Main Page
National cuisine
Classic French onion soup

Classic French Onion Soup

The tastiest, distinctive, made from everyday ingredients — perfect for lunch! Classic onion soup is a time-honored French first course served in the finest restaurants in Paris. Make it in your own kitchen — it couldn't be simpler! The wonderful aroma fills the whole house, and it's incredibly delicious!

katushafin

Recipe author

Watch the video

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Onion

Butter

Chicken broth

White bread

Hard cheese

100

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 31 % 4 g

Fats 31 % 4 g

Carbohydrates 38 % 5 g

65 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make French onion soup? Gather your ingredients. I'd recommend white onion — to my taste it makes a much better soup. Choose the highest-quality butter — the flavor of the soup depends on it. Same goes for the cheese. Instead of chicken broth you can use vegetable broth or just water.
Step 2:

Peel the onion and slice it, first into quarters, then into thin half-rings.
Step 3:

Use a pan (skillet, sauté pan, or pot) with a heavy bottom and high sides — mine is a pot. Melt the butter in it.
Step 4:

Add all the sliced onion to the melted butter.
Step 5:

Cook the onion in the butter, first over high heat, stirring now and then. The onion should turn golden — that's the key. It means the sugar is caramelizing, and there's a lot of sugar in onion, by the way. This is the very process that gives the soup its special aroma.
Step 6:

Be patient and cook the onion for about 20–30 minutes, staying by the stove. You can lower the heat. The onion will shrink significantly in volume and change color. The smell while it cooks is wonderful! Make sure nothing scorches, and go by your own stove for timing.
Step 7:

When the onion is ready, pour the broth into the pot, not all at once but in parts. Let it cook down. When the broth has almost evaporated, pour in the next part and cook it down again.
Step 8:

Judge doneness by your own taste. You can leave the soup thinner, or reduce it to a thick consistency. Taste for salt; if the broth isn't salty enough, add more.
Step 9:

An essential part of onion soup is baguette croutons — in my case, a regular loaf. They need to be dried until firm, either in the oven or in a grill pan.
Step 10:

Ladle the onion soup into heatproof bowls. Top each with a crouton and sprinkle generously with grated cheese. Put the bowls in an oven preheated to 200°C (390°F), ideally under the broiler. The cheese should melt well. As soon as it does, take them out and serve.

You can use any broth for the soup — chicken, beef, or vegetable. If you don't have any, just use boiling water. You can add garlic along with the onion to boost the flavor. For seasoning, people add pepper and sometimes thyme. But I decided to try it with a clean, plain flavor. In many recipes, white wine, cognac, or sherry is added before the broth.
To keep your eyes from stinging when you cut onions, rinse the onion and the knife in cold water. Your cutting board won't pick up the unpleasant onion smell if you rub it with a piece of lemon before cutting.
You can reduce or increase the amount of water given in the recipe as you wish, depending on whether you want a thicker or thinner soup.
This is a very popular dish that's been around for ages. Onion — the basis of this soup — is an easy crop to grow and was available to most poor families. All you needed was a crust of bread and some broth, or even water, to make this soup. The secret to its flavor is the long, slow cooking of the onion. Today, onion soup is on the menu at most restaurants in Paris.