Rich and Simple French Onion Soup Recipe

This is very close to a recipe I have been using for the past 30 years or so. The only changes/suggestions that I would make are to add a tablespoon of Worchester Sauce and use all butter instead of the olive oil. Make sure that you saute the onions well. (Also, make sure that you slice the onions into fairly wide slices, about 1/2-3/4" wide.) You don't want them burnt, but you do want them browned. I use Campbell's Double-Rich Beef Consumme and 1/4 cup of Sherry. For the cheese, I put a tablespoon of FRESH shredded Parmesan cheese on the bottom of the bowl, then ladle on the soup, then top with a large homemade crouton, then the swiss cheese, and another tablespoon of the fresh Parmesan. For the croutons, take a large wine-glass and press into a slice of thick bread to get the perfect circle for your soup bowl. Spread with butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Put in the oven at 250 for about 1/2 hour or until they are dried and crisp.

I am begging you to brown the onions. The recipe even says at the top that the onions are meant to be caramelized in French Onion Soup. Aside from that, toast the bread before putting it in the soup or else it will just be soggy. Also you need to pay attention to the salt, the recipe says unsalted butter and a "pinch" of salt.. if your beef stock isn't salty enough then that risks the soup being bland. You also don't want to oversalt it though, so evaluate how much it really needs based on your butter and stock.

This recipe as it is, is just OK. The entire point of French Onion soup is to caramelize the onions, which creates the rich and sweet flavour, otherwise it's onion broth. I used this recipe as a base to remind myself, since I couldn't find the old one I used to use. First, use butter, not olive oil. Caramelize the onions over a low heat - they should be dark brown and it takes about 40 minutes. I used 6 onions and could have probably added more. Then deglaze the pot with your red wine/sherry, making sure to scrape down the browned bits. Add your broth, and about a Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce, and seasonings. If the onions are properly caramelized you don't need anything but the thyme and s&p to taste. Everyone adding so much more seasoning is because the onions don't give enough depth from not being cooked enough. You have to really toast well the bread you use - either a baguette, dinner rolls... something nice and thick. A cheese with lots of flavour is best - I use gouda when I have it, swiss otherwise.

Excellent!! I cooked the onions longer, about 30-40 min because I like them more caramelized and didn't add sherry because I was out. Absolutely delicious!

This turned out wonderful with a few modifications! I added about 5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce (this is truly what gives it its rich flavor and can’t be left out). I added 1/4 cup of dry sherry and added a bay leaf to have the soup simmer with. Last but not least I browned the onions- everything combined tasted better than any restaurant French onion I’ve had!

So this is a very basic, learning how to cook from the beginning recipe. The biggest issue with this recipe is how long they cook the onions for. You absolutely, positively MUST cook and caramelize the onions to a very deep, rich brown. If you can drag this process on as long as an hour to caramelize the onions, even better. This is where all the flavor comes from. The rest of the recipe is fine, you will find many variations of which alcohol to use, red wine, white wine, port, sherry, brandy. None are wrong, it's all about your taste, but please, CARAMELIZE THOSE ONIONS!!!!!!

Excellent!!! Crowd pleaser for sure! I used Cubed French bread sautéed in butter and baked into my own “croutons” and omgosh...

I agree with other posts: I used yellow onions. 4 medium sized gave me 4 cups sliced. Must caramelize the onions - takes about an hour to do this properly. Next time I will get them nicely browned. Too much butter - probably will cut by at least a 1/3 next time. I did add the Worcestershire sauce - one post said 2 T and one said 5 T. I added about 2. I will up this to 3 or 4 T next time. I upped the sherry to 3 T. Toasted bread (I agreed with post that said it would be soggy if you didn't toast). Still needs some tweaking! Good luck. My lesson today is to always read the most helpful posts before making any recipes.

this was the first recipe i opened and i followed it, only to get bland soup. now i see that every other recipe says that you must carmelize the onions. kind of embarrassing, as it was meant to be a special meal for someone who loves french onion soup

Liked this one. We topped it with Gruyere cheese instead and added garlic to the soup, perfect for a cold winters night. I might add a red wine reduction for a richer taste next time.

Really loved the soup!! I did read through the comments, and made a few suggested adjustments. Used all butter with no oil; browned the onions, increased sherry to 1/4 C; added 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce; and topped with Swiss and Gruyere. Definitely will make again and again!

The only thing I changed, was I used grape jelly instead of sherry because I don't keep alcohol in the house. It was amazing!!

This was my first attempt to make French onion soup from scratch and it was a HUGE hit with my family. Not one bit went to waste...only to waist.

Lovely

This turned out absolutely delicious! We did not have dry sherry on hand so subbed dry brut champagne, used fresh thyme from the herb garden and used Swiss, shredded mozzarella and fresh grated parm for the cheese. Very satisfying

Literally all i did was add some green onion bits. delicious!

The soup was very good. I slightly carmalized the onion but next time I will do it longer. I was afraid not to burn it. I did cut wider pieces. Other people comments I used one bay leave . The idea to toast the French bread was excellent. The soup was not too salty like when you buy it in restaurant. Definitely a keeper.

Excellent! I used salted butter, next time I will use unsalted as the recipe calls for and I’ll omit the salt in the recipe. I also read comments for others recommendations. I did brown the onions a bit, I also added a bit of Worcestershire Sauce as another commenter suggested. I definitely recommend this recipe and you can alter to your liking.

Even my picky cousin approved — shocking.

I didn’t think this recipe was robust enough for me so I added 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, two garlic cloves and two bay leaves. Perfecto.