I make this French Onion soup at least once a month all through cool autumn and cold winter months. When it’s warm it’s basically put in the back of my mind until the next chilly day comes along and I suddenly remember that I have this warm, inexpensive to make and easy recipe ready for me to make myself and a fellow onion-soup-loving person extremely happy.
Note: Making the soup is almost always the same duration as the time it takes to eat the soup, because it’s so damn hot. About 30 minutes.
Here’s the Best French Onion Soup:
Ingredients
1 medium to large red onion
2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Kerrygold salted butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp Better than Bouillion, beef flavor
A baguette, sliced into 1/2'' inch slices
2 soup tureens
Method
1. Turn oven on to 325° F
2. Take the cut slices of baguette and place on a baking sheet. Bake until the slice is completely toasty and crunchy, about 10 minutes.
3. Slice the red onion into thin slices . Take a medium cast iron pot and heat up on medium-high heat and once hot (but not too hot!) melt the butter and place all the onions into the pan. Add sugar and salt, and cover with a lid.
4. Cook the onions, stirring every minute or so. Once the onions are much softer and cooked through, leave off the cover and allow the onions to carmelize and brown (that's where the bit of sugar helps!). Keep stirring until dark sweet and brown, about 10-15 min.
5. When the onions are done, add about two cups of boiled water to the onions, and add the beef bouillion. Stir until the bouillion is completely dissolved, and then taste to make sure it's all salty enough. Bring to a boil and then put aside.
6. Turn the oven temperature up to 425° F.
7. Now we assemble the soup. Add about a third of a cup of the gruyere cheese to the bottom of each tureen. Add a lot of the onions from the soupy broth on top of the cheese. Then add some soup, until the tureen is about halfway full. Then add slices of toasted baguette until almost at the top of the tureen. Add some more onions (but not as many as at the bottom!) and then more soup. Now it's time for cheese. Layer on lots of cheese.
8. Place both soup tureens on a baking sheet and carefully place in the oven on a middle or high rack. Depending on your oven, bake about 10 min or until the cheese is nice and melted.
I do have Julia Child’s French Onion soup in my repertoire, but in all honesty this version is just super easy for me and based on what I’ve found to work best for my tastes. I don’t need the cognac or the flour. I like to layer things a certain way. Trust me it’s good to experiment with your favorite dishes until you find your own private version of perfection!
Details on why I select certain things for this recipe, extra information about ingredient are for paid subscribers. I also have a link to the food and nature discord as well as some links to stories and articles I’ve read over the past week.
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