Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée

Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée

Slowly caramelized onions in a rich, savory broth topped with a toasted baguette and melted gruyere is a simple, classic French staple that never goes out of style. You'll be surprised to see how easy this restaurant-quality soup is to make right at home!

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Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Appetizers, Onions, Soup

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 2 15

Servings: servings

Calories: 258kcal

Equipment

Cutting Board
Chef's Knife
Bread Knife
Wooden Spoon
Large Pot
Liquid Measuring Cup
Box Grater
Sheet Pan
Individual Oven-Safe Bowls
Oven with Broiler Setting

Ingredients

2 Large Yellow Onions
3 Tbsp. Salted Butter
½ Tbsp. Kosher Salt plus additional, to taste
1 tsp. Granulated Sugar
6 Cups Beef Stock (or Broth)
2 Cups Dry Red Wine
2 Bay Leaves
Fresh Thyme Leaves
Half Loaf French Baguette (or Italian Bread)
4 oz Gruyere
Olive Oil

Instructions

Gather all of your ingredients.
After peeling your onions, cut in half, and slice into thin strips.
In a large pot, melt butter over medium high heat, add onions, and then reduce heat to medium. Add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar. Stir thoroughly to coat.
Allow the onions to cook down, about an hour. The natural sugars, along with the added teaspoon of sugar will help the onions to caramelize, turning from white to yellow and then translucent. This process is known as "sweating", allowing the natural moisture in the onions to evaporate slowly as the sugars caramelize. Stir every so often.
Don't try and rush this process by increasing the heat- we want low and slow!
After about an hour, you should begin to see that there is no liquid in the bottom of the pot as you stir, and the onions are a pale, translucent color.
Add the stock and wine, bay leaves and thyme. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a full simmer. Taste the broth, add additional salt as needed, but don't be heavy-handed; the seasonings will intensify as the broth continues to reduce.
After the soup has been simmering for about an hour, heat the oven to 300℉.
Slice 4 rounds of bread, drizzle lightly with olive oil and toast in the oven about 12 minutes, then flip to toast the other side for a few additional minutes. The bread should be firm to the touch, like a crouton.
Turn on the oven's high broiler setting, and in the meantime, grate the gruyere cheese and set aside.
Portion the soup into individual sized, oven-safe bowls, and place on a sheet pan. Place one piece of bread on top of the soup, then add the grated cheese.
Place the sheet pan into the oven and broil until the cheese has melted and the top, a light golden brown.
Soup will be very hot, so serve carefully!

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