This Easy French Onion Soup is rich, comforting and so good with toasted cheesy bread for dipping!
Yes, I’m finally back to cooking yummy recipes. It’s been a minute but I have had so many personal changes in my life over the last year that it took me a minute to get back to my love of cooking. Now I’m cooking some great new recipes this season in an awesome new kitchen.
What better way to kick off Season 4 of Ali in the Valley than with a delicious decadent classic French Onion Soup. French Onion Soup is such a classic and SO easy to make! Onions are slowly caramelized until soft and sweet, simmered with beef broth, and just a touch of sugar. It’s topped with crispy croutons, loads of shredded gruyere cheese, and broiled into crispy, cheesy oblivion. So good!
This cheesy, brothy, onion-forward soup may seem hard to make, but it’s one of the easiest soups to make on the planet, and it only has about seven ingredients. Win! The only thing you need is a little bit of patience both to let the onions caramelize and to keep yourself from inhaling the broth before the cheese goes on to be melted into a gooey oblivion.
Here’s what’s happening:
- sweet caramelized onions bathed in butter
- salty beef broth studded with fresh thyme
- crispy croutons to soak up all that awesome French onion soup broth
- gruyere cheese broiled until irresistibly crispy
Ingredients in French Onion Soup
- Butter. The French know how to cook, and no French dish is complete without a little bit of butter, including French Onion Soup. You really don’t need much, about 1 ½ tablespoons to get the onions caramelizing. I like to use unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt that goes into the dish.
- Onions. Lots and lots of onions. When you let onions cook look and slow, they downsize tremendously. I used about 6 ½ cups of sliced onions, which equals about 3 large onions. Slice them thin.
- Sugar and salt. Sugar and salt are added to the onions in the beginning to facilitate caramelization. Plus, the sugar compliments the sugars in the onions.
- Flour. I like to add just a few tablespoons of flour to my French onion soup to thicken it up just a touch.
- Beef broth. Use a good-quality beef broth or stock. I also like to use low-sodium, so I can control the amount of salt that goes into the dish, .
- Thyme. Fresh thyme if you’ve got it. About five sprigs.
- Croutons. I use a French baguette cut into about 1-inch slices.
- Gruyere cheese. This is arguably the best part of French onion soup. Gruyere cheese is nutty, salty, and melts PERFECTLY. I would not substitute anything for this. It can be a little bit pricey, but the other ingredients are dirt cheap so it makes up for it.
Substitutions and Tips and Tricks for Recipe Succeess
- Make sure to watch the onions, you don’t want them to burn. If they start to burn, turn the heat down a bit and continue to stir.
- Make sure to season as you go. Season the onion. After you add the broth, season again. After the broth has simmered with thyme, taste for seasoning again. Everyone’s palate is different and what I think is too salty or not salty enough may be different for you.
- Do not ever leave your broiling cheese unattended! Cheese burns FAST. You really need to keep an eye on the soup when it’s under the broiler or you can quickly have a bad situation on your hands.
Easy French Onion Soup
4
servings20
minutes1
hour544
kcalIngredients
3 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds (about 3) yellow onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
6 cups beef broth
1 whole bay leaf
slices baguette
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
fresh thyme for garnish, optional
Directions
- Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven medium heat. Add the olive oil, onions and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, lightly browned and caramelized, about 30 minutes.
- Add the salt, pepper and flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the beef broth and add the bay leaf to the pot. Increase heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Taste the soup and season with more salt and pepper as needed.
- Place baguette slices on a baking sheet and toast under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly browned.
- Spoon soup into oven safe bowls. Place baguettes slices on top of each bowl of soup. Sprinkle on grated Gruyere and Parmesan.
- Place bowls on a rimmed baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Heat under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, until cheese is melted and lightly browned.
