French Onion Soup | Spoon Fork Bacon

We absolutely love French Onion Soup. It’s a soup that only requires a handful of simple ingredients, but when made with care it packs such a delightful punch of caramelized onion flavor. Topped with slices of warm bread and gooey, melted cheese, it’s a perfect cozy weather soup we want to eat all fall and winter long!

How to Make the BEST French Onion Soup

Process

1. Place a large pot over medium heat and melt butter and oil together. Add onions and season with salt and pepper.
2. Lower heat to low and cook down and caramelize for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring. Then add thyme, sugar and more salt and pepper.

3. Increase heat to medium-high and continue to cook down for an additional 15 minutes. Stirring frequently.
4. Add stock and vermouth and bring the soup to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning as needed.

5. Discard the thyme stems and ladle soup into 4 oven safe bowls.
6. Place bowls onto a baking sheet and top each soup with 1 to 2 slices of bread.

7. Add shredded cheese over the top of the pieces of bread.
8. Turn broiler on high. Broil for about 1 minute, or until the cheese begins to bubble and brown. Serve immediately.

Tips for Making French Onion Soup

We love the simplicity and depth of flavor of our French onion soup recipe, but there are a few important things to do and remember for the best soup experience!

• We use yellow onions which have a more mild, less acidic flavor than white onions. They also hold up better through longer cook times, which make them great for caramelizing.
• Add a small amount of sugar to help with the caramelization. Although onions have natural sugars in them we like to add just a touch of sugar to them when caramelizing to help draw out the natural sugars and help them caramelize.
• Raising the heat after caramelizing the onions on low heat. This will allow the onions to obtain their dark color and to fully caramelize after they’ve sweated and cooked down over low heat.
• Use a high quality, flavorful beef stock. Since the soup uses only a few ingredients, it’s important to use high quality ingredients, especially when it comes to the beef stock, which will impact the flavor of the overall french onion soup along with the caramelized onions.
• Add some beef bouillon to the soup if you’re unable to find of use a high quality stock of your liking. This will help to enhance the overall flavor for the soup. We like using Better Than Bouillon brand (only when needed).

Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions

Make Ahead

Our recipe for French onion soup can be made up to 5 days ahead of time. To make soup ahead of time, cool completely, then pour into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

When ready to use, pour into a pot and simmer over medium heat for 7 to 10 minutes. Pour into bowls, top with toasted baguette slices, shredded cheese and broil.

Freezing

Our French onion soup recipe can be frozen for up to 2 months. To freeze, cool completely, then pour into a freezer friendly container and store in the freezer until ready to use. Remember to leave some air space in the container to account for it expanding a bit as it freezes.

When ready to use, transfer soup to the refrigerator and thaw overnight. Pour soup into a pot and simmer over medium heat for 7 to 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings as needed. Pour into bowls, top with toasted baguette slices, shredded cheese and broil.

What to Serve with Our French Onion Soup Recipe

We love this soup on its own, but when we’re craving an even heartier meal we love serving it a few different things such as:

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