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Fabulous French Onion Soup

I LOVE French Onion Soup. I made a big pot this weekend. I froze half of it, and served the rest for a Sunday lunch. The kids don't mind it, but they tend to supplement a smaller portion with a grilled cheese or salad.


The key to the amazing flavor is the caramelizing of the onions, so take your time and do it right. You can do the onions a day or two in advance if you like and then finish off the soup, as long as you're cool with onion-ing up your house for 2 days (my kids are always horrified with the oniony aroma when they come home on a day I've been reducing a big pot of onions), or do it all at once, and then either serve the soup right away or stick it in the fridge for a day or two (or freeze it!). Making the soup a day or two before you're going to serve it improves the flavor, in my opinion.

The recipe below looks a little involved, but it's really not bad at all. You can walk away from the onions while they're in the oven, as long as you set a timer, and the stove time is not bad. Give it a try!


Fabulous French Onion Soup

Serves 6-8


2 tbsp. unsalted butter

4-6 large yellow onions, sliced thinly (use a mandoline for nice uniform slices)

1/3 c. dry sherry (Don't buy cooking sherry - it's salty and gross. Go to the wine section.)

2 c. water, plus extra for deglazing

4 c. chicken stock

2 c. beef stock

4-ish sprigs fresh thyme (tie with twine if you have it - makes it easier to retrieve stems)

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Cheese Croutons
(I prefer these to the giant glob of melted cheese on top that you often get at restaurants.)

1 small baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices

2 c. shredded Gruyère cheese (I've used a combo of Swiss and Asiago, too.)


Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray inside of heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with nonstick spray (or don't - my Dutch oven is well-loved, and they didn't stick at all). Add the butter to the pot and then pile on onions and sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt. Cook, covered, 1 hour. Set a timer and walk way - for now.

NOTE: Do not forget to wear your oven mitt when you remove and replace the lid of your Dutch oven over and over during the process. Not that I have ever done that.

After an hour, remove the pot from the oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of the pot - you'll see some liquid in the bottom, and your heap o' onions will have reduced a bit. Return the pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook for another 45-60 minutes (set that timer!), and stir again. Continue for another 30-45 more minutes if needed, until onions are golden brown and soft. My most recent batch was ready for the next step after 2 hours, so I moved on. You can stop, let the onions completely cool, and refrigerate them for a day or two if you want, but otherwise, keep going!

Place the Dutch oven on the stove over medium-high heat. Don't walk away during this step - you need to watch so you don't end up burning that golden goodness! Cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing heat to medium if needed. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust (but don't let it burn!), 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting heat as needed. Scrape any fond (the dark, gooey good stuff) that collects on the spoon back into onions. Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed dark crust again, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat the deglazing process up to 3 more times, until onions are dark brown. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the pot for any remaining bits. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups of water, chicken stock, beef stock, thyme, and bay leaves. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer, uncovered. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. While the soup simmers, you can make your cheese croutons. Arrange baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet, sprinkle with shredded Gruyere, and put under the broiler until cheese begins to bubble. Set aside until it's time to serve. Remove the bay leaves and thyme stems and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls, add a cheese crouton or two, and you're ready to go. Enjoy!
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