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French Onion
Soup Recipe

 

 
 French Onion Soup Recipe



A true classic French soup, this is packed with onion flavour and is delicious for those occasions when soul food is needed to raise the spirits.
Serve our French Onion soup with some bread and a salad and it makes a meal all of it's own!

The recipe also describes how to make the easy cheese topped bead, essential for a soup like this.

KEY POINTS

 Preparation Time:  15 mins  Cooking Time:   35 mins
 How Difficult Easy  Freeze?   Yes
 Servings

4 portions


FRENCH ONION SOUP 
This is a great way of making use of the onions from your garden. You'll already have most of the other ingredients in your kitchen cupboard so no need to buy lots of ingredients. 

Don't be fooled by the fact that this is a French Onion Soup recipe! It's almost a main meal when combined with the bread a cheese. 

TIME
15 minutes preparation time
45 minutes cooking time

INGREDIENTS
The ingredients in the French Onion soup recipe below will make enough for four good portions. As far as the French Bread is concerned, you can substitute it with normal white or brown bread that has been toasted. We used garlic bread which went down just lovely!

The exact proportions of some ingredients are a matter of taste. Some people really like the flavour of Worcestershire sauce and I know my son would double or even triple the amount I use. Have a taste of the soup when it's nearly cooked and add a bit more of what excites your taste buds.

French Onion Soup recipe ingredients

Ingredients

How Much
Medium sized onions 

4

2 tablespoons of margarine or butter.

2 tablespoons

Beef broth (easiest to add 3 stock beef cubes to boiling water). Vegetarians use vegetable broth / stock. 850ml / 3¾ cups / 1½ pints
Red or white wine (sherry will also do). This is 'very' optional. Use water instead if you want. 120ml / ½ cup
Worcestershire sauce. A dash (optional)
Dried / fresh thyme  1 teaspoon dried / 2 teaspoons fresh
Fresh garlic clove chopped up small 1
French Bread stick (normal bread will do fine) 1
Gruyere or mozzarella cheese to top the bread. Most cheeses will do as well. 1 tablespoon per topping
Pepper ¼ teaspoon
Salt to taste (not much needed) To taste

COOKING EQUIPMENT
1 Medium-sized frying pan
1 Large-sized pan
Knife

Notes for the Cook!
Just one note - chopping up 4 onions is a very 'crying' experience! I've no magic recipe to stop the tears, but the result is well worth it. Apparently chewing gum whilst chopping the onions does make some difference but I'm not guaranteeing it!

Method
  
Chopped onions Start by peeling the four onions and chopping it into small bits. 

This is the most laborious part of this recipe - it takes 10 minutes or so to chop up four onions and the tears will flow!


 
Put the onions into a frying pan, add the butter, margarine or olive oil and turn up to a medium heat. 

Turn the onions every minute or so to ensure they are evenly cooked. Aim to cook the onions until they are a light brown colour.

Fried onions

 
Cooking the French Onion Soup Transfer the onions from the frying pan to a large pan and add all the ingredients except the cheese and bread. 

Cook the soup on a medium heat for about 30 minutes. The aim is to get the onions so they are soft but not falling apart.


 
While the soup is cooking, put the soup bowls in the oven to get them warm.

Cut up the French bread into slices and put them under the grill to very lightly toast them (a bit less toasted than shown in the picture!).

When lightly toasted, spread some cheese over each slice of bread.

Toast and cheese

 
French Onion Soup - cheese toasties. Just before the soup is ready to be served, put the cheese topped bread under the grill and cook until the cheese starts to bubble. 

The bread is then meant to be put on the top of the soup and served. However, we weren't too keen on this so in the picture below the bread is served on a separate plate.

 
This looks like a snack-sized meal but in fact it's quite filling.

With enough toast and a crisp green side salad, it's a meal all on its own.

Enjoy!

French Onion Soup

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TWENTY ONE COMMENTS HAVE BEEN LEFT ABOUT THIS FRENCH ONION SOUP RECIPE.

From: Barbara
3 January 2010
Easy recipe, did not put Worcester sauce in because we did not have it but still tasted brill.

From: Not Given
6 January 2010
The way to not cry when cutting onions is simply to keep your mouth closed! The soup is DELICIOUS! Beware adding too much sauces and stock though. It can cause terrible thirst after you eat the soup.

From: Kylie
10 January 2010
Very easy recipe. I read the above comments and decided not to add the Worcestershire Sauce and found the soup to be delicious. My first time tasting French Onion Soup and will definitely make it again.

From: Kay
11 January 2010
Very quick and easy to make and very tasty.

From: Raymond Rennie
13 January 2010
Very easy to prepare and tasty to boot. Will make again for sure.

From: Strix
12 January 2010
For authenticity, slice but not chop the onions, don't bother with the Worcester, and you don't even need to caramelize the onions - just seat them till they are yellow before adding the liquid. The sugary caramelly taste is a recent American addition imho.

From: Debs
18 January 2010
PUT A SILVER  TEA SPOON IN YOUR MOUTH, THIS WILL STOP ANY TEARS, TRIED AND TESTED LOTS, IT WORKS.

From: Tim
21 January 2010
Tried with and without Worcester and caramelising the onions. Little difference was seen and each time had a fantastic result. Have tried with different cheeses on the massive croûton (please try it, if you haven\'t yet) and found most work, although some smelly Brie was fantastic. Great recipe and very adaptable, thank you.

From: El
30 January 2010
Definitely add the Worcs source! it really makes it!

From: Diane S
30 January 2010
Lovely without the Worcester sauce for me. I blend half for a smoother finish, my husband doesn't like garlic silly
bloke, so I do him a cheese on toast with dried herb flavouring, just a sprinkle is good unless the jar is three years outa date init :-))

From: Phil
31 January 2010
Great French Onion soup but use sherry instead of the wine.

From: phl
3 February 2010
Followed the recipe ish, really enjoyed it, needs the worcest sauce. Got to do it again.

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