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:
This is the 3rd version of Onion Soup. I really like it. I cooked it all on the stove top, however. I can control what happens easier that way.
For those of you who are criticizing other peoples versions, remember that this soup was first made because they had mostly onions to eat. This didn’t start out as a gourmet food. They mostly had onions, so they used onions. Adding some stale bread and a little cheese on top of the bread, and you can feed your family for supper. The ingredients changed as what they had to put into it changed.
This is a very fair comment, and all versions of a dish may have a place. The remark about this not being “Gourmet” is very true and important. It’s what we used to eat coming home from a party in the middle of the night, strolling through Les Halles, having drunk…prodigiously. However, this is called the “Best…French…ever”, and as such is held to a higher standard. I think it entirely reasonable, a duty in fact, to note that “real” French Onion Soup, the kind made by “real” French people and precisely because it is of peasant origins, must of course not be made with canned broth. This is simply not a matter of opinion. If one can’t tell the difference…then I guess one is entitled to one’s opinion.
Remember, an opinion is just an onion with a pin in the middle. Spooky isn’t it?
(And to L.D. Huntington. Was that a side comment telling people not to make side comments? I’d comment on that, but you told me not to.)
I have made FOS for years for my kids. My original attempts came from a recipe presented by Emeril for a Mother’s day show. We called it “Mother’s day” soup because my kids would not eat onions. They LOVED it. I have seen recipes similar to this, but I really want to try this one.
A side comment. This is a recipe sharing site–keep your side comments to yourself. Comment on the recipe, and in a public forum, do it nicely, or don’t do it at all. Just saying…
A good recipe, I agree. However you don’t need to use unsalted butter, the normal will do – you are adding salt in any case. The use of a combination of chicken stock and beef stock is an interesting step. It probably produces a lighter soup than traditional, but that’s not a bad thing. If you ask enough French grandparents for their recipe, you will find that some add white wine, some red wine and come cognac or armagnac. It doesn’t matter as there is a spectrum of normality, as it were. Finally, with all the other flavours the bay leaf is superfluous. I love this website that I found by chance. Great pictures. Best wishes. Edwin
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just made this recipe for the first time and it is great, but i agree that it is much much faster to cook the onions on the stovetop. i took the pot out of the oven after the first hour and the onions were barely golden. Got them totally brown on the stove in 25 min. Just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
Question:
Has anyone tried this with Walla Walla Sweet Onions or is that just a ridiculous question?
Cook’s Illustrated said that they were to sweet and actually ruined the soup because of the sweetness. Yellow are best they say. I agree. Bon Appétit ;-)
Wanna ask if gruyere cheese is not available, what is next best cheese to use as substitute?
Gruyere cheese is nothing more than a good Swiss cheese
I’ve seen recipes call for a combination of Asiago and regular old Swiss cheese.
Today I’m trying Greuyer (sp?) however, I typically use provolone, it adds a nice smokey flavor to the soup and melts/browns well to a nice gooey stringy bite of savory flavor. mmm mmm good.
I used a combination of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, shredded Swiss Cheese and Mozzarella Cheeses. I made it tonight and really didn’t care much for the chicken broth added, I have always made it with beef broth only.
I tried this at the home of a friend and had to beg her for the recipe. She “couldn’t find it,” was what I kept hearing, but finannly she let it go, and boy am I ever glad she did. This is by far the BEST FOS, even my 7 year old daughter think so!
Thanks for sharing Susan!
I have to say i just finished this onion soup receipe and am so excited at how wounderful and delicious it is. I substitued white wine for the sherry . My family was more than pleased… They finished the whole thing..
You did by intuition what the recipe writers should have done to begin with. This soup should never have sherry in it, dry white wine is correct.
Why is it that we allow other cultures to correct our use of their grammar, but get indignant when they correct our use of their food culture? We don’t say, “I have the right to put the verb where I want”, we say “thank you for correcting me…I would like to speak French properly”. To make French onion soup properly, make the stock from meat and bones and vegetables, and leave the sherry for Saturday visits from the vicar.
Creativity is a wonderful thing, where it belongs, but there must always be a reason.
To be or, you know, like, not, or whatever, like…cool?
Gee weez… you gotta give it to the Frenchies… they can make such an intricate thing out of water,onions and bread and cheese. Same with fondue. What an invention, let’s make peasant food sound gourmet, yeah add some sherry, oh no Courvoisier!!! How idiotic! In the sustainability era that we live I would prefer recipes COMPLETELY from scratch… If I have to go buy sherry to make onion soup forget about it. Tell me how to substitute all the complicated ingredients with ones readily available. That’s artful, not just mix random ingredients and then adjust your taste to the sh…tuff that comes out.
These are not complicated or items that most cooks would not have in their pantry all the time. My only negative comment is that if you have to do all that deglazing, you may as well start off on the stove.
Good god we are talking about food here right? What is with all the animosity? I made this soup and to my American raised palette it tasted great. If you made it and found that it wasn’t fit for swine, maybe it was a result of the execution or bad produce.
In closing, what American’s may lack in taste they certainly make up in pride, as in… we don’t surrender to every German that crosses our path.
You made me laugh. You are 100% right.
Amen! cracked me up.
It’s really difficult to screw up mediocre French (yes, they came up with it first, not us) Onion soup. This recipe is outstanding. And deglazing is what does the tick.
Why make it if you’re gonna whine about it?
Well, what an intersteing group the ‘best onion soup seekers’ are… particularly Dave….ah well, c’est la vie!!
Regardless, I will be trying this one out tomorrow having just returned from France on Wednesday of last week an eating the most delicious onion soup ever at La Petit Normand in Bayeux. It was thick and hearty and I could have eatten a barrel of it. Will keep my fingers crossed that this recipe comes anywhere near to that heavenly soup!
Dave…you fit the mold of a typical resident of France.. I love the food but hate the people..All seem to be so conceited and self-righteous… If it wasn’t for the locals reputation on being rude and unwelcoming..I would visit a lot more often. I think I will stick to my American versions of French food. F U Dave..100% douche bag
Tell us what you really mean. If you’re nice, the French will be nice to you. Are you an ugly American? I don’t think you should go back; you’ll give us American’s a bad name. Love this recipe, BTW.
substituted courvosier cognac for sherry_ HOT DAMN!!!!!
delicious!
I used brandy and it was also good. Thats the great thing about being a home cook that so many don’t get. It’s all about cooking with what you like and how you like it. The fun of cooking is creating don’t you think?
Hmmm. I wonder what would happen if you tried this partly with a slow cooker???
And BTW, critical Dave, would you please submit your french onion receipe? I’d love to try it.
I’ve made this many times, the first few times strictly following the recipe, the most recent times doing it by memory and tweaking as I go along. I think time and patience are as important as the other ingredients here.
My most recent attempt was entirely on the stovetop. All previous have been in the oven. I have a gas range and an electric oven, so in the long run, 3+ hours on the range seems to be cheaper in energy costs. The results were similar as if I had done the onions in the oven.
I used a non pre-heated Le Creuset enamel cast iron pot, lightly coated the bottom with olive oil, then drizzled a little bit more olive oil on top of the onions (no butter – have used butter all the other times, but thought I’d try a healthier option this time). I then put the lid on and let the onions cook over my lowest flame for 1 hour. Stirred a bit then left the lid ajar for the 2nd hour. Stirred again, left the lid off for the 3rd hour, stirring occasionally. After three hours, I had beautiful onions similar to my oven attempts. From there I just continued on the stovetop. The only other modification was a sprig of rosemary as well as the thyme.
As with all recipes, this is a great starting point, but the fun of cooking is always personalizing it. Happy cooking!
Just finished making the soup and while it is very delicious, I wouldn’t call it the “best ever.” I will make it again, tweaking the ingredients until it fits my palette. I used a cheap pot in making the soup and carefully watched it to see if the onions would burn (checked about every 30 min) and everything worked out fine. I kept the oven temp at 400 but cut down the length of time. And for those whose onions burned, keeping an eye on your food is always a good idea when testing a new recipe because oven temps differ and people use all types of pots. Better to be safe than sorry and have a big mess on your hands. :) Thanks for the recipe!
Absolutely worth the time invested,and those naughty calories!My husband and I say BRAVO!!!!!!
My biggest post is a 3.5 qt. Can I halve the recipe, and if so, how does it affect cooking times?
My guess is that the cooking times might stay pretty similar. The bulk of the time is caramelizing the onions and I think that is just based on how long it takes for onions to caramelize, not how many there are. I would keep an eye on it. Definitely let us know how it turns out!
I halved the recipe last night and didn’t think the cooking times would affect the recipe much, either. But, it totally didn’t take the onions nearly two and a half hours to caramelize in the oven. My onions never looked like the second photo. After an hour in the oven at 400 degrees, they looked just like the third photo. I don’t think my dutch oven is as heavy as the one pictured, though.
I had to make a lot of accommodations for the rest of the recipe, but it didnt compromise the taste. It was just as delicious as any soup I’d get in a restaurant.
Anyone know if you can freeze the onions after the second step before it hits the stovetop? Would be great to have some on hand for quick meals this winter! May try that next week and see if it alters the results at all.
Thats a great idea! I bet you could. The would be great in lots of other things… like pizza! If you give it a try, let us know how it works.
I think thats a great idea.
Thank you for posting this recipe. I made the soup portion last night. Was a bit worried because it tasted too sweet (extra dry Sherry). I did add some worchestershire sauce and only 2 Thyme sprigs. Today I am preparing the soup for dinner. I added chicken broth to it and is tastes great. Now the cheese…pretty pugnent..I like it, but hopefully the pugnent taste will ease once it is broiled and melted down. NOTE TO SELF: try brandy or dry red next time to see how the flavor differs, deglaze a bit longer and not so much bread. LOVE THE FLAVOR thank you again.
I read through everyone’s comments and took them all into account. I took the extra step and even made my own chicken stock the night before to give it that extra flavor. Perfect. BTW, I have this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated magazine Feb 2008, and the original recipe came from the author’s friend who was visiting from France. With some slight modifications to the original recipe, you have a wonderful french onion soup recipe!
Dave Orlan, the only things that suck are your spelling & grammar!
I found no misspelled words and as for grammar, this is a recipe! Grammar rules cannot always be followed when giving cooking instructions. You seem like a very persnickety person.
Noena- His comment was not for who wrote this recipe, it was for the very rude comment below.
Sera, it’s not Mather, most of them don’t even know the difference. Apropos, every grandmother have hare secrets en every house have his own tasting, end recipe…
En to you, you “Schlaumayer†about the GRAMATIC.
Some people have not 100 % Grammatik, but have better attitude and education as they who think they Grammatik are perfect.
Wow, this turned out really well! Much better than my last try, a recipe form Alton Brown- yuck!!! I have been looking for a good recipe as it is a fav in my family and I’ve found a keeper in this one. I had to make alot of adjustment for time, but as long as you keep a close eye on things it’s not a problem. What a great way to carmelize the onions, I barely had to carmelize at all stovetop, just did deglazing stovetop. Simple and worry free, I have never been able to carmelize onions very well as it takes so long and needs to be babysat. Not my style. I will def be coming back for this one!
french onion soup is one of my fav… thanks for the recipe, it worked and delicious. I don’t have to go to 5 stars restaurant or hotel again,for this soup. GBU :)
Okay, not everyone’s concerned with calories and the likes. If you wanna be anorexic like a model, skip this and just eat bread and a peeled tomato =) Or maybe just half a slice of bread. There you go, half the calories.
What’s with the calories? It’s onions and broth- small amt of wine small amt of butter. Well the cheese and bread I guess but I like mine without- no sodden bread or clumps of cheese in my soup please!! ;)
well just a comment for the foul persons speaking about other persons cooking if ya dont like the recipe dont use it and as far as the whole french thing goes do you honestly believe that it matters if a french recipe makes it its going to be that much better? i understand constructive criticism but your just being obnoxious and this is a site about food not a site about whether french or americans make the better french onion soup. lol
I say Amen to that comment,Robert! It’s a freaking recipe not an English class to help those who would like to try something different or food that is made a little different than how they might make it! If you have to be so snippety, have your own show and maybe the ‘proper’ speaking people will watch and comment on your recipes! Or NOT!! That said, I am going to make this recipe tomorrow night.
I DON’T THINK SO. I FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY AND THE 400 DEGREE TEMPERATURE AND THE COMPLETE 2 1/2 HOURS TIME, I ENDED UP WITH 1 1/2 CUPS OF BARELY USBILE ONIONS AND THE REST STUCK TO THE BOTTOM OF MY QUALITY SOUP POT. IT WILL TAKE AT LEAST 2 DAYS OF SOAKING TO GET THIS MESS OUT OF MY POT.
I think this recipe works best with a Dutch oven, I’m making it now and there is no burning and nothing but yummy smelling Goodness. My Neighbor just came up to see what was cooking, she could smell it from downstairs;D
Love cooking, using new recipes and tweaking them to fit my palette. I always give a recipe at least two tries. My reason is that off times one can screw up the first one. The second is often to just improve the flavors that match our taste. When most enjoy the recipe, might be a problem with what you did. Suggestions were made to keep track of your oven, and check often to make sure it is doing what you want to do. Oven’s are just a dumb piece of equipment.
I’m making it right now. It’s turning out really great and is not hard to make. Smells AMAZING.
we had fun cooking together
Looks yummy. I am going to give it a whirl. Will post again when I’ve tried it.
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Just returned from Paris yesterday. The kids (now adults) gave us a trip and we stayed 3 blocks from the Tower. We had Onion Soup 4 times in a week and I want to make this on the weekend to see if it compares. Yes we are from NOLA too and love our city and our food and I hope to remember the taste so I can compare for you. If it works I will tell you so you can say you satisfied your craving with what appears to be real French Onion Soup. LUV that baby and LUV your city.
What a rude little man Mr Orlan is!
Best French Onion Soup ever? Typical Americans. Epicurean palette attached to your butts! I had a friend visiting me from France and I wanted to surprise him and his wife with an authentic French meal. The escargot was a success as wash the glazed lavender honey duck and the Cherries Jubilee, but this soup? My friend (who just happens to own 3 five star restaurants in Paris) said this soup wasn’t fix for swine let alone for human consumption. If this is your idea of the best I can only suggest you try a little harder finding “THE BEST FRENCH ONION SOUP EVER”, because your choice really sucks!
Dave, consider taking some grammar classes in English before positing your condescension. You should learn to disagree without sounding….well, French!
I agree with your grammatical critique Dru, but this is clearly not a French citizen writing. No French person would try to impress another French person with this dinner. And, the Cherries jubilee clearly shout “TROLL”!
And Dave, is your friend in Paris named Thierry La Jambe? Because there are no five star restaurants in Paris. Michelin stops at three, and no three of those are owned by any one individual.
I think you’ve been tricked by an imitation Frenchie. No shame in that…they’re everywhere these days. I advise extreme caution. Hide your wife and lock up the dog. It’ll be OK.
I will take the high road and add something constructive. If you want to add more depth, I would use homemade beef stock. It is a bit more labor intensive and will add more time to the recipe, so that is why it is not mentioned. You could also try adding a mix of herbs.
Wow Dave, did you skip your meds today? BTW, you ‘friend’ sounds like a real horses ass. He told his host that a dish he was served wasn’t fit for the livestock?! Totally laughable! What a joke, sounds like someone who’s word would matter not at all to me. Sorry your friend sucks.
Why would anyone who owns 3 five star in Paris hang around with a jerk like you? I don’t believe your little story.
Do you how hard it is to get, and keep, “1” star in a the restaurant business. Five “3” star restaurants??? Stop the BS!!!
Corrected!
Do you know how hard it is to get, and keep, “1″ star in the restaurant business. Five “3″ star restaurants??? Stop the BS!!!
lol why would you try to cook something french for an owner of a “five” star “french” resteraunt, and think you could impress them? you are clearly an idiot. pretty sure the owner of three “five” star resteraunts would not come over to your house for YOU to cook for HIM. your friend is obviously a liar or your just dumb and wanna post bs on websites designed to help people. dont be mad at anyone but yourself for the fact you cant cook food fit for pig slop!
please, Dave, send us your French Onion soup recipe. I’d LOVE to try it!!
Please, Dave, by all means, send us your French Onion recipe. I’d love to try it!!
Professer Higgins, in “My Fair Lady” had it write. It really is sad, because even the French in different parts of their country will fix that recipe differently. In fact each house hold has their own recipes. Also with friends from around the world, often it is unforgivable snobbery that leads to such statements. I with many others love this recipe. Or what did you do wrong?
I need a different way to cook. I was given a Crate and Barrel French Onion Soup set w/a large crock and 4 soup bowls. I don’t know how to make the soup w/o the stove. Is it possible. I hate to have the large crock go to waste.
The crock you received in the French Onion soup set is merely for the presentation/serving of the soup . . . you would still prepare the soup on the stovetop in a large stock pot or dutch oven.
I have huge respect for Cooks Illustrated so I had to try this recipe. I loved the effect of the slow caramelization of the onions, but unfortunately the thyme just killed the soup for me. I used dried instead of fresh, so that may be part of it, but I will not put thyme in it again–that’s all I could taste! My husband didn’t mind, but I wanted more onion flavor after all that work caramelizing the onions!
Took Melanie’s advice and used just 3 sprigs of fresh thyme. I have two teenagers who had to sample it before I put it in the fridge for the night. They’ve both already promised to be home for dinner tomorrow night!! YUMMMMMM
Melanie, I had a similar problem. The first time I made this I went out and got fresh thyme, and tasted the soup several times during cooking until the thyme flavor was where I wanted it. Then I fished out the sprig. Viola! However, after that I did try it once with dried thyme with questionable results. While tasty to me, it was a bit “herby.” I’d encourage you to try again.
On another note, I have also varied this recipe with different alcohols for deglazing – white wine, the suggested sherry, and brandy. If you don’t care for this soup, see if perhaps you are not a sherry person. White wine was certainly the mildest. Tonight I’m combining wine and sherry.
This is the best method of making onion soup I’ve found. I truly hate those recipes where you don’t caramelize the onions at all, that’s where the flavor is!
Having just finished harvesting my onions I was surfing to find something to make with the two dozen sitting in my kitchen. I will try this recipe tomorrow – even though it may take 5 hours and its 80 outside – and if making it is half as entertaining as reading the ‘lively’ commentary I will mark it as time well spent….
I too have recently harvested the onions, shallots and garlic. A bumper year here in the N’east.
The first soup of the year, from the culls, is always the best. Even if it is summer (truly).
I usually do the soup in variation of this recipe. The caramelizing is the trick.
I am making it in 40 minutes just switch oven time to frying…it’s quicker and energy efficient.
I was able to make this within two hours..dont be fooled by this ridiculous waste of time in prep
This looks amazing!!! French Onion Soup is a new addiction for me and I have never made it before but I am going to attempt it this weekend. I am not a big fan of thyme so I am very hesitant to use it but I don’t want the soup to be bland. Is there something else I could use in place of the thyme?
My french grandmother would never have allowed thyme in her soup, (only perhaps in the broth, which did not come from a can), so go with her blessing.
(By the way, if this turns out well for you, go to a French website and try a genuine recipe).
Good Luck And Good Soup!
Hi Anna,
Not a big fan of thyme in the soup either. I do a similar soup using paprika instead. It is fabulous. Even the kids love it.
This certainly won’t cure your addiction though.
Regards.
Where did French Onion soup come from? Are you sure it is really French. You would be amazed at how many recipes came right from the good ole USA, but the Euros love them and grab at them. Example is Ciappino Soup, originated in San Francisco, but the Portuguese love it. Only the French would take credit for an amazing soup, because–their French
Do you know how many calories your onion soup recipe has?
thanks
Karen
Just made this recipe…first time ever to cook french onion soup…it wasn’t hard and not really that time consuming. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!!! It’s a keeper and a soon to be repeat!!!! My husband loved it too!!
the time consumed is too much, almost 4.5 hours. even if the end product is good and the taste is delicious, its a sheer waste of gas/electricity.
That’a what traditional French cooking is: time and effort. The more you put in, the more you get out. A good Crème Brûlée takes a minimum of 5 hours and extreme care. Even one thing goes wrong and the whole dish is ruined. Though a couple elements are not quite traditional, it is a very lovely recipe.
wow i did everything it said but i just did it a little shortter time but thoses who say this recipie sucked are wrong cuz im 13 and even i could get this recipie right my family loved it it turned out perfect i didnt have help at all sooo thanks for this wounder full recipe and people who couldnt do it just dont know how to cook
kristin
I have officially never posted on a blog of any kind but if you are 13 and cooking this recipe you go girl!!!!! Starting early and trial and error will make you a Top Chef one day if you choose!
I made this yesterday with a few little tweaks and it is -amazing-. The oven time made the onions creamy and delicious! I read some comments that the onions burned in some pots, so I adjusted the heat down a little and checked it every half hour and everything turned out all right.
Used a heavy pan–Le Creuset enamel cast iron–in a 400 degree Thermador Pro oven. After 1 hour, the onions looked pretty good. Then put in oven again, with cover slightly ajar for only 1 hour and they BURNED! Wonder what would have happened after 1 3/4 hours! Glad the house didn’t burn down. What a waste of ingredients and energy.
This recipe sucks.
Maybe if we had stopped the cooking, kept the cover on or lowered the temperature, it could have been saved. Wish we would have trusted our instincts when we thought the cooking temps and times were a bit out of whack.
Used a cheap pan and after an hour looked pretty good put them back in my GE oven with lid half cocked and after the stated time looked perfect, after 1 3/4 hours my trailer was still standing!!
perhaps your oven temperature needs to be calibrated. I had to do that with my oven and I keep an oven thermometer inside just to be sure
Heidi’s onions could have been on the “drier” side, too. The onions I used to make the soup this evening had a very high moisture content and were pale and brothy after 1.0 hours lid-on plus 1.75 hours lid-OFF. The temp was verified at 400 degrees. You should try the recipe again, it is very good, but probably check it every 30 minutes or so (which effectively reduces the temp).
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for those who said the cooking time was too long and the onions burned, I learned thae hard way that you have to use a heavy-bottomed pan.
To say the FOS was a success, would be an under statement!!! People are STILL talking about my “wonderful” French Onion Soup. And I admit, it is pretty wonderful. The only changes I made was I used a stick of butter. 5 large, tennis ball size yellow onions, and 1 red onion. Used only beef broth and Dry Sack sherry. Every thing else was exactly the recipe. My guests’ finished the pot. My main entree became 2nd class. Next time the FOS will be the main course ! ! ! !