Starter, French
French Onion Soup for Two
Deeply caramelized onions under a bubbling lid of Gruyère toast.
- Total
- 1 hr 20 min
- Hands-on
- 25 min
- Skill
- Medium
- Serves
- 2
- Cost for two
- about $10
French onion soup is a slow-cooked love letter. Onions cook down for the best part of an hour until jammy and mahogany, then simmer in beef stock and go under the broiler with toast and Gruyère. Most of the time is hands-off, which leaves you free to set the table.
Ingredients
Method
Melt the butter with the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions and salt, cover and cook for 10 minutes until they collapse.
Uncover and cook for 40–50 minutes, stirring every few minutes. When the bottom of the pot browns, add a splash of water and scrape. Keep going until the onions are deep mahogany and jammy.
Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the flour for 1 minute. Deglaze with the wine, scraping the pot.
Add the stock, thyme and bay leaf and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
Toast the baguette. Heat the broiler to high. Ladle the soup into two oven-safe bowls on a sheet pan, float the toast on top and cover with Gruyère.
Broil 2–4 minutes, watching closely, until bubbling with browned spots. Warn your guest that the bowls are hot.
Cook mode keeps your screen awake. Tap a step to mark your place.
Tips
- Patience is the ingredient. Turning up the heat to rush the onions burns them instead of caramelizing them.
- Use mushroom stock for a vegetarian version.
Make ahead
Make the soup up to 3 days ahead. Reheat, then toast and broil just before serving.
Plating
Set the hot bowl on a plate lined with a folded napkin so it doesn't slide, with a spoon on the side.
What to drink
Wine: Beaujolais or a dry French cider.
Zero-proof: Sparkling apple juice with a thyme sprig.
Serve it with
Questions
No oven-safe bowls?
Broil the cheese toasts on a tray and float them on the soup just before serving.