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A bowl of hot onion soup has such a great taste. It's warm, oniony, cheesy and just makes you feel it was the right thing to make. All you really need with it is a crisp green salad to make it a dinner. It also makes a good appetizer before your main meal too!
Is homemade onion soup as good as restaurant style?
The answer is yes! You can make your onion soup as good as any restaurant. It is made with the same ingredients of onions and beef broth to make a rich, oniony, beefy flavor. Then, you toast a baguette that will hold the cheesy goodness on the top of your soup. So no worries about tasting the same, you can do it.
Ingredients:
- Onions
- Olive oil
- Butter
- Beef broth
- Water
- Flour
- Salt
- Pepper
- Fresh thyme
- Baguette
- Swiss cheese slices
- Gruyere cheese
What kind of onions for onion soup?
We usually use yellow onions to make this soup, but we had red onions as well, so we tried using both kinds of onions. The flavor turned out great; don't know if it made any difference since this soup always tastes good anyway. The thing is that you can use red onions or yellow onions and have your soup turn out great. The reason onion soup is so flavorful is letting the onions caramelize to get a great flavor. Just cook the onions on low for a long time till they get that golden color.
What goes into the onion soup?
We use canned beef broth because it is easy to use and tastes good. A little water is added to mellow out the broth, and then we add some salt, pepper, and fresh thyme for a great flavor.
Toasting the baguette:
This is easy, just cut the baguette into ½ inch slices and lay them on a tray. Brush with a little olive oil and toast in a 375˚F oven until browned. These are a nice base for the cheese.
Adding the cheese to the onion soup
This is the best part of the onion soup. All you do is plop one or two slices of toasted bread onto the soup, and top the soup with a nice slice of Swiss cheese. We can do better; although this is enough, add a handful of shredded gruyere cheese on the top of the other cheese. Now, pop into the broiler and broil for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't burn; it doesn't take long to get overly brown. Now, enjoy it alone, with a nice salad or as an appetizer before the main course.
Onion Soup
A great bowl of onion soup is perfect for any cold day, or anytime that you are in the mood for a cheesy bowl of soup.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 75 minutes
- Total Time: 85 minutes
- Category: soup
Ingredients
- 7 large onions
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil, plus more later
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 6 ½ cups beef broth
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- bagette slices
- Swiss cheese slices *
- shredded gruyere cheese
Instructions
- Cut your onions in half and slice them into about ½ inch slices.
- In a Dutch oven or large pot, add the oil and butter and melt.
- Add the onions and cook on medium until the onions are brown and caramelized, 45 minutes to an hour. Stir them often.
- Now, add the flour and mix into the onions.
- Add the beef broth, water, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes.
- Adjust the salt and pepper, if you need more.
- On a sheet pan, put the slices of baguette, brush with olive oil, and broil in the oven for about 1 minute or until lightly golden brown.
- Ladle the soup in bowls that can be put into the oven.
- Top each bowl with 1 or 2 slices of baguette slices.
- Top bread with a slice of Swiss cheese
- Add the shredded gruyere cheese on the top of the Swiss.
- Broil for about 1 or 2 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.
- Enjoy!
Notes
* You can use the cheese you like on top, it should be a melty kind of cheese. Provolone or mozzarella is good too.
Keywords: Onion soup
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