French Onion Soup
Onions tortured into brown jam, topped with cheese lava.
120 min total, minimal dishes
Timing: 2 hours
French Onion Soup
Onions tortured into brown jam, topped with cheese lava.
120 min total, minimal dishes
Timing: 2 hours
Key move
Cook the onions until they collapse into dark, sticky jam before you add stock; that deep caramelization is the entire soup.
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Larger text, ingredients in reach, and saved step progress while you cook.
The Setup
- Cutting Board
- Chef's Knife
- Spatula
- TongsOptional
The Mise en Place
4Your prep station before cooking begins
The Braise (0/2)
Other (0/2)
My soup tastes sweet but it just doesn't have that deep onion flavor.
Ah, I see. You're missing that rich, complex depth because the onions didn't get dark enough. Remember, slow and low is the secret to truly caramelizing them. It's the difference b…
My croutons turned to complete mush when I put them in the soup.
That's a common hurdle! To prevent your bread from dissolving, you need to toast it until it's truly hard and sturdy *before* it ever meets the soup. Think of it as giving it struc…
Chef's Notes
Caramelize onions slowly over low heat, stirring often, for the deepest flavor. This can take 45-60 minutes.
Deglaze the pot with wine or sherry to scrape up browned bits. This adds immense depth to the broth.
Serve piping hot with a thick slice of toasted baguette topped with Gruyère and broiled until bubbly.
The soup base (without bread/cheese) can be made 1-2 days ahead and reheated. Assemble just before serving.
The Method
THE SWEAT
Cook onions in butter and oil over medium heat, covered, for 15 mins.
Uneven steaming: Ensure the lid is tight; if steam escapes, the onions will dry out rather than soften.
Onions are softened and translucent.
THE BROWNING
Time-sensitiveUncover. Turn heat to medium-low. STIR every 5-10 minutes.
Uneven caramelization: If onions stick to the bottom, deglaze with a splash of water to lift the fond.
Burnt onions: Do not rush with high heat; burnt onions will make the soup bitter and inedible.
Onions are deeply browned, sticky, and reduced by 80%.
DEGLAZE
Add Sherry. Scrape up the *fond* (brown sticky bits). Add flour (1 tbsp) and cook for 1 min.
Raw flour taste: Ensure the flour is fully incorporated and cooked for the full duration to avoid a pasty, raw flour flavor in the final soup.
Sherry has been incorporated and the fond scraped up; flour is cooked for 1 minute.
SIMMER
Add stock and simmer for 30 mins.
Over-reduction: If the soup reduces too much, the salt concentration will become overwhelming.
Soup has simmered for 30 minutes and the flavors have melded.
THE GRATIN
Time-sensitiveLadle into bowls. Top with toasted baguette and a mountain of Gruyère. BROIL until bubbly and spotted brown.
Broiler fire hazard: Watch the broiler constantly; cheese transitions from golden to burnt in seconds.
The cheese should drape over the side of the bowl and form a crispy "lace" on the ceramic.
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