Homemade French onion soup - is anyone else a fan? What is your recipe?

I just shared my French onion soup recipe on my blog, and I’ll share it here too.

I really like this soup. Part of the charm is serving it with hot bread and melty cheese. Most of the time I’ve made toasted cheese sandwiches to serve with it, but last time I made this, I made focaccia without any herbs while I was cooking the soup, and once it was ready, topped it with slices of homemade hard cheese, putting it back in the oven briefly to melt the cheese, called it “cheesy bread” and everyone loved it.

The secret to a great French onion soup is the quality of the bone broth - it should be lovingly made at home from beef bones which have been first roasted to create extra flavour before being slowly simmered for 24 hours or longer, or until the broth is so infused with flavour and minerals that it smells delicious on its own when hot, and sets like a jelly when cold.

Allowing plenty of time for the onions to slowly caramelise also helps to bring out the best of a few simple ingredients. The caramelising can be happening in the background while other kitchen tasks are being done, making this an easy hands-off meal for the most part. Sometimes I run the onions through the slicing bit of my food processor to make the preparation extra quick.

The classic presentation for French onion soup is to serve it in ovenproof bowls, with a slice of crusty bread on the top, covered with cheese and briefly baked or broiled to melt the cheese. I just make toasted cheese sandwiches with my usual everyday homemade bread and serve these on the side.

This soup reheats well. I often make a bigger batch and serve it for a few meals.

Makes around 8 serves. 

Ingredients

12 tablespoons butter (180g)

3 pounds onions (1.35kg), thinly sliced into half moons

Optional 1 cup red wine (or a splash of brandy, or extra broth)

8 to 9 cups (2 litres) beef bone broth

Salt, to taste

Method

Melt the butter in a large stewpot over medium heat. Mix through the onions and allow them to cook, stirring every now and then, until very fragrant, dark golden-brown, and soft. This can take anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes.

Once the onions are ready, stir through the wine for a few seconds, then add the broth. Put the lid on the pot and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes, before adding salt, to taste.

Serve with some combination of crusty bread and melty cheese, such as toasted cheese sandwiches.

Oh yeah. We love a good pot of FO soup in this house. My method is almost identical to yours (although anyone who tells you that you can properly caramelise onions in less than an hour is selling you a bill of goods). I usually use beef stock, too, but the last time I made it I used the broth from a pork shoulder roast and it was superb. I also throw in some dark soy sauce for extra umami goodness, and about a tablespoon of vinegar to give it that acidic zing.

IT is my absolute favorite!  TO me, it begins with good stock.  I save all vegetable scraps and bones and roast them brown in the oven,  Then, I simmer them for a few hours, adding an onion, tomato paste (if necessary) pepper corns, a few cloves, thyme and a few bay leaves.  I usually use about 3 pounds of onions to a gallon or so of stock, but I prefer a mix of alliums, especially my favorite Ramps!  Regardless, I cook down onions and shallots until caramelized, add garlic, wine, strain the stock and stir it in, add parsley and chives and usually a little more thyme, salt and pepper to taste, add a little brandy or sherry at the end.  Fill the ramakins, top with bread fried in butter (crouton), cover with the best Swiss cheese I can find and brown it up all melty under the broiler.  FANTASTIC!

A couple of additional things that I do, if I have the requisite items, include adding a little bit of tomato paste while the onions are just finishing cooking down.

I have found that adding the rind from a piece of parmesan to the soup while it is bubbling away really unlocks something.

I have been known to include some garlic to my batches of soup from time to time.

Timothy Norton wrote:A couple of additional things that I do, if I have the requisite items, include adding a little bit of tomato paste while the onions are just finishing cooking down.

I have found that adding the rind from a piece of parmesan to the soup while it is bubbling away really unlocks something.

I have been known to include some garlic to my batches of soup from time to time.

Ditto on the parm rind - GREAT stuff! I don't use tomato paste as much as I should.

This recipe was handed down on the back of an envelope by my great aunt in around 1968.  I have no idea what her source was.

12 onions
14 cups bouillon
4 tablespoons butter
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp Tobasco
1 tsp Kitchen Bouquet
6 slices French bread
6 tblsp Parmesan grated
Salt
Black pepper

Sauté onions in butter, add salt, pepper, bouillon, sauces and bouquet. Bring to boil and simmer 4 hours. Toast bread ,sprinkle with cheese, broil.

Oddly enough last evening we went to my cousin's house for dinner and scratchmade French onion soup was on the menu.  I wasn't jazzed, the onions were too sweet, maybe she just chose sweet onions?  But so far in my life I haven't found success with French onion soup.

I know biscuits aren't normally on the Menu for whatever reason and I don't necessarily like the little small buns that are on too many menus. You can't properly even butter those. So, here is a link to a quick fix of making a batch of Biscuits that would go great with the Onion soup and other things listed in this thread.

This is a LINK to a Two Ingredient Biscuit that will knock your socks off. Very easy recipe, hey are made any SIZE you want but are many layered making them fluffy. And who doesn't like a nice warm biscuit right out of the oven?

https://www.southernliving.com/2-ingredient-biscuits-7504189

NOW, where is that butter dish - just for me?   :-)

ENJOY

I have made French onion, and it was delicious. The problem was that onions seem to make my whole family REALLY windy.
We were glad that house had an electric stove since I would of had worries about the pilot light setting off an explosion.
Just a warning for those who haven't eaten it much, start with small doses until you know how it effects you!

Here's Julia Child making French onion soup in glorious black and white. These shows were done in real time, and frankly I find her completely hilarious and completely watchable.

Filled paprika's, the Serbian way, very tasty with french bread.

Serbian white bean soup is also a good tip.

regards

Bonjour,

The timing of this is rather funny because, when I went to a market this morning, where there is always something that is the meal idea for the week, it was onion soup!

Since I'm French, perhaps I should put in my bit of advice? It comes from two family members who went to cooking school.

To help caramelise the onions, it's helpful to throw in a spoon of sugar. It's not enough to change the taste, but the process goes better and it's a pretty standard thing in restaurants. Personally, I never had the patience to properly do it, until I was told this.

Once the onions are caramelised, the flour is worked in and browned for a few minutes, then slowly start making it a liquid with a good white wine. I usually use a Bordeaux, but I got a Duras today with the weekly meal idea.

You don't start adding beef broth until you have a good smoothness from adding wine. Restaurants no longer make their own beef broth because of the amount of cooking gas it consumes and only make fish bouillon now, which is obviously not for onion soup,  just info.  I think they need rocket stoves in restaurants, even if I  find it scary to climb up to reach the top of the barrel. Restaurants are lucky in that they are able to buy better beef bouillon than the regular person can.

I have a friend who adds in the rind of cheese into her soup.  She's a good cook, but not a professional. The cheese should be a gruyère, though.

Bon week-end

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Here's Julia Child making French onion soup in glorious black and white. These shows were done in real time, and frankly I find her completely hilarious and completely watchable.

Love this! She grabs a bottle, opens it, waves it around while talking, and pours some into the bottom of the pot which is already on the heat. And then she says, "I meant to put oil in there. I put vermouth instead, but that doesn't make any difference."