I can eat soup all year long, even in the middle of a hot South Carolina summer. To me, there’s nothing better than soup and a sandwich. There was a time when I only ate French Onion Soup when I was dining out. When I realized how easy it is to make, Easy Cheesy French Onion Soup became a staple in my house. My version tastes so much better than any I’ve ever had in restaurants.
The first step in making french onion soup is to caramelize the onions. Caramelized onions are simply onions that have been cooked slowly. The natural sugars are caramelized as the onions cook. It’s all about low and slow when it comes to caramelizing onions. It takes about 35 minutes to caramelize the onions for Easy Cheesy French Onion Soup.
I’m a cheese lover and Gruyere is one of my favorites. I don’t scrimp on the cheese when I’m making this soup. I also use sweet marsala wine in this recipe. You can also use red wine. I just happen to have marsala on hand because of my husband’s love for my chicken marsala.
Easy Cheesy French Onion Soup
Slice the onions. Add the olive oil to a heavy pot and turn the heat to medium. Add the sliced onions, thyme, salt, pepper, and minced garlic.
Cook on medium heat, stirring often until the onions are golden brown, about 35 minutes.
Pour in the marsala wine and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up all the good bits of onion. Deglazing is a fancy word that simply means pouring a cool liquid into a hot pan to get all the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Those browned bits are full of flavor and you don’t want them to stay stuck to the pan.
Add the beef broth and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the thyme stems.
Preheat the broiler on high and ladle soup into four ovenproof bowls. Place baguette slices on a baking sheet and broil until golden brown, about 2 minutes. I usually add two baguette slices to each bowl of soup.
Place toasted baguette slices on the bowls of soup. Add the Gruyere cheese and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Place the bowls on a baking sheet and broil for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
If you don’t have ovenproof bowls, add the cheese on top of the baguette slices before broiling for 2-3 minutes. Carefully, place slices of the cheesy bread on top of each bowl of soup.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 4 large onions, sliced (I use Vidalia sweet onions when they are available)
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup sweet marsala wine OR red wine
- 6 cups beef broth
- 1 french baguette, sliced thick
- 1-1/2 cups grated gruyere cheese
- Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and butter in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add sliced onions, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, over medium heat until the onions are golden brown, about 35 minutes.
- Add the marsala wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to simmer.
- Add the beef stock and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove the thyme stems.
- Preheat the broiler to high. Place thick slices of the baguette on a baking sheet and broil until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
- Ladle the soup into 4 ovenproof bowls. Add the toasted baguette slices. Top with the grated gruyere cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan. Place bowls on a baking sheet and broil for about 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
I think I could eat this soup every day – well, at least twice a week. It’s so good!
Mmmm! My husband and I love a warm bowl of french onion soup in the winter time. Once the weather starts to cool off! Yum!
I do enjoy french onion soup, especially when it’s got a big old crouton at the bottom of the bowl. This would be perfect for a cold winter day.
This recipe looks delicious! My husband loves French onion soup. I should make it this week.
French onion soup is one of my faves. The ooey gooey cheese and I’m like you I use a good cheese and I use plenty of it Alli
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I haven’t ever tried French Onion Soup because my son and husband hate Onions. But I love them so the next time I am in a restaurant I may order some so I can try it. Once I do if I like it then I will use your recipe and make some for myself for lunch.
This looks absolutely AH-MAZING! French onion soup is always good but with different kinds of cheeses on it I know he would elevate this dish even more.
This is sounding pretty amazing! I remember my first introduction to French Onion Soup. I was about 18, getting ready to be married to my HS sweetheart. He took me to his favorite restaurant and they served this soup. The deep rich flavor, the crisp bread with the cheese coating… I fell in love again! 🙂
French onion soup is one of my favorite things to order at restaurants. I never made it at home but you’re inspiring me to give it a try!
Oh yes. I just love French Onion Soup. I always order it when I go out but I haven’t tried to make it on my own. I really should. This seems easy enough.
French Onion Soup is one of my favorites. It’s so savory and flavorful. I can’t wait to give this recipe a try.
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Yum. I never knew it was so easy to make your own. This is one I am going to have to try soon.
I love French Onion soup but havent found a recipe that looks like it would be simple to make. Yours looks absolutely delicious and easy to make. And I love gruyere cheese too.
French onion soup is so good! It is always bursting with flavor!
I sure could go for some of this right now. I love French onion soup.
We love making french onion soup. Plus we make a vegetarian version with vegetable bullion. Your recipe sounds delicious!
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This recipe sounds amazing. I would maybe even try it out in the crockpot, so it would be ready when I get home from work!
I’ve never tried making french onion soup. This dish makes me want to try making it in my kitchen.
Hey there Allie, can you please tell us what brand of beef broth or beef stock you use to prepare this delicious sounding French Onion soup please? Does it matter if you use broth or stock. In making stews & beef vegetable soup, it seems I’ve always just ended up using Knorr beef bouillon cubes, but I think the liquid variety might taste better for this soup. Also, is all Marsala wine sweet, or do I need to ask specifically for a “sweet” Marsala? Appreciate your advice & am anxious to try this, Thank you! ❤️
You can use beef broth or stock. I actually used Swanson beef broth for this recipe. I see where I called it stock in the recipe. I’m going to change it to broth. Also, the Marsala wine should say sweet on the label. All Marsala wine is not sweet. I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do.