How to Make Easy Cheesy French Onion Soup

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.

French Onion Soup

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

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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
• 4 thick slices from a French baguette
• 1 cup grated gruyere cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. 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.
2. Add the marsala wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to simmer.
3. Add the beef stock and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove the thyme stems.
4. Preheat the broiler to high. Place thick slices of the baguette on a baking sheet and broil until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
5. 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.

Nutrition Information

Yield 4 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 366Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 47mgSodium 1894mgCarbohydrates 17gFiber 2gSugar 7gProtein 17g

I think I could eat this soup every day – well, at least twice a week. It’s so good!

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