Classic French Onion Soup
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Made with perfectly caramelized onions, fresh thyme sprigs, crusty baguette slices and two types of melted cheese!
Guys. It is a cold winter in Los Angeles.
We’ve discussed this. Anything below 60 does not bode well with my LA peeps. Except every time I get in the car, it’s actually been 37 degrees F!
Nope. No bueno, guys.
So Butters and I have been holed up at home, making THE CLASSIC French onion soup.
And when I say classic, I mean classic. No fuss, no frills.
It’s just your classic, traditional French onion soup. With the most perfect caramelized onions in a cozy stock with fresh thyme sprigs, finished off with crusty French baguette slices and two cheeses – Swiss and Gruyere – conveniently melted on top.
See, I told you. It’s a classic.
Classic French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 3 pounds medium sweet onions, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup dry white wine
- 6 cups beef stock
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 12 French baguette slices
- 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- 1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large stockpot or a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, and cook, stirring often, until deep golden brown and caramelized, about 30-40 minutes.*
- Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the stockpot.
- Stir in beef stock, thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 15-20 minutes. Remove and discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
- Stir in white wine vinegar; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Preheat oven to broil.
- Place baguette slices onto a baking sheet. Place into oven and broil until golden brown on both sides, about 1-2 minutes per side; set aside.
- Divide soup into ramekins or ovenproof bowls. Place onto a baking sheet. Top with baguette slices to cover the surface of the soup completely; sprinkle with cheeses. Place into oven and broil until golden brown and cheeses have melted; about 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Made this recipe tonight, followed it exactly. Not only my first time making this soup but ever trying it before and my whole family loved it! It was delicious 🙂
Just made this tonight for dinner.
We are over the moon!! This is the best French Onion Soup we’ve ever had!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SOOO GOOD and so easy to make-a hit at my picky house:)
Sounds like the perfect cold Christmas friends’ dinner! Could I make this ahead and broil when company arrives?
I used a Dutch oven and it took forever (nearly 90 minutes) for this large amount of onions to caramelize. They tasted delicious but how can I get it down to 40 minutes?
Can i double it that is my email
Excellent. I used bone broth and that did not hurt at all. Will be pleased to serve this at a New Year’s Eve dinner tonight.
Used one bay leaf instead of two but I did added a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, used apple cider vinegar and doubled the garlic and did 5 cups of beef broth and 1 cup of vegetable broth. Was delicious!!
Used 1 tsp each of balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire, and, dried thyme in place of fresh.
Yup. Really really good.
I’ve made this six times in two months and still can’t get a bowl. It’s gone before i ever get a chance! I don’t keep cooking wine on hand so i don’t add that. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but when i add the vinegar it gets a very strong vinegar taste to it so i leave that out too. Other than that, this recipe is gold. Have a pot of that and a pot of your pasta fagioli on right now to send to my parents house. Making more later for my family. Damn delicious for sure
Never use any wine you won’t drink. That leaves the rest to make more or drink.
Its Damn Delicious as is. But, I have made it a few time and now modify it some. Thats hust what I do:)
This tasted so good on a crisp fall night! I was feeding a family of 5 hungry beaters so I just cubed up the baguette and sprinkled bit over the entire pot. Sprinkled with the cheese and stuck the whole pot under the broiler. Worked great and everyone had happy tummies!
Absolutely delishes. Recipe is super easy to follow. This is a firm favourite.
My first attempt and it was a success. My family loves it and asking for second helping. Super delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
I made this soup for the first time using this recipe last night. It came out great!! Wish I could add some photos. I used a Pinot Gris for the wine. Added a touch more to taste. Yumm.
I’m making this now.. do you have the nutritional information for it?
Thank you!
Made this for my grand-nephew’s 13th birthday dinner (he LOVES soup and when I suggested this one he said yes). I made a couple small changes in regards to seasoning due to personal/family preferences and allowed the soup to simmer for 16 hours. Everyone went nuts, there were even a couple of adult guest that had never heard of french onion soup let alone ever eaten it that went bonkers over it. When I let Andy (the birthday boy) sample a spoon of it last night just 1.5 hours into simmering he tried to grab the soup pot to run away with it screaming “MINE,MINE,MINE). This recipe will become a 6 to 8 times a year staple. THANK YOU FOR SHARING
Love all your recipes! I want to make this, but for 2 people instead of 6. Would someone be able to help me cut this recipe down to 2? Thank you!!
Why not just freeze the rest instead then you got 3 dinners for 2
This is almost the exact recipe from Epicurios site that I’ve used for years and is superb!!! The one thing it adds that makes the soup really sing is adding a bit of dry sherry before putting the soup in the crock. A perfect touch of flavor. It also freezes well but don’t add sherry yet it freezing. Simply the best thing ever❤️