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French onion soup recipe in a bowl with a spoon in it.
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5 from 6 votes

French Onion Soup Recipe

The BEST French Onion Soup Recipe you'll ever make! We love the depth of flavor you get from only a handful of simple ingredients. We guarantee you'll be making this delicious soup all fall and winter long!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
1 hour
Course: dinner, lunch, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: French
Servings: 4
Calories: 566kcal
Author: Teri & Jenny

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 large yellow onions thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 6 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 32 ounces high quality beef stock
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons dry vermouth
  • 8 slices sourdough baguette sliced into 1/2" thick pieces and lightly toasted
  • 8 ounces shredded gruyere cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Place a large pot over medium heat and melt butter and oil together. Add onions and season with salt and pepper.
  • Lower heat to low and cook down and caramelize for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring.
  • Increase heat to medium-high, add thyme sprigs, sugar and season with salt and black pepper. Continue to cook down for an additional 15 minutes. Stirring frequently.
  • Add stock and vermouth and bring the soup to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning as needed.
  • Discard the thyme stems and ladle soup into 4 oven safe bowls.
  • Place bowls onto a baking sheet and top each soup with 2 slices of bread followed by 2 ounces shredded cheese.
  • Turn broiler on high. Broil for about 1 minute, or until the cheese begins to bubble and brown. Serve immediately.

Notes

**Makes 1 1/2 quarts of soup (each serving is about 12 ounces)**
Tips for Making French Onion Soup
  • We use yellow onions which have a more mild, less acidic flavor than white onions. They also hold up better through longer cook times, which make them great for caramelizing.
  • Add a small amount of sugar to help with the caramelization. Although onions have natural sugars in them we like to add just a touch of sugar to them when caramelizing to help draw out the natural sugars and help them caramelize.
  • Raising the heat after caramelizing the onions on low heat. This will allow the onions to obtain their dark color and to fully caramelize after they've sweated and cooked down over low heat.
  • Use a high quality, flavorful beef stock. Since the soup uses only a few ingredients, it's important to use high quality ingredients, especially when it comes to the beef stock, which will impact the flavor of the overall french onion soup along with the caramelized onions.
  • Add some beef bouillon to the soup if you're unable to find of use a high quality stock of your liking. This will help to enhance the overall flavor for the soup. We like using Better Than Bouillon brand (only when needed).

Nutrition

Calories: 566kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 1034mg | Potassium: 595mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1135IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 644mg | Iron: 2mg