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.
Equipment Used:
try cognac in place of sherry, deep flavour and dark colour.
Good suggestion Andy. I didn’t have sherry on hand and used cognac instead. The onion slurry got very very dark and the soup was unbelievably rich and smooth. I cooked this soup Saturday. Tuesday I cooked fajitas. Wednesday, the apartment still smells like soup.
I made this soup today and was a little disappointed. It was good, but I wouldn’t say the best ever. I like a richer, bolder taste than this. I ended up adding additional beef broth, as well as beef soup base to give it a little more punch.
Would it matter if I only used 5 onions?
It should work fine with 5 onions. You may have to scale back the broth a little, since there will be less onion flavor.
we used velveeta instead of the other kind of cheese and it was great. the swanson’s beef broth saved us lots of time and we liked the taste. Saltine crackers instead of the baguette seemed to work well too. bon appetite
This was fabulous! It was only my second time making french onion soup. The first time the recipe didn’t require caramelizing the onions – needless to say, it was no good. I took someone else’s suggestion from this site and added a few cloves of garlic. I substituted pear juice and a tsp of apple cider vinegar for the sherry and used the broth instead of water for the deglazing and added a little fresh parsley. I just didn’t cut my onions quite thin enough – that’s the only thing I would change for next time – and there will certainly be a next time! Thanks for the recipe with clear instructions and great pictures.
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Husband made this for the family the other day. And yes, so far this is the best French Onion Soup ever! Thanks for the recipe.
I’ve been looking for a good recape for this soup and i think i’ve founfd it. I’m making a ribbeye and always like to make French Onion soup to acompany it instead of just a’jaue*(SP?) sauce. Its worth the while trust me. If u like it or don’t u should try it to really understand it.
Seriously awesome but I did not use the oven, I felt it was just a waste of gas. I stuck with the stovetop and it’s just perfect otherwise. As far as times go just start deglazing when the onions are deep brown.
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exellent
USE MORE Butter! like a whole stick also add beef tallow to the Onions! Keeps them from burning. Remember carmelization is a subtle dance between burning and converting into sugar.
Never! Ever! used canned broth.. Must make it fresh!
Beef Broth. 4lbs of bones. cook at 450 for 2 hours (at least one) with onions, herbs, carrots, onions, whatever.. Then 5 1/2 hours with water to cover.
Chicken Broth. Just cook down leftover chicken bones.
Caution when Carmelizing Onions! Dont Burn!
Merry Christmas and
Happy Hanukkah!
Bambi
St. Alin
I googled “best onion soup recipe” and this came up. I had to run out to buy enough yellow onions…but with 30 inches of snow on the ground, there isn’t much else to do but cook! hah!!!…it was absolutely worth it. The house had the aroma of roasting onions for the entire afternoon. My husband said…. W O W….this is absolutely perfect…!!!!
I was skeptical when I saw the “worlds best” label to this soup, as most “worlds best” fall very short thereo, but this is the real thing. I have been making f.o.s. for 35 years, usually using Julia Childs recipe from Mastering French Cooking. The dutch oven method carmelizes the onions so much better. I’d be careful with the temps as 400 was a bit too hot, and the time a bit too long. Other than that it is a fantastic recipe, one which I will make often. Merry Christmas.
This was a fun project and tasted great……. well worth the effort….. thanks for the awesome stepby step recipe..
it is east to grow thyme in your basement as well as other herbs……. keep a little herb garden alive in your house.
it is amazing the difference by using fresh herbs. Cooking and watching the Steeler game….who could ask for more.. Happy Holidays!!!!!
This really is the best french onion that I’ve ever had.
Great recipe, I love the technique. I tried it with a teflon pot however and I couldn’t quite get enough glazing since it’s a non-stick material so perhaps it is best to not use teflon. The recipe as a whole however is excellent and well worth the time necessary to make it. Well done!
You dont want to use Teflon at high temperatures, use a dutch oven or large pot with a thick bottom to cook the onions evenly.
I am just now finishing the 30 minutes simmer. This recipe is fantastic! But you must be home most of the day and have the time to devote ;). When I try a great recipe for the first time, I try to follow exactly (hard for me!). Once I have learned the cooking method and proportions, I can alter (*more*) later. Thank goodness there were so many photos! I would never have dreamed to cook the onions down so far! My changes: added 6 fresh garlic cloves to the original 4# of onions; used salted butter & cut down on added salt; at end, used 1 generous tsp Thyme instead of sprigs. Used Le Creuset dutch oven just as pictured. We like beef meat in our onion soup (heresy!) so I also braised some diced & browned pieces of london broil separately for 30+ minutes and added for the last simmer. Also, used Merlot instead of sherry. It seems so heavenly! Taste testing proves it — hubby can’t stay away. Not a drop of sugar in it, and you would think there was! Will be served tonite with homemade whole grain croutons & Comte gruyere – yum! The rest will be frozen in 1 & 2-portion servings – I don’t have this much time often!
please email this french onion soup recipe. thanks
I just think who ever that came up with this recipe have some stocks with either gas or electric company. I tried it and it was not worth the time, work and the increase in my utility bill. It’s nothing but soup anyway.
I didn’t see the need to cook this in the oven so I decided to do it in the electric skillet. It took less time to make and was quite delicious. I think the recipe is great as long as you glaze the onions to a rich dark brown state, it should be good.
Has anyone used salted butter in place of unsalted butter? Would there be a difference in taste other than a saltier soup.
I have to say this is a darn good method. Can’t stress enough the importance of FRESH thyme. Couplea things I do ;
I use a big californiared instead of sherry.
Use three sweet yellow and three big Bermuda’s.
I like to add minced onion AFTER the deglazing process. Just a half a large Vadallia, minced fine. Knocks back just a bit of the sweet .
Pinch of chevril.
Soup is OK. Can not judge if it is “best”, since I have never attempted it before. But I do agree with Sept 13th Alison’s very complete review in re: oven carmelization of the onions; a touch too long, a touch too much “burn-y” (BTW, Ali, “winey” is most assuredly a word; a variant of “winy”)
I digress.
I made a different topping; used 3 yr cabot combined w/ touch of reggiano on top of the baguette crouton. This is possibly anathema to the OnSoup purists, but then so is using RED onions and RED wine (zin).
Worked for me.
All in all good, but you gotta love cooking to do this soup. There are variants so very simple, and almost as nice (e.g. as found in Cunningham’s updated Fanny Farmer recipe book, or a nice onion soup recipe in Beard.)
Check them out if you’ve a mind to.
Naf, Geezer
Thank you so much for great recipe!!
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!
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.
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!
Looks and sounds fantastic!
Looks amazing going to try it for sure thanks
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!
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.)
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!
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
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
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.
I am bookmarking this, can’t wait to make it!!!
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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.
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French Onion soup is my favorite so I will give this a try. Thanks for Sharing :)
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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.
This is an excellent recipe!!!!The best French Onion Soup ever!!!
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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
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I love French Onion soup and now we are coming into the soup season!
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.
It’s funny that you’re giving it “thumbs down” but you clearly state you did not follow the recipe. Kind of difficult to say it’s a bad recipe when you don’t follow it. If you use about half the quantity of onions, you shouldn’t expect it to take the same length of time/temperature.
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!
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.