French · Soup · Medium
French Onion Soup
Rome's most famous pasta. Silky egg and Pecorino sauce clinging to every strand, studded with crisp guanciale. No cream, ever.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
French Onion Soup, in 5 ideas
- Slice the onions evenly. Thin, even slices cook at the same rate. Thick chunks stay crunchy while the rest turns to jam.
- A pinch of sugar helps. It is not cheating. It nudges the caramelization along when the onions stall.
- Wine deglazes the gold. The browned bits stuck to the pot are concentrated flavor. Wine lifts them into the soup.
- Toast the bread first. untoasted bread turns to mush under the broth. Toasted holds its crunch under the cheese.
- Gruyere melts like a dream. It bubbles, browns, and stretches. No other cheese does all three the same way.
What you need
Ingredients
- 6 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 6 cups beef stock
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- Black pepper
- 4 thick slices baguette, toasted
- 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
How to make it
Directions
- Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions and salt.
- Cook low and slow, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes, for 40 to 50 minutes, until deep amber and jammy. Stir in the sugar halfway if they look pale.
- Pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits. Simmer 2 minutes.
- Add the stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Simmer 20 minutes. Fish out the thyme stems and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat the broiler. Ladle the soup into oven-safe bowls and set them on a baking sheet.
- Top each bowl with a toasted baguette slice and a generous handful of Gruyere.
- Broil 2 to 3 minutes, until the cheese bubbles and browns in spots. Serve immediately, warning everyone the bowls are volcanic.
Do not rush the onions. Forty-five minutes minimum. Pale onions make pale soup. Deep amber is where the flavor lives.