Delightfully simple, onion soup brings a ton of flavor, warmth, and richness to the table. Served up with crusty bread and melted cheese, this recipe elevates the humble onion into an ingredient of the utmost importance. Everyone deserves to feel important ;).
Do you love humble ingredients in your home cooked soups? Try my radish soup, carrot ginger soup, and African peanut soup…all of these recipes are deceptively simple and oh so delicious!
How do you make onion soup from scratch?
From onions, broth, a bit of wine & herbs, and some patience. The long cook time of this soup results in the richness onion soup is known for. Be patient…it’s worth it!
Although I’m using white onions in this version, feel free to interchange your onions and use a mixture of shallots, leeks, red onion, yellow onion, and white onion. The classic French version often uses yellow onions.
The onions need to be sweated down, and cooked up in the butter and oil to develop the lovely richness and color.
Be careful! Although we want our onions nice and brown to develop all of the wonderful flavors, going too brown results in bitterness and YUCK!
What is the difference between onion soup and French onion soup?
Not much. Onion soup often has a combo of various onions and allows for any kind of broth to be used. French onion soup uses ONLY a beef base.
What kind of broth should I use in onion soup?
Most onion soups traditionally call for beef stock or beef broth. However, you could absolutely use a vegetable or chicken stock. A mushroom stock would be lovely! For vegans, totally skip the beef broth in favor of a rich veggie or mushroom stock.
Serve up your soup with the classic crusty bread and melted cheese combo. Vegans…a vegan cheese works well here because the soup takes the stage and the cheese mellows in the background.
What a delightful bowl of warmth and comfort! Home cooking at its best, right there! On a cool evening, spend a bit of time making this classic recipe and serving up your family a hearty, rich, and delightful soup!
Classic French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 4 Onions thinly sliced
- ½ Tsp salt
- Pepper to taste
- 1 Tsp sugar
- 1 ¾ Cup white wine
- 7 Cups broth
- ½ Tsp thyme
- ¼ Tsp rosemary
- 1 Baguette or crusty bread sliced and toasted
- 1 Cup Gruyere or mozzarella cheese
- Fresh herbs
Instructions
- Melt the butter and olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until the onions have softened and are transparent in color, around 18 to 20 minutes.
- Add salt, pepper and sugar and, stirring constantly, cook for 30 more minutes or until the onions are caramelized and have a deeper golden color.
- Increase the heat to high and add the white wine. Cook for 12 more minutes or until the wine has reduced almost completely.
- Add the broth, rosemary and thyme and bring to a simmer. Stirring occasionally, cook until the broth has thickened and the flavors have bloomed, around 20 more minutes.
- Serve the soup into bowls. Top with the toasted baguette and a sprinkle of cheese and take to the broiler. Broil for around 7 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve immediately topped with fresh herbs or a crack of pepper
Notes
● If you want to store it skip the topping and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Once you are ready to serve it, heat it on the stove and finish with fresh toasted bread and cheese. The result is just as good.
● If you don’t have oven proof bowls you can toast the bread with the cheese and then just top the soup with it.
