Grandpa Joe's favorite
French Onion Soup

This recipe originally appeared many years ago in Cook's Illustrated magazine.

About this recipe

Some recipes simply require a bit more work and a bit more time.  This is one of them.  The result, as you might expect, is worth the extra effort.  You will be amazed and very pleased with the result.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 pounds yellow onions, halved, cut ¼-inch thick pole to pole
  • table salt
  • 2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
  • ½ cup dry sherry
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 6 sprigs fresh thyme tied with kitchen twine
  • 2 bay leaves
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 small baguette, cut on bias into ½-inch slices
  •  8 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded

Directions

  1. Adjust an oven rack to a lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400° F. 
  2. Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray. 
  3. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt.  Cook, covered, for1 hour.  The onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume.  Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot.
  4. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1½ to 1¾ hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping the bottom and sides of the pot after 1 hour.
  5. Remove the pot from the oven and place it over medium-high heat on the stove top.  Cook the onions, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom and sides of the pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. 
  6. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, about 5 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary.  Scrape any fond that collects on your spoon back into the onions.
  7. Stir in ¼ cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen the crust, and cook until the water evaporates and the pot bottom has formed another dark crust, another 5 or 6 minutes. 
  8. Repeat the process of deglazing 3 more times, until the onions are very dark brown. 
  9. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.
  10. Stir in the broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaves, and ½ teaspoon salt.  Scrape up any final bits of browned crust on the bottom and sides of the pot.  Increase the heat to high and bring to a simmer. 
  11. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.  Remove and discard the herbs, then season with salt and pepper.
  12. While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in a 400° F oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at the edges, about 10 minutes.  Set aside.
  13. Adjust an oven rack 6 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler. 
  14. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on a baking sheet and fill each with about 1¾ cups of the soup.  Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap the slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère cheese.
  15. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes.
  16. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
Onions shortly after they were removed from the oven (Step 5).
Onions after the added Sherry has evaporated (Step 9).
Looking good even without the bread and cheese.
Ready for the table!  As you can see, I prefer to use a grilled slice of my Ciabatta rather than the traditional baguette.

Notes

  • Sweet onions, such as Vidalia or Walla Walla, will make this recipe overly sweet. 
  • Be patient when caramelizing the onions in steps 5 through 9; the entire process takes 45 to 60 minutes.
Posted: September 2014; pictures added: January 2016.