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France, Europe

French Onion Soup

Onions cooked slowly in butter until deep brown, simmered in beef stock and baked under baguette and melted Gruyère, the classic French bistro soup.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time1 h 30 min
DifficultyMedium
About servingsThe bowls come out of the oven extremely hot. Always use oven gloves and serve them on a saucer.

Method

  1. Peel and halve the onions, then slice them 3–4 mm thick from root to tip (along the grain). Cut this way, they keep some shape even after long cooking.

    Add in this stepOnions 500 g

  2. Melt the butter with the oil in a heavy 20 cm pot over medium heat, then add the onions and a pinch of salt and stir. Cover and cook for , stirring every 2–3 minutes, until the onions have collapsed and turned translucent. The moisture they release keeps them from scorching.

    Add in this stepButter 25 gCooking oil ½ tbspSalt to taste

    medium heat

  3. Uncover, sprinkle in the sugar, lower to medium-low heat and cook for . Every 5 minutes, scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon to work the browned bits back into the onions. They are ready when soft and jammy and a deep brown, like milk chocolate. If the bottom starts to blacken, add 1 tbsp of water and scrape.

    Add in this stepSugar ½ tsp

    medium-low heat

  4. Sprinkle the flour evenly and stir over medium heat for to cook out the raw taste. Pour in the wine, scrape the bottom to dissolve everything stuck there, then let it bubble for until reduced by half.

    Add in this stepAll-purpose flour 1 tbspDry white wine 75 ml

    medium heat

  5. Add the beef stock, thyme and bay leaves, bring to a boil over high heat for , then turn down to medium-low heat and simmer for . Remove the thyme and bay, then season with salt and pepper. Stock can be salty, so always taste before adding salt.

    Add in this stepBeef stock 750 mlFresh thyme sprigs 2Bay leaves 1Salt to tasteBlack pepper to taste

    high heat→medium-low heat

  6. While the soup simmers, lay the baguette slices on a baking tray and toast them in the oven preheated to 200°C for , until dry, crisp and golden at the edges. Rub them with the cut side of a garlic clove.

    Add in this stepBaguette slices, 1.5 cm thick 4Garlic cloves 1

    oven

  7. Raise the oven to 250°C (use the grill/broiler setting if you have one). Set ovenproof soup bowls on a tray, fill them 80% full with soup, float the toasts on top and cover generously with cheese right to the rims. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for , until the cheese is bubbling with brown spots here and there.

    Add in this stepGruyère, grated (or Emmental) 80 g

    oven

Cook's tip

Ninety percent of the flavor comes from the onions. Turning up the heat to save time only burns the outside and loses sweetness, so stick to medium-low. No ovenproof bowls? Ladle the soup into regular bowls and float cheese toasts browned separately in the oven.

Cooking it at camp

Caramelize the onions at home and pack them in a sealed container (they keep 3 days chilled); at camp you only need to simmer them with stock for 15 minutes. Instead of an oven, melt cheese on the toasts in a covered pan over low heat, or brown it with a kitchen torch, and float them on the soup.