The Best French Onion Soup (…ever!)
The last recipe I posted for French Onion soup was from Cook’s Illustrated and the soup came out great. So when I saw that they had an updated recipe, I had to give it a try. The big change between the recipes was that the updated version calls for caramelizing the onions in the oven rather than on the stove top. This change lets you get a lot more flavor out of the onions and means you don’t have to stir the onions every minute. They call this, “The Best French Onion Soup,” and after trying it, I can’t argue!
The Best French Onion Soup
From: Cook’s Illustrated
Serves 6
Notes:
For the best flavor, make the soup a day or 2 in advance. Alternatively, the onions can be prepared through step 1, cooled in the pot, and refrigerated for up to 3 days before proceeding with the recipe.
Ingredients:
Soup
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces
- 6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices (Make sure you get Yellow)
- Table salt
- 2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
- 1/2 cup dry sherry
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (They recommend Swanson Certified Organic Free Range Chicken Broth )
- 2 cups beef broth (They recommend Pacific Beef Broth)
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme , tied with kitchen twine
- 1 bay leaf
- Ground black pepper
Cheese Croutons
- 1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)
Directions:
For the soup:
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, for 1 hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.
- Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, roughly 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.)
- Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.
- Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.
For the croutons:
- While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
To serve:
- Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
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March 20th, 2008 at 10:48 am
This is the best looking French Onion Soup! I am going to attempt to make it today for Easter dinner. I hope it comes out as perfect as your. Thanks for sharing!
March 20th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
holy bejeezus, that looks good. i read the same recipe and was drooling over the description of the triple-caramelization process. i’m going to have to bump this higher up the “to do” list.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I made this the week I read it in cook’s illustrated. Best French onion soup I’ve ever had. I suggest it to everyone.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
I love French onion soup … but, never think of making it. You have inspired me to make it this weekend! Thank you!
April 15th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Please add (a lot) of garlic! an onoion soup without garlic is no onion soup!
April 15th, 2008 at 4:23 am
Mmm that looks very good! I’ll have to make some - and as I often roast onions I’ll just do a few extra next time and have soup the next day!
April 15th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I love French onion soup. I have made a few different recipes before, and only one I can remember was really good. I am definitely going to try this, I love the technique. Generally everything that takes a long time is usually well worth the extra effort.
April 15th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
That looks (and sounds) delicious!!! Now who volunteers to make it for me?? : )
April 15th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
I love french onion soup and this is the best looking that I have come across. Going to attempt this weekend!
April 15th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I’m with Andrew, any volunteers
April 16th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Am loving the blog and the nice clean food pics! The design of the blog is also very simple and impressive! Would love to have some of your photos on my site http://www.ifoods.tv so as they can see a greater audience. Keep up the good work on the blog.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
The recipe for onion soup in Tony Bourdain’s Les halles Cookbook rules. Well worth trying, but made infinitely better by making your own stock from scratch.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
What a great soup!! It looks yummy! I’ve just stumbled it!
April 16th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Thanks everyone for all the great comments.
Andy - I am going to try this with home made chicken stock one time. Real stock gives so much extra depth.
Niall - Thanks! Please feel free to use which ever photos you want. It would be great if you could link back here, but no worries if not.
April 17th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Looks great! this i will have to make the next time. I love onion soup, usually make it when i have spare onions - which is quite common in my case, because eating a whole pack myself is difficult.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I Love French Onion Soup
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Wow, I don’t even like French onion soup, but I think I may have to try this one!
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:18 am
This looks like a really good french onion soup recipe. I may just have to make some french onion soup tonight!
April 25th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I am in mid process. My baguettes are toasting, my cheese is shredded, and the entire HOUSE smells so good I want to scream.
Cannot wait. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.
April 25th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
PS - that cheese is $22.00 a pound, and I don’t care!
April 25th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Oh my gosh that was fantastic. We ended up doing it all in one day. Just me and my husband cooking and hanging out. Not only was it a great experience, but I’m on my 3rd bowl (no, not exaggerating).
I think next time we’d use all regular yellow onions (we used 2 Vidalias) but otherwise we wouldn’t change a thing!
Also our dutch oven was only 5 qt and it was fine-plenty of room.
And our corningware is non-broiler friendly so we just baked them at 500 for a few and the cheese still browned and it was still FABULOUS.
We can’t wait to make it again!
Thank you!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:58 am
That looks really good. Can I omit the sherry? Or would that make a big difference?
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Thanks for the recipe. Onion soup is one of our stand-by dinners, but I’ve always carmelized the onions on the stove. I will take your advice and try the oven next time.
BTW- BEAUTIFUL photos.
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:41 am
The soup looks fantastic. Going to try it tonight. I had some of the best onoin soup at the Marriot in Chicago, and had a taste for it ever since.
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:44 am
We made this soup, and its fabulous! Great for parties and get togethers! Thanks for this wonderful reciepe.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Looks good even though I dislike onions.
May 4th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Unfortunately not my thing, although it does look good.
May 6th, 2008 at 9:17 am
That looks really good. OMG that cheese is $22.00 a pound.
May 6th, 2008 at 9:55 am
WOW..! What a burst of flavor…The flavor-melding of the Gruyere and caramelized onion , combined with the Parmesan croutons soaked in the two stocks, made for slow savoring…my daughter kept giving out little squeals of “mmmmm” and ” mmm-mmm-mmm “. And yes, the Sherry does make a difference, do not omit, or if you prefer, use a dry Marsala. Two thumbs, and two toes up !! Great pics…Thanks
May 6th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Wow. I adore French onion soup. My parents make it fairly often but this cooking onions in oven thing they haven’t tried. I’ll have to cook this recipe for them .It sounds and looks delicious!
May 12th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I am so happy everyone loves this recipe as much as I do. I highly recommend getting a subscription to Cook’s Illustrated website.
The Gruyère I used wasn’t $22 a pound, I think it was closer to $11… but I sure would like to try that cheese!
Sherry definitely adds a lot of depth to the soup. Marsala sounds like a great substitution though.
May 13th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I love that the onions get cooked in the onion instead of on the stovetop. Very interesting! And I LOVE your photos of the caramelization process. Lovely!
May 15th, 2008 at 7:23 am
You can almost taste how delicious this recipe is through your photographs. Yummy!
May 18th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
yummmy good stuff thanks
May 27th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
This is really was the best French onion soup I have ever had and I have been to France many many times. It takes some time to caramelize the onions properly but it is worth it. Also, I think it is important to use a good cooking sherry. It adds a nice depth to the flavor of the soup.
June 6th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Simply the best soup I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. My mother and I are having some right now and she agrees. The Gruyère cheese, although expensive, makes a huge difference. Thanks for the recipe.
June 8th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Just made a batch and it was delicious; way better than any I have had in a restaurant. Probably took me about a little over an hour once the baking aspect was done, so a little lengthy, but not bad by any means.
They didn’t have Gruyere in my small town store so I went with Swiss with a dash of Parmesan and it was still tasty… might try picking up some Gruyere for tomorrow’s leftovers.
Without the Gruyere (which is allegedly $22/lb) the meal was very satisfying to the budget. Only had to buy the broth and the onions. For six servings it came out to about $1.50/serving.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I love french onion soup. I make mine with white wine.
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:05 pm
hey, thanks. i tried to view this same recipe on cooks illustrated, and you apparently have to be a paid member or magazine subscriber to read any of their recipes. So, thanks for sharing. It looks delicious.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:18 am
looks great!I’m going to make it for my Aunt Cindy this week for our dinner get together she’s gonna love it.
August 18th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I live so far out in the boonies I can’t find Gruyère, but I used fresh Parmesan and it’s still super yummy!!! Thanks so much!!!
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:39 pm
A lot of extra time wasted, slice a medium yellow onion, brown in a sauce pan with butter or margarin until transparent and semi soft. add one can of beef broth, a splash of worster sauce and simmer for a few minutes, pour into oven safe cups place a slice of french bread slightly toasted cover with jack cheese and broil until cheese is melted. Serves two.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
[...] Originally Posted by WEEZY I’ve never had French Onion. Can you post a picture or describe it please? ^^ Its very yummy. Heres a link with pictures and recipe. Recipe: The Best French Onion Soup (ever!) [...]
September 9th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
This technique sounds interesting, I’m going to try it tomorrow. I have always used Julia Child’s recipe which calls for Vermouth instead of Sherry. I always thought the Vermouth overpowered the soup. Going to try it Cook’s way instead!
September 13th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I just made this soup for dinner. My husband and I love french onion soup and I make it fairly frequently. I am a fan of Cooks Illustrated, have learned a lot of great techniques and tricks from them, and trust their judgment immensely. Also, who wouldn’t want to make this soup after seeing the beautiful pictures of it on this blog? [Off topic a bit, but I LOVE the photography on this website. Please keep up the great work. Even when I'm not looking for a specific recipe, it's just fun to browse the site because it's so visually appealing.]
Back to soup…
The positives first — I really appreciate how the onion is the highlight of the soup. The onions are not outshone by a strong broth with a winey (is that a word?) flavor which I find is often the case with french onion soup recipes. I believe the carmelization of the onions (as long as its the right level of carmelization) is what sets this recipe apart from the rest. Additionally, my house smelled wonderful this afternoon while the soup was being prepared.
The negative — my onions over-carmelized in the oven, despite me taking them out well before the time allotted by the recipe. I’m all about crusty bits of flavor, but I just ended up with a lot more burnt onion bits in my soup than I cared for. Some of this burnt flavor resonated in the soup and in the after-taste of each bite, so I just didn’t care for that.
I’m not sure I’m sold on the oven carmelization technique. First, it takes a long time and I’m pretty sure I heard the faint ring of a cash register (cha-ching cha-ching) as I thought of the gas bill for keeping the oven on just to carmelize some onions. I feel like I get faster results and have more control when I carmelize on my stovetop.
What I will do differently next time — I think I’m going back to Julia Child’s recipe with some modifications inspired by the Cooks Illustrated recipe. Unlike Julia’s recipe, I won’t just cook the onions to a golden brown. I will carmelize them, on the stove, to a dark brown (not burnt brown). I will also cut back on the alcohol as to not allow that flavor to overpower the broth. Julia recommends deglazing with cognac or brandy. Later in the recipe, she adds dry French white wine or vermouth to the broth. I’m probably halfing, or skipping, the vermouth. Also, I liked the flavor imparted by the thyme and bay leaf as recommended by Cooks Illustrated so that will be added next time too!
September 24th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
yaa,,,it’s really great!I’m going to make it,, for my gf this week 4our dinner “get 2gthr” she’s gonna luv it….thnx alot 4posted French Onion soup recipe…with luv HaWeK
September 25th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I love French onion soup and have never made it with sherry. When I first tried making onion soup I used red wine which seemed intuitive, but I was never happy with the results until I started using white wine!
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I reduced the recipe by half and also tried to keep a close eye on the cook time, alas, the onions burned a bit. I am now simmering in the final stage and realize its quite bitter. Any way to reduce the bitterness??? Don’t want to waste all that time and ingredients.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Just finished this great soup. Only two issues: when deglazing the pan with the small amounts of water–I did it one too many times and lost some of that wonderful carmelizing taste (damn! should’ve listened to my nose!) The second was the subject of beef broth, a little more beef I think would have made it a little deeper. However, I did use a nice sherry and that was a good addition.
Thank you for this wonderful site and information.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:32 pm
I’ve always loved French onion soup and this looks fabulous. Thanks so much!
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I just made this with Japanese sake instead of sherry, because I can’t get any here, and it was absolutely delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe.
October 4th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Just finished making French onion soup for the first time.
I used part of this recipe. I carmalized the onions on the stove top and they did NOT burn. I also left out the sherry. My house smells fantastic and I can’t wait to sit down and eat! This is the first time I have visited this site and I think it is fantastic!
October 7th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I just made the soup and I must say I’m really sad. The cooking of the onions took FOREVER in the over and I didn’t have enough onions (only four onions) and they got burnt in the oven after about 45 minutes the second time around. I’m going to say thumbs down, but if everything had come out right I’m sure it would have been great.
October 9th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I love French Onion soup and now we are coming into the soup season!
October 10th, 2008 at 8:27 am
[...] at Cookography has a fantastic alternative to Caramelizing onions in the oven on his site from Cook’s [...]
October 10th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Thank you soo much for your step by step photos on cooking the onions in the oven. It was fantastic flavor and it really helped make this dish :)
Brianna
October 10th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
[...] And that got us also talking about our eating habits. It’s hard to cook at home. I mean it’s fun, but then you have clean up and set up and leftovers. I love leftovers and could eat the same thing day after day but Kari not so much. And anymore, it IS cheaper to go to McDonalds and get some 1.00 double cheeseburgers! So we watch Alton Brown but don’t always use it. Although Geoff and I did make some AWESOME french onion soup. [...]
October 16th, 2008 at 9:27 am
This is an excellent recipe!!!!The best French Onion Soup ever!!!
October 18th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I just made this soup. WOW! It was so good! It’s going into the recipe book and will be enjoyed for many years to come! Thank you for the photos, they were very helpful. Looking forward to letting it sit over night and having some tomorrow. Really wonderful. thank you.
October 23rd, 2008 at 2:11 pm
[...] The Best French Onion Soup (Ever): The last recipe I posted for French Onion soup was from Cook’s Illustrated and the soup came out great. So when I saw that they had an updated recipe, I had to give it a try. The big change between the recipes was that the updated version calls for caramelizing the onions in the oven rather than on the stove top. This change lets you get a lot more flavor out of the onions and means you don’t have to stir the onions every minute. They call this, “The Best French Onion Soup,” and after trying it, I can’t argue! Recipe found at Cookography. [...]
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:41 pm
French Onion soup is my favorite so I will give this a try. Thanks for Sharing :)
October 27th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
[...] French Onion Soup on Cookography.com with credit to Cook’s Illustrated [...]
October 27th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I just made this soup, and although it takes a while to make, it isn’t labor intensive, and it is totally worth it. I’m a vegetarian and made it with vegetable broth…so good.
October 29th, 2008 at 7:16 am
[...] about a hearty bowl of French Onion Soup? It always hits the spot and can easily be topped with leftover bread and whatever cheese you have [...]
October 29th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I am bookmarking this, can’t wait to make it!!!
November 1st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Made it this week. Followed the recipe nearly exactly, although I only had 3 c. chicken broth (I used homemade) so I added an extra cup of beef broth (Pacific).
It was superb. Thanks for posting this. Amazing recipe.
November 2nd, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Hi, I will be making this soup for my girlfriend on her birthday as she loves french onion soup. Would you be able to give me the recipe enough for just 2 people?
Thanks
November 5th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Greetings from Shizuoka, Japan!
As a Frenchman and like all the people who sent you commnents, I must say (to my chagrin, LOL) that I’m impressed!
The only difference is that I would use white wine instead of sherry.
But who am I to say that!
Once again, bravo!
Cheers and all that,
Robert-Gilles
November 8th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I made this soup yesterday. I did 3 cups of chicken broth and beef broth. My fiance and I think this is the best french onion soup we’ve ever tried!
November 8th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
I made this today with the only change being that I substituted port for the sherry.
This is an amazing soup. I found that once it was on the stovetop that I needed to stir less often than the “frequently” directed. Let the onions sit undisturbed for a couple of minutes just as you begin the deglazing steps and you will have quicker results. (By stirring frequently, I had to go through the deglazing step about 8 times.)
November 9th, 2008 at 2:12 am
this is definately the best french onion soup ever! even though it took me a long time, but it was definately worth it! i made it for a dinner party everyone loved it, even poeple who hated soup or onions!
November 12th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Looks amazing going to try it for sure thanks
November 13th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Looks and sounds fantastic!
November 14th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
I tried making this and ran into a problem. The onions completely burned even though I took it out way before recommended. In reading the recipe again I read the part about 4 pounds of onions and realized that it would be an entire bag plus a couple more onions. I had used about 7 good sized onions but clearly they weren’t near 4 pounds as they just evaporated into black dust.
So, I redid the recipe by the quick method of microwaving and then carmelizing on the stove. I deglazed 4 times with water and continued on with the recipe. It was fantastic. My only tip - make sure you use 4 pounds of onions!
November 16th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I made this last week, and it was delicious. Loved being able to put the onions into the oven for the first part. Definitely saved on time.
November 18th, 2008 at 2:22 am
WOW. It is so seldom that I get a chance to really enjoy such a treat since I live in South Florida. But today is a “cold spell” for us. In fact, there is “hard water” predicted upstate in Tallahassee this morning. This recipe was originally posted on the day during which I celebrated the golden anniversary of my 16th birthday…I can not possibly go wrong with it! Thanks for posting it!