Best Classic French Onion Soup Recipes

CLASSIC FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons oil and butter over medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir until softened, 10-13 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown, 30-40 minutes. Add minced garlic; cook 2 minutes longer., Stir in wine. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add broth, pepper and salt; return to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. , Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°. Place baguette slices on a baking sheet; brush both sides with remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Bake until toasted, 3-5 minutes on each side. Rub toasts with halved garlic. , To serve, place twelve 8-oz. broiler-safe bowls or ramekins on baking sheets; place 2 toasts in each. Ladle with soup; top with cheese. Broil 4 in. from heat until cheese is melted.

CLASSIC SWEET VIADALIA FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil or butter in large saucepan.
• Add onions and saute for 10 minutes over medium-high heat.
• Lower the heat to medium-low.
• Add mustard seed, celery seed, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Continue to saute the onions for 20 minutes, until the onions have carmelized and are a rich golden brown in color.
• Add the beef broth, red cooking wine, and Worcestershire sauce.
• Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.
• Preheat broiler.
• Spoon soup into bowls (that are oven-proof) and place a slice of french bread on top (may lightly butter bread, if you prefer).
• Add a slice of cheese on top of each piece of bread.
• Place under broiler for a few minutes until the cheese gets brown, and bubbles a bit.
• Carefully remove soup bowls from oven and serve.
• NOTE: Can also be made in a crockpot (after cooking onions in butter on stovetop covered for 20 mins), cooking on low for 5-8 hours or on high for 2 1/2 hours.

CLASSIC FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Melt the butter together with the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat, then add the white and red onions, leeks, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and salt and pepper to taste, and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until all the onions are caramelized, about 30 minutes.
• Add the sherry and cook until reduced by half, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Add the beef stock, bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as desired.
• Preheat the broiler. Add the baguette toasts to each soup bowl and ladle soup over the top (they will rise to the top). Top each toast with the cheese and broil until the cheese browns, about 30 seconds.

CLASSIC FRENCH ONION SOUP (LOW CALORIE RECIPE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400º F. In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat and add onions. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place pot in oven, with the lid slightly ajar, and cook for 1 hour, stirring every once in a while so onions cook evenly. Take pot out of the oven and put it back on the stove over medium heat. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides to get all the browned, flavorful bits. Removing from the heat for a moment, pour in you large glass of wine. Return to heat and cook for five minutes, giving it enough time to reduce. Add broths and garlic and reduce heat. Continue cooking on low heat, simmering, for 40-45 minutes. Ladle soup into ovenproof bowls or ramekins and cover bread with a generous amount of grated gruyere and swiss cheese and place under broiler until the cheese is melted. Serve hot.

CLASSIC FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• 1. I almost feel that I'm writing this recipe in reverse... To make a really good French onion soup, you need a really good beef broth (about 5 hours), and then convert that broth into a consommé (about 3 more hours). You can use the stuff from cubes or in a can, but it really won't be the same experience. I will post, what I think are two excellent recipes for homemade beef broth, and a consommé as soon as I can... But let's get on with the recipe.
• 2. Cut the onions in half (pole to pole), and then thinly slice into half-moons.
• 3. Chef's Tip: A good mandoline is excellent for generating consistent slices. But one word of caution, if you don't use a cutting guard, you need to be very careful or you just might wind up cutting more than the onions. OUCH!!!
• 4. Chef's Note: Why Spanish Onions? Spanish onions are typically larger, sweeter, and milder than, say, a yellow onion. They are typically eaten raw due to their mildness. So, if you can't find any Spanish onions, you might want to go with onions that are labeled as sweet.
• 5. Place the beef consommé in a small saucepan, and slowly bring up to a slow simmer, and then keep hot.
• 6. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the onions; stir well, and then season with a 1/4-teaspoon of salt, or to taste. Cover and cook the onions on medium low heat for about for 5 minutes.
• 7. After 5 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat to medium and then cook the onions until light golden brown in color, about 12 to 15 minutes. Stir frequently during this time and watch carefully toward the end of cooking, to prevent the onions from burning. You want rich brown onions, not black. Chef's Note: Don't skimp on the browning of the onions. Browning is necessary to giving the soup its color and deep, rich flavor.
• 8. Add the flour to the pan, and cook for 2 additional minutes,
• 9. Add the wine and bring to the boil. Cook an additional minute, stirring constantly to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Chef's Note: The process of liquifying the dry brown bits (fonds) is called deglazing.
• 10. Chef's Note: Dry white wines are used for cooking when you don't want to add any sweetness to the dish. As you cook, the alcohol will evaporate. This extracts the flavor of the wine and adds it to the dish. Good examples of wines that pair good with this dish are: Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Riesling. The wine we used at Cordon Bleu was a Muscadet.
• 11. Add the hot consommé and the bouquet garni, stir well and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
• 12. Chef's Tip: Why heat the consommé before adding to the onions? One of the steps in making soups, and stews that many budding chefs miss, is the addition of cold liquids to hot ingredients. In this case, leaving the beef consommé cold, and adding it to the hot onion mixture, can actually change the flavor of the dish, making it taste a bit sour...
• 13. Chef's Note: What is a Bouquet Garni? A bouquet Garni is a bundle of herbs tied together with string, or wrapped in cheesecloth, and used to add flavor to soups, stocks, and stews. It is placed in the simmering liquid, and removed before serving. For this recipe, tie together, or wrap in cheesecloth the following ingredients: 2 sprigs fresh thyme 2 dried bay leaves Leafy greens from 2 celery stalks 6 sprigs fresh parsley
• 14. While the soup is simmering, take the baguettes, and slice into large cubes. Place in a large mixing bowl, add 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and toss until evenly coated. Spread out evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and toast in a preheated 375f (190c) oven with the rack in the middle position, until nicely browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Chef's Note: All ovens are a bit different (I call it fussy), and not all are calibrated to accurately reflect the proper temperature, so keep one eye on their progress, and remove (whatever the time), when they are brown.
• 15. After the soup has finished simmering for 30 minutes, remove the bouquet garni from the soup, stir in the port or Madeira, and then season the soup to taste. Chef's Note: If you don't have Port or Madeira, you can use sherry or brandy, or leave it out altogether. Just remember what one my instructors once said: If it's not good enough to drink... It's not good enough to cook with.
• 16. Ladle the onion soup into 4 "traditional" French onion soup bowls, and leave about 1/2 inch of space at the top.
• 17. Chef's Note: The only way to serve French onion soup is in a "traditional" bowl. The only color used at Cordon Bleu was pure white.
• 18. Place a generous helping of the toasted bread cubes on top of each bowl of soup. For each bowl, place two pieces of cheese on top of the bread cubes. Chef's Note: I like the cheese to be in squares, slightly larger than the bowl, so the corners of the cheese slightly fall over the sides of the bowl. I place them at ninety-degree angles, like an 8-pointed star with the corners draped over the edge of the bowl.
• 19. Use the torch to on the top of each of the bowls, until the cheese is brown and bubbly. Chef's Note: One of our instructors at the CIA, claimed that the only way to achieve the exact level of browning and crispness to the top of the soup was to use a torch... And I agree. If, however, you prefer to use the oven, simply put the rack in the top position, set to broil, and remove when the tops are brown and bubbly, about 4 to 7 minutes.
• 20. Serve immediately with a nice side salad... and perhaps a small glass of wine... Enjoy. Keep the faith, and keep cooking...

CLASSIC FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the 1/2 cup butter and 2 tablespoon olive oil in a large kettle or dutch oven, stir in onions. Cook covered over low heat stirring occasionally, until onions are transparent about 20 minutes. Uncover add salt and sugar. Increase heat and continue cooking for 20 minutes, until onions are a rich golden brown. Sprinkle flour over onions, then cook and stir a few minutes to cook flour. Add broth, garlic and bay leaf. Simmer partly covered for 40 minutes. Place stale bread on a jelly roll pan. Combine the remaining butter and oil and pour over bread. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the cheese. Place under broiler a few minutes until cheese is melted. Pour the hot soup into 8 individual oven proof casseroles, or into a large 10 cup oven proof casserole. Float the bread on top and sprinkle remaining cheese over bread

CLASSIC FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• 1. Melt the butter in a 4-quart pot over medium heat. Stir in the onions and season with 1 tsp. salt and a few grinds of pepper. Reduce the heat to low. Press a piece of foil onto the onions to cover them completely, cover the pot with a lid, and cook, stirring occasionally (you will have to lift the foil), until the onions are very soft but not falling apart, 40 to 50 minutes. Adding the foil seal;s in the juices of the onions...really makes a difference so don't leave this part out.Remove the lid and foil, raise the heat to medium high, and stir in the sugar. Cook, stirring often, until very deeply browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
• 2. Add the broth and bay leaf to the caramelized onions and bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat. Add wine if using.Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes to blend the flavors. Discard the bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, position a rack 6 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler to high. I actually use my toaster oven...works great if it is just the2 of us.Put 6 to 8 broiler proof soup bowls or crocks on a baking sheet. Put 2 or 3 bread slices in each bowl and ladle the hot soup on top. Sprinkle with the cheese and broil until the top is browned and bubbly, 2 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

CLASSIC FRENCH ONION SOUP

Steps:

• CUT ends of onions and peel outer layers; CUT onions to 1/4-inch thick slices; HEAT 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-low heat; SAUTE onions covered for 20 minutes; ADD 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 3/4 teaspoon packed brown sugar (or 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar); RAISE heat to medium-high and cook, stirring often, until onions caramelize and turn a rich brown; ADD two mashed garlic cloves; STIR.
• REDUCE heat again to medium-low; SPRINKLE 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour over onion mixture; COOK, stirring often, for 2 minutes.
• DEGLAZE the pan with the cognac and sherry, scraping bottom of SIMMER uncovered for about 5 minutes.
• STIR in the dry wine; SIMMER uncovered for 15 minutes.
• ADD 6 cups beef stock, 2 bay leaves, 1 fresh thyme sprig (or 1/8 teaspoon ground thyme), 1/4 teaspoon ground sage, 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper; SIMMER uncovered for at least 30 minutes.
• REMOVE bay leaves and thyme sprig; SEASON just to taste with just enough grated parmesan cheese to flavor the stock (no more than 2 tablespoons), and kosher salt, to taste.
• MEANWHILE, fresh sourdough French baguette bread into slices to place across soup in serving bowls (cut to 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick, number of slices depends on size of bread/serving bowls); SHRED 6 ounces gruyere cheese.
• DRIZZLE each slice bread on both sides with olive oil; BAKE bread on a baking sheet at 325 F for 15 minutes; TURN croutes over on baking sheet and continue baking 10-15 minutes, until bread is very toasty (it will be quite hard, which is what you want); REMOVE bread from oven; SET broiler to high.
• LADLE soup into four bowls; PLACE croutes into each bowl; COVER each croute completely to the rim of bowls with shredded gruyere cheese (about 1/3 cup for each).
• PLACE bowls on a baking sheet under broiler just until cheese melts and begins to brown (keep an eye on them, about 45 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes); REMOVE from oven; SPRINKLE each lightly with grated fresh parmesan cheese and fresh snipped chives if desired; SERVE and enjoy!