French onion soup

French onion soup

A thick and luxurious French classic topped with a toasted crouton with melted cheese - a decadent lunch

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in 1 hr

Freezable

Method

  1. Gently fry onions in butter in a large pan until really soft and golden - about 20 minutes. Turn up the heat and fry, stirring often, until really dark and sticky. Stir in brandy, brown sugar and plain flour for a few minutes. Stir in beef stock and bring to a simmer for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile toast bread then butter one side. Divide the soup between oven-proof bowls, top each with a slice of toast (butter side up), scatter over gruyère cheese, then grill until the cheese is melted and bubbling. If you don't have the right dishes, grill cheese-topped toasts then add to soup.

Recipe from olive magazine, February 2012.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 15 February 2012

    Willfergus commented on this recipe

    Didnt taste it but just by taking a look at the picture and the ingredients and I can say that it looks like a very nice classic french onion soup! Camasino Team

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  • 15 February 2012

    Bowdenei commented on this recipe

    Any good recipes for the beef stock?

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  • 16 February 2012

    Jodie Rees rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Wow this is a great recipe! Tried making french onion soup a couple of years ago using a different recipe and it was a disaster, but this is really lovely. Can't wait to make this for my mother-in-law - she says she makes a good french onion soup so I'd like to know what she thought of this one!

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  • 16 February 2012

    MdC BC rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really lovely. However it took about 1 hour and a half to cook, and I think it could have done with more time. I lost patience! So next time I will do it on a weekend. Since I have a vegetarian at home I use veg stock instead the beefy one. I think it worked well, but this obviously will change the taste.

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  • 17 February 2012

    alitenor commented on this recipe

    Marmite makes a great alternative to beef stock for vegetarians in other French onion soup recipes, tho I haven't tried this recipe yet.

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  • 18 February 2012

    gourmetheaven commented on this recipe

    i tried this recipe its fab! i adjusted it with veg stock and vegemite and added a slice of scottish truffle brie with the bread it was a winner!

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  • 18 February 2012

    Shroom commented on this recipe

    Made this with great success a couple of times. I didn't get dark and sticky onions after 20 mins but they looked well cooked. I used a little less stock, just 1ltr of liquid, as previously it had been a bit watery but the overall result was delicious. I'll try the veggie version with the marmite next time. Highly recommend this recipe.

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  • 18 February 2012

    Shroom rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • 26 February 2012

    sarahsutton rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This tasted really good. As I had the time, I cooked the onions for much longer, it had a lovely rich flavour.

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  • Binder photo Jo

    02 March 2012

    Jo rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was delicious

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  • 20 March 2012

    cupcakegirl commented on this recipe

    This was delicious, I could have eaten the whole lot by myself it was that nice. My boyfriend has asked me to make it again this week so I think that this will be a regular in our home

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  • 04 April 2012

    lizleicester rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicous. Cooked onions until they were really caramelised which was well worth the extra time. Used strongly flavoured stock (pheasant) and the result was gorgeous.

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  • 05 November 2012

    jojojac commented on this recipe

    Great way to use up caramelised onions (leftover from bonfire party) Scrummy .......... Great cure for hangover !!!

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  • 05 November 2012

    jojojac rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • 11 November 2012

    Bean commented on this recipe

    I made this formthenfirst time a few weeks ago and it was fantastic. I love real French onion soup and this really hit the mark. I am making tis again today, and I am going to halve the amount of onions but leave the stock volume tha same. This is really easy to make so would recommend.

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  • 26 December 2012

    Liezel rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious, made it as a starter for Christmas dinner and it was a great success

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  • 26 February 2013

    Frantic Flapjack rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is a great French onion soup. The best one I've tried so far is Delia's which is the best ever. This one almost lives up to Delia's but is much quicker to make. Definitely one for the binder.

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  • 13 March 2013

    Recipes commented on this recipe

    Made with beef stock saved from batches of chilli and bolognese but quite tasteless. Added 4tbsps of marmite and really nice but will try again with beef stock cubes and then add marmite if necessary.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in 1 hr

Freezable

Ingredients

  • 1.2kg onions , halved and finely sliced
  • 50g butter
  • 3 tbsp brandy
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 1.4l strong beef stock
  • 4 thick slices crusty bread from a small loaf
  • 125g grated Gruyère
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