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Last Updated: 
May 24, 2023

The Absolute Best French Onion Soup Recipe

French onion soup, quintessential classic comfort food, and star of many dinner parties. Over the years, traveling all over the globe, I've had the chance to try many different adaptations of a basic onion and broth soup that has been passed off as "French Onion Soup".

Let's face it, there is a lot of onion soup recipes out there that are just really, really bad. Most "quick" style recipes end up tasting like muddy dishwater with just a nuance of onion perfume, zero depth of flavor, boring, ick.

Here's the secret to the absolute best French onion soup recipe... ready? It's not the broth, or the herbs, the wine, or the type of butter you use..

The Secret To Really Good French Onion Soup: The length of time it takes to extract the flavors from the onions. 

Making really great tasting French onion soup takes a long time to slowly extract, and then convert the natural sugars in the onions into deep, rich, onion flavors. The caramelization of the onions is the foundation of the best soup. If you try and cut corners, or speed things up, it's just not going to taste good. So please, follow the steps below, spend the time to extract maximum flavor from those onions, and enjoy the world's best French Onion Soup!

french onion soup recipe completed and served in a white ramekin.

How to Make The Best French Onion Soup:

 

Ingredients You Will Need:

  • 4 Large Organic Yellow Onions
  • 2 Large Organic Sweet Maui Onions (Vidalia's will also work beautifully)
  • 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
  • Kosher Salt & Fresh Ground Black Pepper
  • 1/2 Cup of Water
  • 4 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Stock or Chicken Bone Broth (homemade is always best)
  • 2 Cups Beef Stock or Roasted Beef Bone Broth
  • 1/2 Cup Dry Sherry (Do not use cream sherry!)
  • 1 Tablespoon Good Quality Balsamic Vinegar from Modena
  • 1 Large Bay Leaf (dry, or 2 fresh)
  • Baguette (day old is always best)
  • 8 ounces of Shredded Gruyere Cheese (or try smoked Gruyere cheese for extra flavor pop)
  • 8 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme (combine with bay leaf, tied with butchers string in a bouquet garni)

Equipment You Will Need:

caramelizing onions in a heavy bottomed pot

How to Prepare The Best French Onion Soup Recipe:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Adjust rack height to accommodate the dutch oven being in the center of the oven with the lid on. This is normally the lower/middle rack position.
  2. Prepare the dutch oven by generously spraying the interior with non stick pan spray. Don't skimp on the spray, as you will end up scrubbing the pot for days afterwards!
  3. Peel and slice all of the onions into 1/4 inch thick half-moons. Add the butter to the dutch oven.
  4. Next, place the onions into the pot, and sprinkle over 1 heaping teaspoon of the kosher salt on the top of the onions.
  5. Cover with the lid, and place the dutch oven into your oven for 1 hour. No peeking during this time!
  6. After one hour, stir the onions, and adjust the lid slightly askew to allow for evaporation to take place. Return the pot to your oven and cook again for an additional 90 minutes, stirring the onions, and scraping the sides and the bottom of the dutch oven every 45 minutes with a flat wooden spatula.
  7. After 90 minutes of additional cooking time, remove the dutch oven and place it onto your stove.
  8. Continue cooking the onions uncovered over medium to medium-high heat for approximately 15-20 more minutes to develop a rich and powerfully flavorful fond. It's important to stir frequently and to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot regularly.
  9. You will notice that the liquid will evaporate and browning or fond will develop. We want this fond to be a rich dark brown... not black! Stirring is key to prevent burning. If the onions begin to darken too fast, lower your heat to medium or medium-low.
  10. This is not the time to rush this process and burn the onions! After 15-20 minutes, you should have a nice dark fond on the bottom and sides of the pot.
  11. Move the onions to one side of the pot, and deglaze with 1/4 cup of water. Scraping vigilantly to get as much of that fond up as you can. Continue cooking for another 5-8 minutes, allowing another layer of fond to form.
  12. Repeat the deglazing process again twice more, for a total of three deglazes, with another 1/4 cup of water for the second deglaze, and for the final deglaze, add in the dry sherry wine and balsamic vinegar and stir frequently for 5 minutes until the vast majority of the sherry wine and balsamic vinegar has evaporated.

13. The onions will continue to get very dark brown as the fond layers are extracted by the deglazing process.

14. Upon completion of the final deglaze, add in the chicken and beef stocks, the bouquet garni, 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.

15. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the pot one more time to get any remaining fond incorporated into the soup.

16. Raise the heat to high, and bring the soup to a medium bubble simmer. Lower the heat back down to low, cover, and gently simmer for an additional 20 minutes.

17. While the soup is in its final simmer, slice the baguette on a hard bias into 1/4 inch thick slices, place it on a sheet tray in a single layer. Bake the baguette slices at 400 degrees until toasty and slightly golden brown, this normally takes about 7-11 minutes. Upon removing the croutons from the oven, adjust the oven rack to the upper-middle position, and set the oven temperature to broil.

18. Fish the bouquet garni out of the soup and discard it. It's done its delicious flavor job.

19. Fill each oven-safe ramekin or soup terrine 3/4ths full of soup, and float a single layer of baguette croutons on top of the soup.

20. Top with a nice layer of the shredded Gruyere cheese, make sure to keep the cheese off the top of the serving vessel to prevent premature burning of the cheese.

21. Broil for 3-5 minutes until the cheese is all melty and golden brown. Do not walk away from the broiler at this time!

22. Remove the serving vessels from the oven and let cool a full 5 minutes before serving to prevent taste bud scalding. While the soup is cooling, pour yourself a nice glass of wine.

Dig in and enjoy your delicious French onion soup recipe with that yummy gruyere cheese in all of its bubbly glory!

From our kitchens to yours, cheers and happy cooking!


Check out our other recipes, tips & tricks for Easy, Effortless, Entertaining from AWG Private Chefs! 

About the Author: Certified Master Chef, Sommelier & Wine Educator, Sean Andrade is the executive chef/owner of AWG Private Chefs, named the #1 Private Chef Company in California. Chef Sean has worked in the restaurant and hospitality industries worldwide for more than 25 years. His company AWG Private Chefs offers highly custom-tailored, bespoke private chef dining experiences, and private event catering in over 30 countries around the globe.

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