French Onion Soup
French onion soup is a classic French soup prepared, in its most fundamental form, by boiling sliced onions in water. More complex varieties involve bouillon, wine, and spices. An ordinary food for family meals, it is served as a simple entrée, garnished with grated Gruyére cheese and croutons (or stale French bread) added just before serving. It can also be consumed at the end of the evening, unadorned, in a mug.…
Ingredients
- 3 rounded cups (500g) chopped onion
- A knob of butter (a little less than 2 tbsp or 25g)
- 1 tbsp (15g) flour
- 1.5 liters (roughly 5¼ cups) beef stock (chicken or vegetable stock is an acceptable alternative)
- 1 bouquet garni (fresh bay, thyme, and Herbes de Provence, tied in a bundle or in a temporary sack made of cheesecloth)
- 1 slice of stale french bread, per person (or fresh bread, toasted beforehand)
- 3 tbsp red (50ml) port wine
- 1 cup grated (125g) Gruyère cheese
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- Pepper
Steps
- Melt butter in large saucepan. Stir in onions. Cook on moderate heat until light gold and transparent, not dark.
- Add flour to onions. Stir gently 3–4 minutes. Scrape up dark brown fond from pan bottom.
- Pour ⅔ of beef broth over onions. Mix well. Add bouquet garni. Bring to boil, stirring regularly.
- Season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg. Add remaining broth. Simmer gently 10–15 minutes.
- If bread is fresh, toast over low heat.
- Remove soup from heat. Remove bouquet garni. Add port. Stir well.
- Divide soup among 6 oven-safe ceramic or glass bowls. Press slice of bread onto each. Sprinkle generously with grated Gruyère. Broil on low 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and browned.
- Serve piping hot.
Notes from the original
- You can use plain water instead of stock, but it is less tasty.
- After the flour has had time to mix in butter, you can further brown the mixture in ¾ cup white wine or beer, before adding the broth. If you do this, skip adding the port later on.
- An alternative to the port wine is dry fino sherry (e.g. Tio Pepe). The flavor will be subtly different.
- In Auvergne, this dish was traditionally eaten by shepherds and drovers. Living nomadically, moving with the herds as they went, it was important for them to keep ingredients that would travel well: onions, lard, and fresh cheese made on the spot from the milk of the cows or ewes. If you would like to make a more traditional recipe, you can replace the butter with lard, and replace the Gruyére with Saint-Nectaire or Tomme cheese. As Auvergne is not wine country, you can replace the wine with a fruit brandy, like plum or pear, for a truly exceptional result.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:French Onion Soup” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-21, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Soupe à l'oignon.jpg by Ludovic Péron, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.