Delicious French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup is essentially caramelised onion in soup form topped with cheesy bread. The French are genius!

Caramelising onions calls for patience, but it’s worth it. You’ll be rewarded with deeply golden, intensely sweet onions that forms an incredible flavour base for this French Onion Soup. For an effortless option, see how to caramelise onions in a slow cooker!

CARAMELISED ONIONS – STOVE OR SLOW COOKER
The caramelised onions are the star of the soup (well, on par with the cheesy toast). Making caramelised onions the classic way on the stove takes upwards of 45 minutes for a giant mound like we use for French Onion Soup.

It’s not high-stress or high-energy effort. For most of the time, the onions are cooked over low heat so you just need to stir them every now and then.

It’s the sort of thing that’s good to make while pottering around the kitchen doing other things. My cast iron pot is 24 cm / 10″ wide and it was full to the brim with raw onions and took almost an hour to caramelise. If you have a wider base pot, it will be faster – probably closer to 45 minutes.

Though of course, if this all seems like too much effort for you…… introducing….

Yes. You. Can!!!

I first learned of this from a reader then found this recipe on TheKitchn. Terrifically convenient and totally hands off, just throw the onions in, drizzle with butter or oil then leave on low for 10 hours.

This will get you 75% of the way there. The onions are browned a bit but lack the same intensity of flavour you get from caramelising on the stove.

So you do still need to cook the onions on the stove for 10 – 15 minutes to achieve the same true flavour. And while one may wonder what’s the point, there’s a big difference between cooking down onions for almost an hour on the stove vs 10 minutes.

Plus, no having to man-handle a gigantic mound of onions in a pot that’s too small (me, me!).

THE REST IS EASY!
Caramelised onions aside, the rest of the soup is effortless. Get all the tasty brown stuff off the bottom of the pot by deglazing it with a touch of wine. A touch of flour to thicken the soup every so slightly, a LOT of broth, and an optional sprig of thyme and bay leaves.

GOOD BEEF BROTH IS A MUST!
If you use store bought, which I often do, use a good quality beef broth/stock. I personally do not recommend any of the mainstream brands sold in Australian supermarkets. I use Maggie Beer and Moredough from Harris Farms (I stock up when it’s on sale!), or private labels from butchers.

If you can’t get good quality beef broth, use chicken or vegetable instead. I find that the quality of those by mainstream brands is much better than the beef stock. The beef is fine to use in things like gravy and stews, but not when it’s a key ingredient like in this recipe.

DON’T HAVE OVEN-PROOF SOUP BOWLS?
Neither do I! Can’t justify the storage for ONE soup that calls for it. Sure, it looks thoroughly dramatic to be served a piping hot bowl from the oven with the entire surface covered in bubbling cheese (and a piece of bread under there somewhere).

But actually, I prefer making grilled cheese separately and popping them in the bowl because the bread isn’t as soggy from absorbing the soup by the time it gets to the table.

Delicious French Onion Soup
Prep: 20 mins | Cook: 1 hr 30 mins | Total: 1 hr 50 mins | Servings 4 - 6 Tap or hover to scale

Ingredients

• 100 g / 3.5oz unsalted butter
• 1.25 kg / 2.5 lb brown / yellow onions , peeled, halved, thinly sliced top to bottom (Note 1)
• 3/4 cup (185ml) dry white wine , optional (Note 2)
• 2 tbsp flour , plain / all purpose
• 1.5 litres / 6 cups / 1.5 quarts good quality beef broth./stock OR chicken , low sodium/salt reduced (Note 3)
• 2 dried bay leaves (or 3 fresh) (optional)
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
• Salt and pepper

CHEESY TOAST

• 6 - 8 slices French baguette or other softish bread (Note 4)
• 100 g / 3.5 oz gruyere or mozzarella cheese, or other melting cheese of choice
• Fresh parsley or thyme leaves , for garnish (optional)

Instructions
CARAMELISE ONIONS (SEE NOTES FOR SLOW COOKER OPTION)

• Melt butter in a heavy based casserole pot over medium heat. When it starts to foam, add onions and stir to coat in butter.
• 30 min on medium low: Turn heat down to medium low. Cook for 30 minutes stirring every few minutes, until the onions have softened and are semi transparent. 
• Salt, 20 min on medium high: Turn heat up to medium or medium high. Add salt, and cook for a further 20 - 30 minutes, stirring more regularly, until onions are deep golden and sweet.

MAKE SOUP:

1. Deglaze: Add wine, then simmer rapidly for 2 minutes until mostly evaporated, stirring to scrape the bottom of the pot.
2. Flour: Sprinkle flour over the onion and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add broth & herbs: Add broth, thyme and bay leaves. 
4. Simmer: Cover, lower heat so it's simmering gently then simmer for 30 minutes. 
5. Serve: Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls. Top with 1 or 2 slices of cheesy toast.

CHEESE TOAST:

1. Preheat grill / broiler to high.Toast each side of bread until light golden.
2. Top bread with cheese, then grill until melted and some brown spots appear.

Recipe Notes:
1. Onions - halve them then cut from the top to bottom (see video). It makes them hold their shape better when cooking and you don't get stringy bits. But it's not a big deal! Half the onions in the video were accidentally cut the other way.
2. Wine is used to deglaze the pot here, to get the brown stuff off the base of the pot and also the wine adds flavour into the soup broth. It's fine to skip it - the beef broth ends up having the same deglazing effect.
Any non-sweet, non-woody wine is fine. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris are what I use.
3. Broth/stock - French Onion Soup can be made with chicken or beef broth. It is more commonly made with beef stock, from what I have observed.
Use a good quality beef stock. I personally do not recommend mainstream brands from major supermarkets in Australia. I use Maggie Beer and Moredough from Harris Farms, , or private labels from butchers.
It is better to use chicken or vegetable broth rather than sub-standard beef broth.
Best to use low salt and add salt if required.
4. Bread - The idea with the recipe is that you can use a spoon to cut through the bread into the soup to eat it (see video). So it's best not to use chewy artisan breads like sourdough. The softer the crumb, the better. Even a thick standard sandwich bread would work!
5. SLOW COOKER CARAMELISED ONIONS (see recipe video above) - Read in post for background. Directions: Place onions in slow cooker, toss with 2 tbsp (30g) melted butter. Slow cook on LOW for 10 hours. Onion will be browned but won't have a proper caramelised flavour. Add 2 tbsp (30g) butter into large pot over medium high heat. Tip in all the onions and SOME (not all) of the juices from slow cooker. Cook 10 to 15 minutes until deeply caramelised. Proceed with recipe.

source : recipetineats.com