French Onion Soup Recipe (2024)

Simplify by making overnight caramelized onions. Fill slow cooker with 4-5 lbs sliced onions, pour 1/3 cup olive over the onions & mix well. Cover with lid and cook on HIGH for 7-9 hours. Yes it does indeed needs to be High. I had my doubts at first, but I've done this probably at least 20 times and the onions cook way down & caramelize beautifully. I haven't tried this yet with my new multi-cooker but plan to try that next using slow cooker function.

1 Tbsp of Sherry is a very small amount, it won't add any significant flavour. Also, if Sherry boils for a long time, it completely loses its aroma. I suggest adding 2 tbsp on each individual soup dish just before broiling (that's the way people have fancy consomme in Madrid).

When I make French Onion Soup, I cut the bread into crouton sized pieces and then brown them in butter in a large skillet on the stove. I use them in place of the toasted bread. It makes the soup easier to eat--no cutting through hard French bread crusts with a spoon--and I really like the extra flavor imparted by the croutons. And, I save some croutons for the leftover soup.

Great and easy recipe. I suggest doubling the onions and mixing in some leeks. Also, since I don't have oven proof casseroles, I toasted the bread with the cheese on top (in toaster oven), and served on regular soup bowls.

I used vegetable stock plus a little soy sauce and a little bit of Worcestershire sauce instead of the beef broth to make it vegetarian. It was amazing! Thank you for the wonderful recipe.

Toast bread first.

If you have it, use bacon fat rather than butter to carmelize the onions. Makes a huge flavor difference.

This soup is marvelous, and perfect for a chilly day. I followed the recipe faithfully and used homemade beef stock. The hardest part for me was slicing those onions. My eyes were tearing so much, I had to put on a scuba mask to finish this step.

Loved this recipe. Finally somebody admits how long it takes to actually caramelize onions! The flavor is wonderful. I did cut the amount of beef broth to 6 Cups, because I agree with other cooks, there were just not enough onions to sustain 8 cups of broth. Next time I will double the onions.

Great flavor but I’d say to double the onions.

Several folks thought the amount of onions called for was insufficient. Note it says “ 3 or 4 large onions ( about 3lbs.). My onions were a little larger then a baseball and it took 9 to yield 3 lbs.

Delish and relatively easy. I took the advise of some posters here and added an onion and a leek. I also added a couple tablespoons of brandy with the wine and sherry, and some thyme with the stock. After all the stock was in, I let the soup reduce for 30 min. Oh, and I toasted the bread with butter under the broiler before adding to the soup. YUM!

Don't get super hung up on the quantities in recipes. Treat it as more of a basic guideline with orderly steps. It's cooking, not science. This is a really good recipe for this soup. I just used the ingredients listed here in varying quantities and it was fantastic. I really, really, REALLY suggest making your own beef (or other) broth for this. Harris Teeter sells 2 lb. bags of beef bones. I used two bags, boil/rinse, roast, boil/simmer with shallots, garlic, thyme for 5 hours. Fantastic.

Broth and stock are used interchangeably in this recipe; they are not the same. Broth is made with vegetables, stock is made with just bones. I think the latter would be best here.

French onion soup is heavily dependent on using good broth. Do yourself a favor and make it. Great recipe.

To avoid tears, buy onions that are as squat and wide as you can. At least for me, the elongated bulb shape is almost certain to produce tears.

Highly recommend weighing your onions after you've sliced them - if you only use 3-4 onions as the recipe says, you won't end up with 3# of sliced onions. For us, 6 very large onions was 3 pounds when skinned & sliced. This was the perfect amount. It took about 75 minutes for the onions to caramelize. I also added about a Tablespoon each of balsamic vinegar and Worchestershire with the broth to add depth, and used homemade bone broth (which I also highly recommend if you're so inclined.)

Double the onions and toast bread before adding it to soup

As for slicing onions, I always put them in the refrigerator to chill. There are no tears when slicing them. Works all of the time.

You gotta make sure you cut the onions towards the root (or top), not like you would for slices or “half” slices for burgers or sandwiches. Cutting them towards the root helps them to keep their shape and they don’t melt away into nothing.

Adding the flour in this recipe is not intended to thicken the soup, but rather to absorb some of the fat (butter/oil) used in carmelizing the onions. A typical roux is intended to thicken and the perfect ratio for a roux is 1:1 fat:flour, but use your common sense about how little flour you need to just absorb some of the fat in this soup. Add that little bit of flour directly to the fully carmelized onions prior to adding anything else, allowing the flour to "cook" because flour is raw.

I use 8 yellow onions, 8 TB salted butter, 1/2 cup sherry, 2 cups white wine, 12 cups beef stock, 2-3 TB flour. Salt to taste but not much needed. It comes out perfect!

Is there a particular onion that is better for the recipe??

I took page from chef friend: caramelize onions on stove till they just start to get hint of brown, then spread across a cookie sheet & salt 1-1/2 tsp + into oven. Salt will draw out water to help caramelize. Temp 175-250, dep on how often you stir. 1st time I did@ 200, then had to leave to go somewhere after a couple of hours so turned to 175. 2nd time @ 225. Stir every 30-60 mins for 4-5 hours. Edges will caramelize 1st then keep close eye--you'll get jammy,delish sweet yum you can eat w/ fork

Try making caramelized onions on outdoor grill....

Can you use a crockpot to carmelize onions for this soup

When I make French Onion soup, I partook the onions in the microwave on high for about 10 minutes. It shortens the time to full carmelization on the stove.

Try a variation by using mushroom stock. Also sherry should be stirred in right before serving, as someone else pointed out its contribution is lessened. A bit of soy sauce is also amps up the layers of flavors.

I have used a recipe just like this and make it in a crock pot. It’s better than any restaurant I have been to. It can be found in a recipe book by a well known chef in the 1970s.

This soup is so delicious and easy, I'd make it every night if I could!