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:
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Use dry vermouth sherry sucks believe I trained under cordon bleu chef…RLR
Instead of the crock consider using the hollowed out onion shell – delicious!
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made this last night and my husband loved it. dont have a dutch oven and had to use roaster pan, onions got a little burn, will put dutch oven on chrsitmas list. is there a different cheese i could use? the gruyere is a bit expensive. and if i dont have a bagette on hand is there a different bread to use?
Try the “Cave Aged Gruyere” available at WF, TJ, and many more.
(Not the “cave Aged Emmenthaler” which is very poor).
This Gruyere sells for about $13./lb and has much more flavor than any domestic copy, so you need far less.
Remember, flavor has no weight, and has no calories.
Gruyere is an aged swiss, therefore, if you can buy an imported swiss from you deli department, you’ll have similar flavor. It won’t be the same, but it definitely still tastes great! KeriGold Irish Swiss is a really good one!
Use the mozzarella/provolone mix. I used guerere, but found it overwhelming after a few tastes. Prefer the m/p mixture over Italian loaf, sliced and toasted.
We use smoked provolone, and we use diff types of bread. Sometimes we slice french bread and toast it for the top of the soup.
Use swiss and parm with toasted baguettes and again USE DRY VERMOUTH NOT SHERRY
I am about to make the soup with dry vermouth…. Wish me luck!
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By far the best ever. Made scratch chicken and beef broth instead of boxed. Last time used too much thyme and it was a little too strong. This time perfection. The only downfall is the amount of work and time required but well worth the effort. Don`t substitute the cheese if possible. The Gruyère is perfect. The recipe is perfect. Ridiculously good.
OK, I’ll join the crowd – best French Onion soup I’ve ever eaten. And I made it! I followed this recipe pretty closely, substitued red wine for the sherry and used a litte mozzarella with the gruyere. What a treat.
This is the best French Onion soup I’ve ever made at home. The recipe is perfect and hit all the flavor notes I wanted it to. Great way to spend a lazy Sunday.
Looking forward to eating this soup. Have the onions (recently removed from my garden) cooking in the oven as I type.
Julia would be proud – have made this several times – a true keeper!
I made this french onion soup two weeks ago. It was definitely the best french onion soup I’ve had. America’s Test Kitchen’s recipes are the way to go.
Amazing!! By far the best French Onion Soup I’ve ever had!
This wa amazing!!!! My BF said it was as good as he French coffee shop that has been here for 40myears! Thank you!
This is the second time I’ve tried this recipe. I added 1 cup (instead of 1/2 cup) chardonney instead of sherry. Last time I pulled the leaves off the fresh thyme, this time I used twine and 2 bay leaves instead of one. Didn’t add water. Instead, I added 2 boxes of organic beef and 1 box organic chicken stock. Last time it was TODIEFOR!!! It freezes great too!~ Just tasted it on the stove as it slow simmers (longer than recipe calls for (yet I took out the thyme and bay leaves)….it tastes like it’s missing something??? with time with time … patience, I know…still working on that one. But, I want to thank you so much for this recipe! Tried and true :)
Yes it’s missing something alright. The recipe.
DRY VERMOUTH NOT SHERRY UNBELIEVABLE
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I am cooking the onions now for my first try at this recipe….the smell is heavenly. Reading all the commentary here is passing the time till I get to the stovetop part. Commentary is alot like cooking, they both have alot to do with your present mood:) Anyway…it is making me smile so I have high hopes for a wonderful turnout.
This is a very nice soup but hardly worth all the time and trouble. I prefer my old standby recipe which also calls for slow caramelizing, but not this slow. I also use equal quantities of beef and chicken broths for a heartier flavor.
That’s great
Confession: I am a French Onion Soup Junkie, This, without a doubt, is the Best French Onion Soup, Ever. I am away on vacation and as I write, am making the soup for our “Cottage”. My family was the true test, and it passed with flying colors. Thank You.
I have the onions in the oven as we speak. I don’t have any sherry, cognac, or brandy. The closest I can get with my eclectic liquor supply is Morgan’s Spiced Rum! Do you think I could use that, or just stick with red or white wine? I have both of those.
BTW, my house smells AMAZING!
Made this last night for my book club in a Calphalon dutch oven. The onions were very brown at the end of the oven time – I probably did not need to go through the deglazing steps, except with the sherry. Maybe my oven is running high, or it was the Calphalon pot,but next time I wonder if I should turn the oven temperature down to 350. The soup was terrific, but quite time consuming.
Onion soup looks good ,will try it on the menu where i worked at .
This was just great, my Family loved it.
of the two searches I’ve done for French Onion Soup today, both yours and the other sited this recipe. I can’t wait to make this for my husband on his birthday.
I’ll add my name to the list of WOWs on this one.
Thanks!
If you find this too sweet, don’t use the sweeter varieties of onion for this, like Walla Walla or Mayan Sweets and certainly not Vidalia – they’d probably cook up like candy. I use yellow spanish onions, and I add a dash of balsamic vinegar when I add the other liquids. I always use unsalted broth so I can control the saltiness. I make this often because it’s so easy and always turns out delicious.
Is there a way to make it less sweet ?
Just a side note… you mention to prepare ahead up to step one is different since you numbered different! I looked and looked at how to split up the prep! I looked it up on cooks illustrated and found their directions include number 1 as a whole big step! Love the soup! Trying it a second time, this time obviously splitting up the work!
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Almost forgot I used dried Thyme and crushed bay leafs and it turned out great. Added a little more flavor I think.
I simply have to say AMAZING. I made this variation of french onion and WOW. This is one truly great dish. I skipped the sherry(i don’t drink) even though I know it cooks out i just don’t like using liquor to flavor my dishes. Anyways this is was awesome. I also didn’t use the gruyere cheeses or even a baquette. I used plain ole bread and a mixture of mozzarella and fiesta blend cheeses. I could only eat one bowl cause it was so rich but that one bowl was plenty. You have me hooked on this :). Thanks
Thanks Wes…you answered my only question. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do all the work and have it flop bc I don’t use alcohol. Def going to try it now.
Thats great to hear Wes! Dried herbs are actually a bit stronger than fresh ones. I think it is because they shrink a bit when they get dried. You can always add half the amount and then adjust the seasoning at the end.
There are a ton of comments, so I should really do an update, but a lot of people have had success leaving out the liquor or trying wine instead. Thanks for reporting back!
Luke, thank you! I have made this recipe at least 15 times over the past 2 or 3 years and it has yet to fail. I’ve tried some substitutions (white wine for the sherry, skipping the water or adding more broth instead, using shortcuts for caramelizing the onions, olive oil instead of butter, among other substitutions) and I’ve given other recipes a shot, but in the end, I stay true to this recipe. It’s well worth the time, and as much as I love it with the bread and gruyere, it doesn’t even need it.
And i should mention that i have a Cooks’ online subscription and the French Onion Soup on the site calls for an abbreviated caramelization process and it’s not nearly as good as this one. This might be the only place on the web with this specific recipe (unsurprisingly your link to this recipe on the Cooks’ site is broken).
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I made this last night exactly as written—OMG, it was amazing! Quite simply the best I have ever had. My husband loved it. It was fantastic. I used my Cuisinart dutch oven and I had no trouble with burning the onions. They deglazed beautifully. Perfect recipe!
That’s great to hear!
First time trying to cook french onion soup. Very easy, very YUMMY! A little sweet, next time going to try the A-1 suggestion.
What is the A-1 trick? I didn’t read about that.
Tried this recipe using low sodium broth and more beef broth then chicken. Also substituting the water for more broth to give more flavor and dried thyme instead of fresh and not adding additional salt towards the end. Results, It was good and very time consuming. I would leave out the thyme and use a home made beef stock (or even a lamb stock) next time. Otherwise nice recipe and fairly easy instructions. I’m not sure the bay leaf is necessary either. Wish there was a video version of this.
Thanks for the feedback! I think I am going to have to try revisiting the recipe with some homemade beef broth. Since the oven is already going to roast the onions, it wouldn’t be much harder to roast the beef bones. Video might be a little ugly, but I am not against giving it a try!
I made this last week. Ate it all. Made it again today. I love this soup. I want to marry it. “Mrs. Best French Onion Soup (…ever!)”
This is the second time I have tried this recipe and I think it is FANTASTIC! I don’t have sherry at home so I just use dry white wine because well….I like to drink it too. It is a bit time consuming but absolutely worth it! Thank you so much for posting this recipe, me and my husband both LOVE IT!
So, I don’t have a dutch oven and no sherry… So, I am using my crock-pot. Places onions in crock pot, with butter, worcester sauce, cracked pepper and spray olive oil. Cooked in oven at 400 degrees for one hour. Than added 3 teaspoons of organic turbinado raw cane sugar. Cooked in oven for another hour. Than placed in crock pot “heater” on high and added a little water – trying to duplicate the process of steps 3 and 4. Than added veggie stock, and herbs (dried parsley and rosemary from the garden – didn’t have any thyme) and slow cooked for six hours. About 3 hours in, I tasted it. A bit too sweet. I added some white pepper, a dash of hot sauce, soy sauce and A-1. That helped cut the sweet. Cooked for two more hours. Yummy.
You can use a crock pot to cook the onions. But for Step 3 on it may be easier to reduce, stir, brown etc. if you transfer to a soup pot first.
This is a great recipe – thanks Luke.
That’s a great tip! thanks Ric. I am going to have to give that a try.
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Great way to do the onions they were excellent, however the soup was overly sweet and a disappointment for me!
Wonderful receipe – I made it in my large dutch oven this time – much easier- also added some honey while the onions were cooking – yummy.
I thought is was too sweet and not “beefy” enough…but the process for the onions is a keeper
This is the BEST onion soup recipe! Easy and delicious.
OMG, this is good. thank you so much, A real treat for all occassions!
Bravo!
Is there a way to do this with a slow cooker (the bowl is removeable and assuming I could potentially place into the oven, but I do not know id this will work) and regular pot?? I do not have a dutch oven :(
Potentially… you want it to be a the right temperature so that the onions slowly caramelize. You may not have enough control since there are just a few settings. It is worth a shot though! Let us know if you give it a try. I might test it out on my own.
This is a winner!!! Best I’ve ever tasted. My friends and family agree. It’s become a Holiday tradition
This was great! really easy to make! my roomates loved it!