French onion soup
This warming onion soup is an emblematic French dish, both in bistro cuisine and home cooking.
This is a very classic version. The long, slow cooking is the secret to revealing its full flavour.
This is a very classic version. The long, slow cooking is the secret to revealing its full flavour.
39K 33 4
Last modified on: December 30th 2019
Keywords for this recipe:SoupOnionGratinToasted breadCheeseBistrot styleTraditional recipeFor 8 people, you will need:
- 1
700 g onion - 2
50 g butter - 3
50 g flour - 4
200 ml dry white wine - 5
2 litres water - 6
2 chicken stock cubes - 7
4 slices bread - 8 40 g butter
- 9
80 g grated cheese - 10
salt - 11
pepper - Total weight: 3,340 grams
How long does it take?
Time required for this recipe:
| Preparation | Cooking | Start to finish |
|---|---|---|
| 34 min. | 1 hour 55 min. | 2 hours 29 min. |
At what time:
- When will I finish if I start the recipe at ... ?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at ... ? - Work this out...
Step by step recipe
Stage 2 - 3 min.
In a large saucepan or casserole, melt 50 g butter until it froths.
Stage 3 - 1 min.
When the butter is frothing well, add the chopped onions, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Stage 4 - 10 min.
Fry the onions on fairly high heat until lightly browned, stirring frequently to stop them burning.
Stage 5 - 2 min.
Sieve 50 g flour into the pan.
Stage 6 - 5 min.
Mix in and cook until starting to brown, stirring constantly.
Stage 7 - 1 min.
Pour in 200 ml dry white wine all at once.
Stage 8 - 3 min.
Stir until well mixed.
Leave to cook for 2 or 3 minutes while stirring.
Leave to cook for 2 or 3 minutes while stirring.
Stage 9 - 1 min.
Pour in the chicken stock, made by mixing 2 litres water (hot) with 2 chicken stock cubes.
Bring to the boil.
Bring to the boil.
Stage 10 - 1 hour 30 min.
When boiling, turn the heat down to its lowest, cover and leave to cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Stage 11 - 5 min.
Meanwhile, butter 4 slices bread and top with grated cheese.
Press the cheese down gently to help it stick to the buttered bread.
Press the cheese down gently to help it stick to the buttered bread.
Stage 12 - 4 min.
Cut the bread into small squares and arrange these on a baking sheet. Brown under the grill (keep an eye on the colour).
Stage 13 - 1 min.
When the onion soup is cooked, check the seasoning.
Stage 14 - 3 min.
Serve piping hot in large bowls, topped with with the cheese croutons.
Remarks
Use either white or yellow onions, but preferably not red ones, as they are less suitable for the long slow cooking.
At stage 4 of the recipe, there are 2 conflicting schools of thought: some prefer the more traditional method of cooking the onions until they are dark brown, others (like me) only brown them lightly - it's a matter of taste, of course. I remember as a child staying with my grandmother Jeanne. She used to cook her onions until they were really dark and, back then, I loved that.
For the grated cheese, choose whatever you prefer that browns well, such as Comté, Gruyère or even Emmental.
At stage 4 of the recipe, there are 2 conflicting schools of thought: some prefer the more traditional method of cooking the onions until they are dark brown, others (like me) only brown them lightly - it's a matter of taste, of course. I remember as a child staying with my grandmother Jeanne. She used to cook her onions until they were really dark and, back then, I loved that.
For the grated cheese, choose whatever you prefer that browns well, such as Comté, Gruyère or even Emmental.
Keeping
Several days in the fridge, covered with plastic film.
Nutritional information
| Whole recipe | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 1,456 Kcal or 6,096 Kj | 48 gr | 240 gr | 98 gr |
| 73 % | 18 % | 23 % | 15 % |
| Per 100 g | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 44 Kcal or 184 Kj | 1 gr | 7 gr | 3 gr |
| 2 % | 1 % | 1 % | <1 % |
| Per person | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 182 Kcal or 762 Kj | 6 gr | 30 gr | 12 gr |
| 9 % | 2 % | 3 % | 2 % |
How much will it cost?
Source
Based on a recipe by Gaston Lenôtre.
This recipe uses (among others)
 | Water: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Pitta bread, Sugar syrup, Steak burger topped with egg, Stewed plums, Stewed apple (compote), ... All |
 | Onion: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Chicken breasts in a potato crust, Moussaka, Shakshuka, Pan-baked hash brown (Hash-brown casserole), Chicken with rice and leeks, ... All |
 | Dry white wine: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Creamy risotto with diced vegetables and flax seeds, Langoustine gratin, Seb's Italian-style aperitif slices, Saltimbocca, Mushrooms on toast, French style, ... All |
 | Grated cheese: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Breton Pie, White bean gratin "à l'italienne", Cheese Soufflé, Thin spinach and potato tart, Thin endive tart, ... All |
Other recipes you may also like
Potimarron (chestnut pumpkin) "au gratin"
We could almost say a "Parmentier" of potimarron: a layer of left over cooked chicken, covered with potimarron purée and cheese, put to brown in the oven.240K 24 1 hour 35 min. February 21th 2011
Finger biscuits
These small biscuits, that look a bit like savoy biscuits, are delicious alone or with Champagne, but are also the base for charlottes or Tiramisu.310K5 50 min. July 30th 2021
Vanilla sugar
Almost essential in patisserie, you can find it in expensive little sachets of about 10g. It's necessary to distinguish between the vanilla sugar which really contains vanilla, and vanillin sugar, purely chemical which has never seen a vanilla pod. Here is how to quickly make a whole jar full of...379K 15 26 min. August 12th 2018
Home-made terrine of foie gras
Preparing your own home-made foie gras from raw is immensively satisfying: good quality liver and a simply amazing flavour – much better than anything you can buy. This recipe is a bit tricky, but quite within everyone's grasp, as long as you follow the 3 most delicate stages carefully. These are,...5.1M 64 4 days 15 hours 50 min. December 11th 2021
Foie gras cured in salt
This a quite different preparation from the terrine of foie gras, this time it does not go in the oven, the liver is salted for 48 hours and it "cooks" (or cures) in this way.530K5 2 days 16 hours 28 min. December 23th 2017
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2022-05-22)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post your comment or question
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.