or 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flour, plain or all purpose
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or red wine
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme roughly chopped
• 6 cups beef stock
• 1 teaspoon beef bouillon powder
• 2 whole bay leaves dried or fresh
• 1 pinch salt to taste
• 1 pinch pepper
• 1 batch cheesy garlic bread

Method

1. In a large pot over medium-low heat, heat olive oil and melt butter. Add the onions and stir well to evenly coat with oil and butter. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every five minutes or so, until the onions have softened.
2. Increase heat to medium-high and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir and continue cooking for a further 15 minutes or until onions are golden browned, soft and caramelized. (The bottom of the pan will also brown during the cooking process. This is where all of the flavour is).
3. Stir in garlic and cook for one minute, then add in flour and cook for about 4 minutes to brown slightly. Add wine to deglaze the pan, and scrape up the browned bits stuck on the bottom of the pan. Add in the thyme and simmer wine for 2 minutes until reduced by half.
4. Add beef stock, bouillon and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer, partially covered with a lid, for 30-40 minutes.
5. While the soup is simmering, prepare 1 loaf of cheesy garlic bread, or individually portioned garlic breads.
6. To serve, taste test and s eason with a little extra salt and pepper, to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with 1 or 2 slices of cheesy toast.