French Onion Soup
French onion soup is a classic French soup prepared, in its most fundamental form, by boiling sliced onions in water. More complex varieties involve bouillon, wine, and spices. An ordinary food for family meals, it is served as a simple entrée, garnished with grated Gruyére cheese and croutons (or stale French bread) added just before serving. It can also be consumed at the end of the evening, unadorned, in a mug. Every locale in France has its own variation on the idea of onion soup, but this recipe contains many of the fundamental building blocks.
Ingredients
- 3 rounded cups (500g) chopped onion
- A knob of butter (a little less than 2 tbsp or 25g)
- 1 tbsp (15g) flour
- 1.5 liters (roughly 5¼ cups) beef stock (chicken or vegetable stock is an acceptable alternative)
- 1 bouquet garni (fresh bay, thyme, and Herbes de Provence, tied in a bundle or in a temporary sack made of cheesecloth)
- 1 slice of stale french bread, per person (or fresh bread, toasted beforehand)
- 3 tbsp red (50ml) port wine
- 1 cup grated (125g) Gruyère cheese
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- Pepper
Ingredients for 4 servings (2.3 kg) · the original recipe
Method
- 1
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the onions, and let the onions blonde on moderate heat (which is to say, let them cook until they are light gold and transparent, but do not let them over-caramelize and become dark).
Stovetop - 2
Add the flour to the onions. Stir gently for 3–4 minutes. The flour will seem to have disappeared, but has been absorbed into the butter. This will give the soup its characteristic slight thickness. Scrape up any of the dark brown butter and flour mixture that has stuck to the bottom of the saucepan; it is called fond, and will add flavour to the soup.
Stovetop - 3
Pour ⅔ of the beef broth over the onions and mix well. Add the bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, stirring regularly.
Stovetop - 4
Season with salt and pepper and a little nutmeg, to taste. Add the rest of the broth, and let the soup simmer gently for 10–15 minutes.
Stovetop - 5
If your bread is fresh, then toast it now over low heat.
Stovetop - 6
Remove the soup from the heat, and remove the bouquet garni. Add port and stir well.
- 7
Divide the soup into 6 oven-safe ceramic or glass bowls. Press a slice of bread into the top of each bowl of soup. Generously sprinkle grated Gruyère cheese on top. Broil on low for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned.
Oven - 8
Serve piping hot.
Recipe from Wikibooks Cookbook, written by Wikibooks contributors. Used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; the ingredient list and method on this page are taken from that page and edited (its notes, tips and variations are not reproduced), and are available under the same licence. The macros, equipment tags and scaling are Ma Kitchen’s own and are not the source’s figures. Ma Kitchen is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wikibooks Cookbook. Copied on 2026-11-12.
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