Soup season is upon us! And one of our faves to make is this Restaurant Style French Onion Soup! Who can resist that cheesy bread topped soup???
Can you use a different broth?
If you would prefer to make this soup as a vegetarian option, substituting the beef broth for vegetable broth will still result in a delicious bowl of soup!
Additionally, using chicken stock works here as well, but if you are using an animal-based stock, we recommend beef over chicken for a deeper, richer flavor.
Enjoy!
We hope you enjoy our recipe for this Restaurant Style French Onion Soup! If you give it a try, leave us a comment below, or tag us on Instagram @cooking_with_wine!
If you want more recipes for soups and stews, check out some of our popular recipes below:
- Pumpkin and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
- Easy Homemade Creamy Clam Chowder
- Guinness Beef Stew
- Chili with Kidney Beans
French Onion Soup
Course: Soups, DinnerCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes1
hour1
hour30
minutesIngredients
2 large sweet yellow onions, sliced
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ cup white wine
1 tbsp tomato paste
5 cups beef stock
1 bay leaf
bouquet garni (dried or fresh) *see notes*
2 oz brandy
french bread, lightly toasted
8 oz gruyere cheese
Directions
- Melt butter in a large skillet or dutch oven.
- Add onions to skillet. Cook for approximately 5 min over medium to medium high heat then add sugar. Stir occasionally.
- Continue to cook until onions begin to caramelize and brown. You do not need all onions to brown, but a good mix of caramelized onions and less cooked onions is ideal.
- Add garlic, salt and pepper and stir. Let cook for 1 minute.
- Add wine and continue to cook for 2 minutes to cook out the alcohol. Scrape the bottom of the pan for the browned bits.
- Add beef stock, tomato paste, bouquet garni (see notes), bay leaf and brandy. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer for 30-40 minutes.
- While soup is simmering, thinly slice or grate cheese, and cut rounds of French bread that will cover the top of the bowl. Toast bread lightly.
- Pour soup in bowls and cover with bread. Sprinkle cheese on top of bread, as much as you prefer.
- Place soup bowls on an oven safe tray or dish and place on the middle rack to broil for 2-5 minutes until cheese has melted completely and begins to brown.
- Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- This will make 4 servings as an appetizer soup and 2 servings for a dinner sized serving.
- Notes: For the bouquet garni you can use fresh or dried herbs. For fresh herbs, use 5 sprigs of thyme, 1 sprig oregano, and two sprigs of parsley. For dried herbs, use 1 tsp of each herb. If using fresh herbs, wrap all the herbs in a cheesecloth with the bay leaf and tie it with kitchen twine.
French Onion Soup was out of this world!! Brought back a lovely memory for my husband and me. Thank you Angela and Mark
So happy to hear that you loved it!!