French Onion Soup (Soupe à l'oignon gratinée)
Photo: sheri silver / Unsplash
Onions cooked slowly until deep golden and sweet, simmered in beef stock with a splash of white wine, then topped with toasted baguette and melted Gruyère.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Soften the onions
Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions and salt. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onions are soft and have shrunk.
Brown the onions slowly
Take off the lid, add the sugar and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook for about 40 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping the bottom, until the onions are deep golden brown. If they start to stick or burn, add a splash of water.
Add the flour and wine
Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen the brown bits. Let it bubble for 2 minutes.
Simmer the soup
Add the beef stock, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Take out the thyme and bay leaf. Season with pepper, and more salt if needed.
Toast the bread
Turn the oven grill (broiler) to high. Put the baguette slices on a tray and toast them for 1–2 minutes on each side, until dry and lightly golden.
Add the cheese and grill
Put 4 ovenproof bowls on a tray and fill them with the hot soup. Float 2 toasts on each bowl and cover them thickly with the cheese. Grill for 3–5 minutes, until the cheese bubbles and turns golden. Careful: the bowls will be very hot.
Soften the onions
Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions and salt. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onions are soft and have shrunk.
Brown the onions slowly
Take off the lid, add the sugar and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook for about 40 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping the bottom, until the onions are deep golden brown. If they start to stick or burn, add a splash of water.
Add the flour and wine
Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen the brown bits. Let it bubble for 2 minutes.
Simmer the soup
Add the beef stock, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Take out the thyme and bay leaf. Season with pepper, and more salt if needed.
Toast the bread
Turn the oven grill (broiler) to high. Put the baguette slices on a tray and toast them for 1–2 minutes on each side, until dry and lightly golden.
Add the cheese and grill
Put 4 ovenproof bowls on a tray and fill them with the hot soup. Float 2 toasts on each bowl and cover them thickly with the cheese. Grill for 3–5 minutes, until the cheese bubbles and turns golden. Careful: the bowls will be very hot.
The Story Behind the Dish
Onion soups are among the oldest dishes in France: onions were cheap, kept all winter and fed the poor for centuries. The version topped with bread and melted cheese became famous in Paris.
At Les Halles, the city's huge central food market, porters, butchers and late-night partygoers shared bowls of steaming gratinée before dawn. The market moved out of Paris in 1971, but the habit of an early-morning onion soup lives on in the bistros nearby.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Very few ingredients become something rich and deeply savoury, just by giving the onions time to caramelise.
💡 Fun Fact
A popular legend says King Louis XV invented the soup at his hunting lodge one night, when he found nothing in the kitchen but onions, butter and champagne.
Paris
48.86°N, 2.35°E
Related recipes
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!