French Onion Soup

Perfectly caramelized onions, a rich beef broth, and cheesy toast, makes this classic French onion soup a go-to when you need a little comfort food! It’s a hearty soup recipe too good to miss!

I love French onion soup. 

How could you not? 

There’s onions that have been cooked down so they are sweet and delicious, crusty bread on top (soaking all that beefy broth) and copious amounts of melty cheese.

This winter soup is definitely a meal in itself. With a nice glass of red wine, you’re set!

You will use quite a bit of onions in the recipe, but they quickly cook down and, besides that, this is French onion soup, isn’t it?  

And, fair warning, your breath may not thank me after eating this soup, but your belly surely will! It’s worth it, though! 

What Is French Onion Soup?

Essentially, French onion soup is a big bowl of comfort food, which includes caramelized onions and beef broth with a piece of melty, cheesy bread on top.

Ingredients Needed

For this onion soup, you’re gonna need:

• Onions (of course, like red, white, or yellow (or a combo of those))
• Olive oil & butter
• Garlic
• Wine
• Flour (to thicken things a little)
• Seasonings, like salt, pepper, and thyme
• Beef broth
• Worcestershire sauce
• Balsamic vinegar
• Bread
• Cheese

It’s amazing how some humble ingredients, like onions, along with a few other things can and be transformed into something so special!

How To Make This Soup

Full details in recipe card below, but here are the basics:

1. Caramelize onions (easy step-by-step instructions to caramelize onions here).
2. Add minced garlic and cook.
3. Deglaze with a little wine, scraping up with a wooden spoon to get those little brown bits on the bottom of the pan (hello flavour!).
4. Stir in flour (this will help thicken things).
5. Add salt, pepper and thyme.
6. Pour in beef broth.
7. Pour in Worcestershire sauce.
8. Next, pour in balsamic vinegar.
9. Stir and cook a little while.
10. Lay French onion soup bowls onto a sheet pan and portion soup into them.
11. Top soup with bread.
12. Pile on shredded cheese.
13. Bake until the cheese melts.
14. Carefully remove from the oven.
15. Garnish with thyme (if you like).
16. Serve!

Do I Have to Use Special French Onion Soup Bowls?

Nope! Not at all.

You do, though, have to use oven-safe bowls when baking the cheesy toast!

Tip: Don’t have oven-safe bowls? Skip putting bowls in the oven. Bake the cheesy toast separately and place on the hot soup after.

What Can I Use Instead of Gruyere Cheese?

I love Gruyere here because it’s tasty, rich, and melts well.

However, if you don’t have Gruyere cheese on hand (or simply rather use another variety), try plain Swiss cheese or Fontina.

How To Thicken Soup

You can thicken French onion soup in various ways:

• Flour: Flour was used in this recipe. Sprinkle over top when onions are cooked.
• Cornstarch slurry: You’ll want equal parts cornstarch and water. Start with 1 tablespoon each of cornstarch and cold water. Mix together before stirring into soup and heating a little until thickened. You can stir this in during the last couple of minutes of cook time.
• Reducing the soup on a low simmer: Simmer until you’ve reached your desired consistency.
• Adding more caramelized onions: More onions means a denser consistency!
• Use soup to thicken: Remove about a cup of soup from the pot and blend with an immersion blender. Then, stir back into the pot.

Tips for Making This Recipe

• This soup is super simple, but does take time (especially because there are caramelized onions involved). Just have some patience and it will be well worth it!
• Like with any soup, use a good-quality broth. Homemade beef broth would be awesome (like this beef bone broth); if you don’t have that, store-bought is perfectly fine.
• If you want to bake the cheesy toast in the oven on top of the soup, don’t fill your bowls to the brim. Once you add the bread, it will displace some of the liquid.
• Use a hearty bread that can hold up to the broth. I like focaccia or ciabatta (or something similar). Of course, no matter what you put on there it will absorb some liquid (which is awesome), but you don’t want to use a basic white bread here.
• Use a sheet pan to make things easier for putting those bowls in the oven and taking  them out. Plus, the sheet pan will catch any spills, meaning less cleanup.

More Caramelized Onion Recipes

• Cheesy Roast Beef Sliders with Caramelized Onions
• Homemade Onion Dip

If you make this French onion soup recipe, please leave a comment below!

This recipe was originally published in September 2015 but has been updated.