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Craving a bowl of French onion soup from your favorite little bistro? Try making it at home! All you need is a bit of time and some simple ingredients for this delicious French onion soup recipe.
It’s no secret how much I love soup. In fact, soup recipes are pretty much the only way I survive Midwest winters.
But there’s one soup that I have always been intimidated to try making at home until recently: French onion soup.
There’s nothing quite like going to a little French bistro and getting a bowl of French onion soup. The rich broth, the caramelized onions, the cheesy bread on top…it’s so good.
But have you ever gotten it at a restaurant that obviously didn’t take the time to do it right? If you have, you know what I’m talking about. It’s…well, it’s not good.
So I always assumed that in order to pull off a great French onion soup recipe at home, you’d need to spend hours and hours making it. But that’s not really true!
You’re still gonna need a little bit of time, but most of it is hands-off. And you’re gonna be so impressed with yourself when you pull this one off.
Bistro-style french onion soup at home
If you know how to caramelize onions, you’re halfway to knowing how to make French onion soup.
After all, a big batch of caramelized onions is the base of any good French onion soup recipe. They give the soup it’s characteristic sweet note, while a rich beef broth gives it that savory note.
And of course we can’t forget the cheesy crouton on top! This looks so fancy when you serve it, but it’s really easy to do.
There’s just something about getting the perfect bite of this soup: Some onions, broth, a bit of bread, and a good cheese pull. It makes me so happy every single time.
If you’re having a dinner party, this recipe is one really great way to impress your guests. But it’s still simple enough to make for a cozy Sunday dinner for your family!
How to make my french onion soup recipe
The biggest thing you’ll need for this recipe? The time and patience to caramelize the onions. The actual steps are easy – I’ll walk you through them!
Ingredients you’ll need
To make my French onion soup recipe, you will need:
- 5 large yellow onions
- 4 large shallots
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- ¼ cup dry marsala
- 3 quarts beef stock
- 1/2 tablespoon beef base
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
I love using a combination of onions and shallots for this soup. You can use sweet onions or white onions, but yellow onions really do work just as well! I recommend staying away from red onions, though – save those for pickled onions.
I like using a bit of dry marsala in my French onion soup. If you can’t find dry marsala, or you don’t want to buy a whole bottle, you can use marsala cooking wine. Some folks look down their noses at cooking wine, but it really does work well in this recipe.
Dry sherry will also work if you happen to have some on hand.
I am guessing that most folks probably don’t have homemade beef stock on hand, or want to spend hours making some for this soup. So instead, I use store-bought beef stock and give it a little more “oomph” with a bit of beef base.
Beef base can have a lot of salt in it, so I like to buy the low-sodium version when possible. It helps me better control the seasoning of the soup.
For serving the soup, you’ll need some French onion soup bowls – heat-safe bowls that can go under the broiler for a few minutes.
You’ll also need:
- 6 thick slices rustic bread
- room-temperature salted butter
- 2 cups grated gruyere cheese
- Thinly sliced fresh chives (optional for serving)
Exactly how much bread and cheese you need will depend upon how many people you’re serving, how big your bowls are, and how big the bread slices are.
Stay away from using sandwich bread for this. Grab a nice sourdough bread, Italian bread, French bread, or something similar.
If you’re can’t find gruyere cheese, try using swiss cheese or fontina.
Making this soup
Prep the onions and shallots by peeling and halving them. Cut them into slices about 1/8-inch thick. You can do this by hand or use a mandoline slicer to make faster work of it.
Add the oil to a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onions, shallots, and a few pinches of salt. Stir occasionally, cooking until the onions are translucent.
Add the butter and reduce the heat to low. Stir occasionally until the onions are caramelized. This entire process is going to take 45 minutes to 1 hour to get the onions where you need them, so be patient.
If the onions start to stick to the bottom of the pot, add a splash of water and give everything a stir.
Now that the onions are caramelized, add the flour and the marsala. Stir constantly until the bottom of the pot is deglazed and the mixture thickens slightly.
Add the beef stock, beef base, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot. Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a simmer. Allow to simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes.
Discard the bay leaves and the thyme stems. Taste the soup, seasoning with additional salt and black pepper as needed/desired.
Serving french onion soup
When you’re ready to serve the French onion soup, preheat your oven’s broiler and adjust the oven rack to the top position.
Spread both sides of each slice of bread with the butter. Toast the slices in a skillet or on a griddle over medium-high heat until golden on both sides. You could also do this in a toaster oven.
Place your serving bowls (make sure they’re oven-safe!) on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill just over halfway with the soup.
Top each serving of soup with a slice of the toast, then top with a generous amount of the grated cheese.
Broil until the cheese is melted and browned in spots. Depending on your broiler, this may only take a few minutes, so stay close to the oven and keep an eye on it!
Garnish with chives and serve immediately.
Make-ahead tips
If you want to serve this French onion soup to guests but don’t have time to make it that day, you can make the soup itself up to 3 days in advance. Let the soup cool and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
When you’re ready to serve, warm the soup on the stove while you prep the toast. Finish assembling according to the recipe directions.
You could also freeze the soup for up to 2 months. Let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating and serving as written.
Serving suggestions
French onion soup makes for a great starter or entree.
If you’re serving the soup as an entree, try starting the meal with a cheesy asparagus puff pastry tart or baked brie in puff pastry.
This recipe would also make a great first course before serving pan-fried ribeye or air fryer rotisserie chicken with air fryer brussels sprouts or a pasta dinner such as pasta carbonara or creamy pesto pasta with shrimp.
If you want to stick with the French theme, serve a cocktail such as a French 75 with the meal.
Frequently asked questions
If you need to serve a vegetarian version of this French onion soup recipe, swap out the beef stock and use vegetable stock instead.
You will also want to choose a vegetable base instead of the beef base. Better than Bouillon has a few different vegetarian options; I would use the no-beef vegetarian base, roasted garlic base, or mushroom base to add some umami flavor to the stock.
If you don’t have a broiler, try making the cheese toast in a toaster oven.
Toast the bread on both sides, then place it on a rimmed baking sheet. Top with the cheese and toast until the cheese melts.
Nestle the cheese toasts on top of the bowls before serving.
You could also serve the soup with some croutons and grated gruyere cheese table-side and let everyone top their bowls as they like.
If you don’t have bowls that can safely go under the broiler, you can make the cheese toasts in a toaster oven or serve the soup with croutons as noted above.
If you know you are going to serve the entire pot of soup, you could also place the toasts on top of the soup in the dutch oven. Top with the cheese and place the entire pot under the broiler.
When serving, make sure each person gets a good amount of soup and the cheese toast in their bowl.
For a gluten-free version, omit the flour, serve with gluten-free bread, and make sure all of your ingredients – including the beef base – are certified gluten free.
Homemade French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 5 large yellow onions
- 4 large shallots
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- ¼ cup dry marsala or marsala cooking wine
- 3 quarts beef stock
- ½ tablespoon beef base low sodium preferred
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
For serving:
- 6 thick slices rustic bread
- Salted butter room temperature
- 2 cups grated gruyere cheese
- Thinly sliced fresh chives optional
Instructions
To make the soup:
- Peel and halve the onions and shallots, then cut into slices about ⅛-inch thick.
- Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onions and shallots along with a few pinches of salt; stir and let cook until the onions are translucent. Once translucent, add the butter and reduce the heat to low, stirring occasionally until the onions are caramelized. This whole process will take 45 minutes to 1 hour, so be patient. If the onions start to stick, you can add a splash of water to the pot.
- Once the onions are caramelized, add the flour and the marsala, stirring constantly until the pot is deglazed and the mixture thickens slightly.
- Add the beef stock, beef base, thyme, and bay leaf to the pot. Increase the heat to medium and bring the soup to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, then discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Taste, seasoning with additional salt and pepper as desired.
For serving:
- Preheat your oven’s broiler and adjust the oven rack to the top position.
- Butter both sides of the slices of bread, then toast in a skillet or on a griddle over medium-high heat until golden on both sides.
- Place oven-proof serving bowls on a rimmed baking sheet and fill just over halfway with the soup. Top each bowl with the toast, followed by a generous amount of grated gruyere. Broil until the cheese is melted and browned in spots – this will only take a couple of minutes, depending on your broiler, so don’t walk away!
- Garnish with fresh chives before serving, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
