Much like other peasant dishes, this recipe has evolved quite a bit over the centuries! What began as a thin soup of onions and water changed as times (and access to ingredients) evolved. Soon, cooks were adding beef broth instead of water. When available, cooks added bread to make the soup more filling. When spices became affordable, cooks began to season the soup! And finally, as monarchs became fascinated with the simplicity and richness of the dish, cooks added more expensive ingredients, like melted cheese!
Despite its many forms, cooks officially crafted and honed this dish in Paris. This soup is characteristically Parisian – and you can have some without the hefty cost of airfare! While it takes some patience to caramelize the onions and let the flavor truly develop, it is shockingly easy to do! Follow along below for a step-by-step visual guide, as well as a link to a bonus recipe for the other half of your baguette!
Step 1: Gather ingredients
While there are quite a few ingredients in this soup, they are very common and easy-to-obtain ingredients! Brandy, wine, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, flour, onions, butter, cheese (we used Gruyere and Swiss), half a baguette, salt, sugar, thyme, garlic, bay leaves, and stone ground mustard. What a list, right?! For the brandy and wine, there is no specific “right” type or brand. Just get what you like! Unless you plan to store it exclusively for cooking, you’ll end up drinking the rest of it anyway!
In our kitchen, we prefer Oliver’s sweet red wine, since it’s local and delicious! If you have the opportunity, give it a try! We’re not sponsored, just big fans!
Step 2: Slice and caramelize onions
Now, this is a 6 quart Dutch oven, and it is completely full of sliced onions. That’s A LOT of onions! But don’t worry, they’ll cook down as they caramelize! Throw them in a pot with butter and place the Dutch oven over medium heat. Depending on your pan and/or stovetop temperature, you may have to adjust this a bit to ensure the onions aren’t burning. The goal here is to develop flavor by caramelizing onions, not charring them!
Choosing a good quality olive oil in which to caramelize the onions is essential. If you’re wondering how to choose a bottle, see our olive oil guide.
I won’t lie to you, this step takes quite a lot of time. It took me an hour and a half. There are some things that can help hurry this process a bit. Adding sugar makes the onions caramelize faster, though in my opinion, it lessens the flavor of the caramelized onions and makes it overall a bit mushy. You can also use a thinner-bottomed pan over a higher heat. This helps retain the flavor and integrity of the onions, but does create another dish to wash if your thinner-bottomed pan isn’t big enough to fit everything else. But you can do anything works for you, with no judgement from us! In the last minute or two of caramelizing the onions, add in some minced garlic just to get it nice and fragrant.
When finished, they should look like this:
Step 3: Add in the rest of the ingredients
Add in the sugar, salt, and flour. Let it cook for a minute or two to get rid of the “raw flour” taste. Next, add the brandy and wine. It’ll hiss as the alcohol cooks off. After a couple minutes, add the ground mustard, broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Give it a good stir to distribute everything evenly. When you’re satisfied, toss the thyme and bay leaves on top, cover the Dutch oven with a lid, and let it simmer for a half hour.
I stir until the thyme and bay leaves are at the bottom of the soup to maximize flavor infusion. However, it is easier to pull all of them out if they remain on top. You wouldn’t want to miss any! The texture kind of ruins the experience.
Step 4: Prepare the toppings
Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While waiting for it to preheat, dice half the baguette and spread the pieces in a single layer on a baking tray. Bake for about 7 minutes or until crunchy. While the bread toasts, shred the cheese. If you’d like to save some steps, prepackaged croutons and shredded cheese can be used. We just prefer the flavor of freshly toasted bread and shredded cheese. It’s also a bit cheaper this way!
Step 5: Divide into ramekins & add toppings
The amounts listed in the recipe card make four large ramekins of soup. It’s honestly too much soup for one person. We would advise 6-8 smaller ramekins. But for the purposes of this recipe, we’re sticking with the ramekins we’ve got!
Divide the soup into the ramekins you have available (or any other bakeable dishware – we’ve even just topped the soup in the Dutch oven and served it that way!), and then add the toppings. Cover the surface of the soup in a single layer of croutons and as much cheese as your heart desires. Here, we’ve used a mixture of Gruyere and Swiss. If you don’t like those cheeses, use whichever cheeses you prefer! I will say that milder cheeses don’t overpower the soup, so keep that in mind when choosing your cheeses!
Step 6: Broil
Adjust the oven rack to as high as possible while still fitting the ramekins (or Dutch oven or other bakeable dish) comfortably. Broil at 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 7-10 minutes, or until the cheese is browned and melted!
Top with some thyme leaves for added color! Yum!
This dish is impressive enough on it’s own, but if you’d like to up the wow factor, try serving our Gruyere-stuffed baguette slices with it! It’s also a great way to use up the other half of your baguette! If that doesn’t sound good, you could also try making our brown butter sage focaccia bread!
A Dish to Share helps curious home cooks feel proud of what they made, excited about what’s next, and increasingly knowledgeable about food and culture, one global recipe at a time.
Easy French Onion Soup
Equipment
- 1 Dutch oven
- 4-8 ramekins or other oven-friendly dishware
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter
- 8 onions sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 cup red wine
- ½ cup brandy
- 8 cups beef broth
- 1 tbsp stone ground mustard
- ⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 5 sprigs thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ baguette diced
- 1 ½ cup shredded cheese Swiss & Gruyere
Instructions
- Slice the onions. Melt a stick of butter over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Caramelize the onions. This will take about an hour and a half! In the last couple of minutes, add the garlic to become fragrant.1 stick butter, 8 onions, 3 cloves garlic
- Stir in sugar, salt, and flour. Toast for a few minutes to remove the "raw flour" flavor.1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp salt, ⅓ cup flour
- Add in the red wine and brandy. It will hiss as the alcohol cooks off, and then allow to cook until it no longer smells like alcohol.1 cup red wine, ½ cup brandy
- Stir in the beef broth, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. When evenly mixed, drop the thyme and bay leaves on top. Cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes.8 cups beef broth, 1 tbsp stone ground mustard, ⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce, 5 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves
- Dice half of a baguette and toast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 7 minutes until crunchy. Shred about half of a block of Swiss & Gruyere. How much you need depends on how cheesy you like your soup!½ baguette, 1 ½ cup shredded cheese
- Ladle the soup into 4-8 ramekins. Top with croutons and shredded cheese. Position the oven rack at the top of the oven and broil the soup for 10 minutes or until the cheese is browned and melted.½ baguette, 1 ½ cup shredded cheese
- Top with some thyme leaves & enjoy!5 sprigs thyme
