Five Onion French Onion Soup

The Best French Onion Soup!

This French Onion Soup recipe has Five Different Onions that make the flavor truly unique.  Recipes use different onions for different desired effects.  Specific colors, for example, derive a bitter or sweet taste and some more bold than others.  Generally, the desired onion, represents the flavor you what to be hitting to balance out the other ingredients.  So, by combining all of the above, I’m taking this French Onion Soup to a whole new level.

The French Onion Soup Secret

Caramelizing the Onions is where most of the magic happens when you’re making French Onion Soup.  So it’s very Critical that you take this seriously.  Don’t saute only, to save time, because it won’t turn out the same.  Spend a good 20 to 30 minutes to really develop the flavor you would expect from any restaurant that serves a good French Onion Soup.  Also, when it comes to the broth, don’t be to picky with it.  I mean, it should taste good but I’ve made this soup dozens of times just using Beef Bouillon.  I have found that Knorr makes one of the better, cheaper bouillon’s out there because it’s smooth and it isn’t too salty.

Another thing you want to be careful with is the wine.  Adding to much will kill this soup off in seconds.  The wine takes the soup to a whole new level but use it sparingly.    If you follow this advice, you’ll treat your pallet to a little piece of heaven.

French Onion Soup Ingredients:

1/2 sliced White Onion
1/2 sliced Red Onion
1/2 sliced Yellow Onion
1/2 sliced Sweet Onion
1 bunch chopped Green Onion
1 cube Butter
1 tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 qt Beef Broth or Stock (Bouillon is fine)
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp Thyme
1/3 cup Red Wine (you can substitute apple cider)
1 chopped Garlic Clove
Graded Swiss Gruyere
Texas Garlic Toast for soup Bowl Crouton

Heat the Beef Broth in a Soup Pan and add the Bay Leaves, Thyme and Red Wine.  In a Skillet, saute the Onions in the melted butter and add the sugar for caramelizing, approximately 20 minutes.  Then add the Onions to the broth and Simmer for another 10 to 20 minutes. Place the Texas Garlic Toast in the oven at 425 degrees at bake until the bread is crispy and toasted through and through like Croutons.  Grade the Swiss Gruyere and remove Bay leaves from the French Onion Soup.  Add one Crouton to a bowl and Ladle the soup over the bread, then add the Gruyere over the top. Place the French Onion Soup in the oven, under a high broil, for just a few minutes, until the cheese melts and bubbles with a nice golden brown tint, then serve.

Recipe for French Onion Soup

Making a perfect Recipe for French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup is by far one of my favorite soups, and I’m always disappointed if it’s not on the menu. So I decided to tear into this recipe, perfect it and make it my own! So here you have it; My Recipe for French Onion Soup

Understanding my Recipe for French Onion Soup

There are a few basics that can be substituted that won’t effect the over all taste if you have one or the other. First is the stock. I’ve made this with Swansons premade beef bouillon and I’ve made it from scratch with water and powder. If you’re insane and want to boil down some beef bones for 3 plus hours just to get a genuine beef stock, be my guest, but I’m telling you the latter tastes just as good. The second thing is the onions; just choose your favorite onion, white or yellow it doesn’t matter, which ever you prefer; use both even. I had a Recipe for French Onion Soup in Denver that claimed to have 5 different onions in it before, so get creative. Also make sure you hit the liquor store or grocery and pick out a red wine you can cook with. The rule of thumb when you are cooking with wine is to never use anything you wouldn’t drink. Can you make this Recipe for French Onion Soup with out it? Yes, but if you knew what the finished product tastes like with it vs. without, you would undoubtedly regret it. So let’s get started!

The actual Recipe for French Onion Soup

1 cube of butter salted (or unsalted, but this recipe has no additional salt added)
2 large sliced yellow or white onion (or more if you’d like)
1 stock of chopped scallions
1 1/2 qt. Beef stock or bouillon
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp minced garlic (or 2 fresh garlic cloves)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (thyme, rosemary, marjoram, sage, oregano, basil)
2 tbsp flour
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup red wine (Merlot is good)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Sliced Swiss cheese
Garlic Texas toast (pre-made in any grocery freezer section) or french bread

Okay, this is simple! You need a pot for the soup, and a pan to saute onions. First get the broth going in the soup pan with medium heat; add the garlic, the bay leaves, Italian seasoning and the chopped scallions. Meanwhile saute the onions with a medium high heat starting with the whole cube of butter. Be sure to not let the butter burn; lift the pan off the heat if it’s getting to hot and reduce the stove to medium. You’re onions should be sliced in long lengths, NOT chopped. Add the onions to the butter and saute for 15 to 20 minutes until it starts to caramelize. Adding the sugar will speed up the caramelizing process so add 1 tsp. Once the onions have caramelized add 2 tbls of flour to the onions and stir evenly. Then add the onions to the beef broth as well as the 1/3 cup of red wine. The final touch is adding the pepper and reducing the heat to a simmer. Let the soup stand and marinate for another 10 to 15 minutes, then remove the bay leaves. Meanwhile prep the Texas Garlic Toast (or French bread) in the oven on a sheet or even in a toaster if you only need a few. Serving is now as easy as a ladle full of soup over the top of the the Texas toast and Swiss cheese. If you want to take it a step further, you can throw the bowl of soup with the toast and cheese under the broiler to add that golden brown crispness to the cheese which traditionally is usually done. I’m pretty sure that there isn’t any French Onion Campbells soup recipes, so I hope you enjoy this little gem; my Recipe for French Onion Soup!