It’s the holiday season and there’s no better way to celebrate it then with a hardy, rich, soul warming soup. And that’s exactly what a traditional French Onion Soup is; soul warming. This is a repost from over a year ago that I had to remake and reshare. One of my favorite recipes in my book.
I am a French Onion fanatic, any restaurant that serves it I have to try. I’ve had some amazing ones and I’ve had some that made me want to rethink my obsession. I’ve taken a few of my favorites and tried to perfect this lovely soup. Here’s my simple yet delicious take on it.
I consider myself a French Onion Soup connoisseur. Every restaurant I go if it’s on the menu, I get it. My favorites: Sullivan’s Steakhouse in Anchorage, Alaska and its contender from Pearl Cafe in Missoula, Montana. Those were my favorites, until the day I discovered I can make it better.
That was the day I stopped ordering this out and started making it at home all the time. Just kidding, I still order it everywhere like it’s going out of style.
French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 3 whole Sweet Onions, thinly sliced
- 3 whole Yellow Onions, thinly sliced
- 1 stick Unsalted Butter
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 6 cloves Garlic, grated or minced
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme, leaves removed and roughly chopped {About 5 sprigs.}
- 2 heaping tablespoons Flour
- 1/4 cup Red Wine
- 1/4 cup Dry White Wine
- 1/4 cup Cognac
- 1 {32 ounce} carton Beef Stock
- 2 whole Bay Leaves
- Kosher Salt and Black Pepper, to season
- 1 whole French Baguette, sliced into thin crostini
- 8 ounces Gruyere, grated
- Parmesan, grated
Directions
- Step 1 In a large pot heavy bottomed pot, melt the butter and add the olive oil over medium heat.
- Step 2 Add the sliced onions to the pot. Cook the onions over medium heat and frequently stir to caramelize the onions and prevent from burning. Season the onions with salt and pepper. The salt will bring out the sugars and help caramelize. This takes about 30 – 40 minutes.
- Step 3 Once the onions are browned and caramelized add the garlic and chopped thyme, cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Step 4 Add the flour and stir. Keep stirring the flour in until the flour taste is cooked out, about 2 minutes. Turn heat down to low and add the red wine, white wine and cognac, stir to deglaze the pot. Scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Cook alcohol until reduced, about 2 minutes.
- Step 5 Add the beef stock, bay leaves, and season soup with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 – 30 minutes. Take out the bay leaves and discard.
- Step 6 Preheat your oven to broil.
- Step 7 Lay your sliced French bread on a sheet pan and drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil for a few minutes until toasted. Remove from oven.
- Step 8 Ladle the soup into 8 ramekins. Place a slice of toasted crostini on the soup and top with grated Gruyere cheese and grate parmesan on top. Place all the ramekins on a sheet pan. Place in the oven under your broiler, broil until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
In a large pot heavy bottomed pot, melt the butter and add the olive oil over medium heat.
Add the sliced onions to the pot.
This may seem like a lot of onions but trust me it all cooks down to almost nothing but delicious flavorful caramelized goodness.
Cook the onions over medium heat and frequently stir to caramelize the onions. Season the onions with salt and pepper. The salt will bring out the sugars and help caramelize.
Low and slow that’s all you need to remember in this process. It’s slow, but oh so worth it. This takes about 30 – 40 minutes.
This is the beautiful golden color you want. The more color, the more flavor.
Once the onions are browned and caramelized add the garlic and chopped thyme, cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the flour and stir. Keep stirring the flour in until the flour taste is cooked out, about 2 minutes.
Now get these beautiful onions drunk.
Turn heat down to low and add the red wine, white wine and cognac, stir to deglaze the pot. Scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Cook alcohol until reduced, about 2 minutes. Add the beef stock, bay leaves, and season soup with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Take out the bay leaves and discard.
So now for the fun part.
Preheat your oven to broil. Lay your sliced French bread on a sheet pan and drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil for a few minutes until toasted. Remove from oven.
Ladle the soup into 8 ramekins. Place a slice of toasted crostini on the soup and top with grated Gruyere cheese and grate parmesan on top.
The more the better!
Place all the ramekins on a sheet pan. Place in the oven under your broiler, broil until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
Savor and Enjoy!
I’ve been looking for a recipe for French Onion Soup – so glad I found this. Looks delish!
Made this last night! SO delicious. Definitely a ‘keeper.’ This recipe fit my 5 crocks for my 5 guests perfectly. Thanks for the recipe!!
If I don’t use the alcohols, should I substitute or just leave out?
Substitute it with more stock. The key here is to deglaze the pot and add flavor, omitting the alcohol and subbing it with stock is just fine.
I have made this before as is and loved it!! My husband raves about it all the time! But I don’t have any of the wines or cognac on hand. So I don’t want to buy all three. Which one has the best flavor in the soup if I were to just buy one?
Hi Andrea,
So happy to hear you love this recipe. I used to make it with strictly red wine then added the cognac and white wine in recent recipe testing to give it a balance of acidity and color. A good red wine goes a long way but when just using one or the other I’d bump the measurement up to 1/2 cup and just omit the cognac and white wine. You don’t need much, it’s really there to deglaze the pot. Enjoy and let me know if you have any more questions. Cheers!