Make Ahead
French Onion Soup
Popular on Food52
41 Reviews
nan
May 21, 2023
Pretty darned good. I used beer and gouda; otherwise the recipe word for word. It was just on the bland side is all. I'd make it again.
Tante
December 24, 2021
Lovely soup, and almost the same recipe as the one I learnt from my former chef long ago. I remember he didn’t even use stock, just boiling salted water, because he said he wanted the soup to taste of onions, not meat. Being French, he obviously used red wine. Very particular about flavour, he was. And thrifty as well.
One tip: cut the bread into chunks before you pour the soup on top. Otherwise you’ll be fighting a soggy cheesy slice in a full bowl.
One tip: cut the bread into chunks before you pour the soup on top. Otherwise you’ll be fighting a soggy cheesy slice in a full bowl.
[email protected]
December 29, 2022
Great review. Would you mind sharing the recipe from your for chef? I collect recipes and do comparisons.
culingo
August 17, 2020
As it supplies high quality ambient Vegetables. Sliced, diced, puree or paste, Vegetables in aseptic bags are a great alternative of using the raw Vegetables.
Products produced in aseptic bags, cans or pouch:
Onion, garlic, cucumber, pumpkin, butternut squash, olive, avocado, pineapple, pear, plum, strawberry, ginger, corn, peas, tomato.
www.culingo.com
Products produced in aseptic bags, cans or pouch:
Onion, garlic, cucumber, pumpkin, butternut squash, olive, avocado, pineapple, pear, plum, strawberry, ginger, corn, peas, tomato.
www.culingo.com
shelley
April 4, 2020
Just made this soup and I would highly recommend that people understand that the caramelization of the onions takes a lot longer than 20 minutes. I followed the recipe and it was like eating raw onions soaked in red wine!
wcfoodies
April 6, 2020
The onions caramelize for 20 minutes, but then you cook the soup for 3-4 hours, which should give them plenty of time to further break down. Either way, apologies you had such an unpleasant experience!
shelley
April 7, 2020
I'm so sorry for the negative review. I actually tried to retract my comment after I let the soup cook for 3 hours but I couldn't figure out how to do it. Even though the onions were not as carnalized as we would have liked (I'll know next time to let them cook longer) the soup was delicious!
I'm sorry for the negative review. I will make this again cooking the onions for a longer period of time.
I'm sorry for the negative review. I will make this again cooking the onions for a longer period of time.
shelley
April 4, 2020
Just made this soup and I would highly recommend that people understand that the caramelization of the onions takes a lot longer than 20 minutes. I followed the recipe and it was like eating raw onions soaked in red wine.
kschurms
November 15, 2019
As many have mentioned, 20 minutes is not nearly enough time to caramelize this many onions. I knew this, but undercooked the onions anyways. Let me tell you - eating spoonfuls of undercooked onions is NOT easy on the digestion system. Beware and caramelize the crap out of your onions unless you want your entire dinner party farting and leaving early.
8675309
September 20, 2019
wcfoodies - I made this tonight using sherry instead of wine or beer. The sherry does add a bit of sweetness but I would like to make it again using a burgundy wine instead for comparison. I used equal thirds of grated gouda, gruyere, and Swiss Emmental cheeses. Wow. What a great flavor combo! As others have mentioned, there is no way to successfully caramelize 3 pounds of onions in a large pot in only 20 minutes without doing something wrong. Plan on at least an hour - it took me longer but was worth it. Please consider modifying the recipe instructions as this is likely a typo.
Kathleen
March 21, 2018
I only have chicken broth right now, and am stuck in a snow storm. Do you think that would subtract a lot of flavor? It is homemade.
ihaventpoisonedyouyet
March 21, 2018
To be honest, I think the flavor would change greatly. It’s a very “meaty” tasting soup in my opinion, and that’s what I’ve come to expect from this recipe. That being said, there’s always that slight under taste of iron whenever I use beef broth, so maybe it’s a trade off. It always seems like too much effort to do a comparison because I too have thought of using chicken broth. If you proceed I hope you post the results.
Calamityville
July 18, 2018
I like French Onion Soup when it's made with chicken stock. I also make it with white wine. It's a bit lighter this way and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Alison M.
April 22, 2016
i just made this soup for the first time and used lagunitas stout, it was a bit bitter.
ihaventpoisonedyouyet
January 27, 2015
Have made this about 5 or 6 times and boy oh boy is it good, but am I the only one who cannot caramelize 3 lbs of onions in 20 minutes? I find they need at least 45 to 60 minutes.
Hilarybee
November 13, 2012
My husband loves this soup! I made it with English Ale and gruyere cheese. Wonderful, thanks!
Muse
September 16, 2012
This sounds absolutely wonderful...can't wait to make it! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
jlm086
February 15, 2012
Just made this last night and it came out great! I did make some minor changes. For the carmelizing, I probably let the onions cook 30-40 minutes. I like them a deep golden, almost brown color. Also threw in some soup bones to give the broth a more "meaty" flavor during the 3 hour simmer. For the cheeses. I mostly used a nice guyere and a little bit of fontina that I had left over from another dish.
I also contacted one of my friends who is a chef. to ask him about which alcohol to use. He recommended sherry or marsala since beer gets bitter while it is being cooked over a lengthy period. I used a cheap dry sherry. I think it was Taylor's, and only $6 a bottle.
Overall, totally pleased with this recipe. Definitely will be using it again.
I also contacted one of my friends who is a chef. to ask him about which alcohol to use. He recommended sherry or marsala since beer gets bitter while it is being cooked over a lengthy period. I used a cheap dry sherry. I think it was Taylor's, and only $6 a bottle.
Overall, totally pleased with this recipe. Definitely will be using it again.
chop C.
October 25, 2011
OK, I did kind of combine parts of the recipe here with another recipe from another site. I like the beer in the soup, and most of the recipe but prefer a triple de-glaze method in the oven instead of cooktop. But I have done this twice just recently and I have gotten a hint of a bitter aftertaste that I can not identify why. Can the beer do that or what would you suggest as the source of this or my error in that regard? Thanks.
wcfoodies
December 19, 2011
Depending on what kind of beer you used and if it was a little old, it could be the beer. It could also be a result of using old onions. Perhaps try replacing the beer with red wine next time, or cutting the alcohol entirely?
Thistlepie
January 3, 2011
just made this soup! The best ever onion soup! This made my New Year's weakened. Thank you.
HandRocksLadle
December 10, 2010
Wow. Made this tonight (a cold night in Atlanta) and my fiance and I loved it! Used a can of Guiness, parmesan and smoked Gouda. Yum!
shayma
March 13, 2010
If I had some veal stock at home I would adore to have this tonight. The wind has been howling all day. It's a day for onion soup and a nice wine :) This is a perfect recipe.
thirschfeld
March 3, 2010
congrats, that is a nice onion soup. I haven't made onion soup this year. I am going to give this a go.
NakedBeet
March 2, 2010
I've always made french onion soup with a sherry, but I love this beer variation and the 3 cheese combo is a nice touch!
coffeefoodwrite
February 25, 2010
This looks very delicious. Love the addition of pecorino to the cheese mix.
gabrielaskitchen
February 25, 2010
We live in the same city, I think we need to have a dinner party with your soup my bread pudding!
TheWimpyVegetarian
February 25, 2010
I make my French Onion soup with beer too and agree that it adds such an amazing depth of flavor to great traditional soup! I'll definitely have to try yours too!
Ewing
February 15, 2010
I made this a few weeks ago for my family. I just used Parmesan and gruyere and beef stock. It would have been nice to have this up in text rather than rewinding the video numerous times. None the less still love the show and this dish was a hit!
wcfoodies
February 15, 2010
Hi, Ewing! Thanks for giving the recipe a shot, I'm thrilled you and your family enjoyed it!
We're working on creating a better recipe database system on the site so you guys won't have to rewind to get the recipe down. Thanks for the input, we love getting feedback!
-Rebecca
We're working on creating a better recipe database system on the site so you guys won't have to rewind to get the recipe down. Thanks for the input, we love getting feedback!
-Rebecca
gabrielaskitchen
February 15, 2010
This recipe sounds promising (red wine and beer!)...but really, is this a working class recipe? The alcohol plus 1/2 each of pricey cheeses is what has me thrown. Nonetheless, I'll break the bank to try it out since it sounds delicious.
wcfoodies
February 15, 2010
Good questions, Gabriela. Here's how we break down the price for our show:
- each dish must cost under $8/person, or $16 for a 2-person meal, because that's about what you'd pay for a standard lunch (sandwich, salad, lunch-menu entree) at most restaurants in NYC. 99% of the time, we come in way under budget, more in the $4-5 range.
- some of our dishes do call for pricier items - but, these are always items that come in quantities and are flexible enough to be used in more than one recipe. For example, when we use wine to make this soup, we calculate into the cost of the dish the amount of wine that went into the soup; the leftover wine you can obviously enjoy either by drinking it with your dinner, or saving it for another recipe. For the cheeses, I spent about $20 for all four of those large bricks of cheese, and used less than half of that for the soup. Parmesan and pecorino are practically pantry items - they'll last in the fridge for a couple of months, and are great on everything from eggs to pasta to salads. The leftover gruyere and gouda both make amazing grilled cheeses.
The financial 'point' of Working Class Foodies is to buy quality ingredients and use them well. That means factoring in what to do with the leftovers, and it's a feature I'm hoping to introduce to the site for the 2nd season. This might sound awkward or like I'm being clever, but I'm not; chances are, when you go grocery shopping, you don't buy a single-serving handful of arugula, 1/2 a tomato, and 1/4 box of dried pasta. You don't shop in serving sizes, in other words. We try to show, in our price breakdowns, the value of each serving in a typically purchase-able quantity of food.
Hope that helps!
-Rebecca
- each dish must cost under $8/person, or $16 for a 2-person meal, because that's about what you'd pay for a standard lunch (sandwich, salad, lunch-menu entree) at most restaurants in NYC. 99% of the time, we come in way under budget, more in the $4-5 range.
- some of our dishes do call for pricier items - but, these are always items that come in quantities and are flexible enough to be used in more than one recipe. For example, when we use wine to make this soup, we calculate into the cost of the dish the amount of wine that went into the soup; the leftover wine you can obviously enjoy either by drinking it with your dinner, or saving it for another recipe. For the cheeses, I spent about $20 for all four of those large bricks of cheese, and used less than half of that for the soup. Parmesan and pecorino are practically pantry items - they'll last in the fridge for a couple of months, and are great on everything from eggs to pasta to salads. The leftover gruyere and gouda both make amazing grilled cheeses.
The financial 'point' of Working Class Foodies is to buy quality ingredients and use them well. That means factoring in what to do with the leftovers, and it's a feature I'm hoping to introduce to the site for the 2nd season. This might sound awkward or like I'm being clever, but I'm not; chances are, when you go grocery shopping, you don't buy a single-serving handful of arugula, 1/2 a tomato, and 1/4 box of dried pasta. You don't shop in serving sizes, in other words. We try to show, in our price breakdowns, the value of each serving in a typically purchase-able quantity of food.
Hope that helps!
-Rebecca
gabrielaskitchen
February 18, 2010
Thanks Rebecca, It makes sense once you break it down. I'm definitely giving this a recipe a try this weekend. I plan on using a bottle of Guinness Stout I already have in the fridge and I'm making a run to Westside Market for the cheese; a recipe that requires me to go to my favorite nyc grocery store is always a treat! Thanks!
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