French Onion Soup Gratinee

Hi! Recipe creator/contributor here. Thanks for trying the onion soup and for all the thoughtful reviews. Just a couple of comments I thought might be helpful. The 1 teaspoon of salt in the beginning of the recipe cannot be omitted as it is necessary for the proper caramelization of the onions. However, at the conclusion of the simmering process, please be sure to taste the soup before deciding to add any more salt (or pepper). Also, the addition of balsamic vinegar at the end is very important--not only for taste--but also because there's a chemical in red onions that tends to turn the soup gray and cloudy, and the balsamic vinegar corrects that. Lastly, while my broiler does take 4-5 minutes to melt the cheese properly, that's probably because I place the baking sheet on a lower rack. Yours may take less time. Well, thanks again for all your kind comments... and, enjoy!

ONE MORE TIME... Have made this again and, again, wasn't disappointed. THIS IS THE BEST, without exception! Anyone looking for the best Onion Soup Recipe on the Planet? You found it! This was the most incredible onion soup recipe we have ever tried. We followed the recipe exactly. .Make sure you cook the onions as suggested to almost a carmelized soft, syrupy, consistency. You may not need to adjust the salt in the end; the combination of beef and chicken broth and the Worcestershire and balsamic vinegar may be salty enough for many. The bottom line to this review, is if you want to really impress your family and friends with a onion soup recipe that is better than any restaurant recipe we have ever tried, USE THIS ONE! You will not be disappointed. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us.

One recommendation: I use croutons rather than sliced French bread. It is much easier than cutting through a thick piece of cheese-covered bread. Guests and family say they like that: it adds to the enjoyment and ease of eating without losing any visual appeal.

This is really good soup! I made it per the directions but I don't eat beef, so used an equal mix of chicken and vege-table stocks. This soup tastes a lot like what you might order at a nicer restaurant. I do question the use of mozzerella and asiago cheeses - two Italian cheeses - in something that is so decidedly French. I personally was not a fan of the resulting taste and next time I will combine parts of this and my recipe, which calls for the use of Gruyere or true Emmental swiss (no substitutions). If desired, throw into the soup the rind of one hard French or Swiss-made cheese of your choice, doing so after removing kettle from flame to rest (about ten minutes). I also use sherry wine, not balsamic vinegar, because my grandmother always used this flavor in soups and casseroles. The sherry imparts a subtle sweet-smokey flavor that is a nice counterpoint to the Gruyere's mild tanginess. Remove cheese rind, and ladle the soup into bowls. Top with a 1/2 in. slice of dense, day-old, crusty french baguette that has been lightly toasted beforehand. Top with Gruyere swiss or Emmental and continue with recipe, broiling as directed. I found just 3 minutes in the broiler was enough. Keep an eye out for over cooking - there is nothing worse than the taste and smell of burnt cheese.

This french onion soup has great depth of flavors!!! I pretty much stuck to the recipe except I used seasoned croutons instead of the bread & I omitted the mozzarella cheese as I didn't have any. I did miss the stringiness of the mozzarella ...gruyere has a wonderful flavor but it tends to just clump up. I did decrease the chicken broth some & used more beef (I used low sodium broths) & I aded a tsp. of beef base which really helped kick up the beefy flavor. This was a fairly hearty french onion soup, I think next time I might add more broth to thin it out some. The wine I used was a shiraz. A glass of the shiraz & a fresh salad was all the accompaniments it needed...thanks so much for a wonderful soup!

Excellent soup. I didn't read through the recipe first so I had to make 2 modifications. I had to use dried parsley and thyme. I used 1/2 tsp. parsley and 1/4 tsp. thyme and I only had enough swiss for one piece on top. Even with the modifications, we still rate this a 5. It has a deep full bodied flavor. Can't wait to try it again, but I will make sure I have the right amount of cheese and the fresh herbs.

I'm going to give it 5 stars even though it didn't quite turn out for me. I tried to double this recipe and my advice is...DON'T! It never reached the fabled gooey, almost carmelized state of which so many people spoke. I stood over the pot stirring for not 1/2 hour, but 2 hours hoping against hope it would all work out in the end. While it smelled great and the onion became soft, it never carmelized. Plus, my hair smelled like onion for two days from standing over onion steam for so long... While it was very very good I must only imagine how much better it would have been had it attained the gooey state. So, I'm going to try this again-without doubling it. I used the recommended cheese...don't substitute on the Asiago. MMMM GOOD!

YOWZA! This is THE BEST French Onion Soup Ever. Hands down. No contest. Game Over. Lights Out. Sell my clothes, I've gone to Heaven. AMAZING!

This recipe is a close spin on the 1999 cooksillustrated.com / America's Test Kitchen French Onion Soup Gratinee recipe, and could use a little less butter (about half) and less red wine. (For a more subtle and sophisticated version, replace the red wine with 1/4 c. sherry.) The sweet onions make the soup a little too sweet - better to stick solely with about 4 lbs. red or yellow onions. ATK omits the Worcestershire and the paprika as well. Also, better to let the dish rest a few minutes out of the broiler - it's too hot to serve immediately.

This was excellent—as good as any restaurant version. However, it is misleading to think onions caramelize in 35 minutes. I think it takes about an hour to get great sweet caramelized onions. There are a couple of tips that I think help: After the onions have started cooking for about 10 minutes, add the required salt but also add SUGAR to help with the caramelizing process (about 1 – 2 tsp). Continue letting the onions cook, only stirring OCCASIONALLY. If you are constantly stirring the onions, they won’t brown. I usually set my timer for every 5 minutes, stir, and then reset for another 5 minutes. When the onions start sticking to the pan, let them stick and brown, but then stir them before they burn. Once the onions were done, I followed everything per the recipe and it came out delicious! I will definitely be making this again!

A friend I was with yesterday had FO soup in one of our more upscale restruants, so I had a hankerin' to try it today. This recipe rendered a much-superior soup than she had! Easy and delicious!

I made this soup last night and HOLY WOW! It was fantastic! This is my second attempt at French Onion and I think my search is over. Even better than Panera and Atlanta Bread! Thanks so much!

This was every bit as good as what we were served at a 5 star restaurant last weekend. I got my own rave reviews.

Hi! Recipe creator/contributor here. Thanks for trying the onion soup and for all the thoughtful reviews. Just a couple of comments I thought might be helpful. The 1 teaspoon of salt in the beginning of the recipe cannot be omitted as it is necessary for the proper caramelization of the onions. However, at the conclusion of the simmering process, please be sure to taste the soup before deciding to add any more salt (or pepper). Also, the addition of balsamic vinegar at the end is very important--not only for taste--but also because there's a chemical in red onions that tends to turn the soup gray and cloudy, and the balsamic vinegar corrects that. Lastly, while my broiler does take 4-5 minutes to melt the cheese properly, that's probably because I place the baking sheet on a lower rack. Yours may take less time. Well, thanks again for all your kind comments... and, enjoy!

I found this recipe here about a year ago and have been making it often since then. It is without question the best French onion soup we have ever tasted! I follow the recipe exactly as written here and have not had any problems. But I must comment that I have often seen recipes here that have been negatively reviewed by people who clearly did not follow the recipe and then got a bad result, as is the case with "Suzie." The fault is not with the recipe, but with the cook. It's a shame that such reviews are given the same consideration on this forum as all the others. Again, my family found this recipe to be extraordinary--delicious and easy to prepare. We love it!

Great recipe - even when I skipped the cheese & bread topping. Yes, I love the cheesy lid too, but I didn't have the ingredients for that part so I just did the soup. A few changes ... I used regular yellow onions and dried parsley, swapped the quantities of beef & chicken broth, basically to work with what I had on hand. Despite these changes, it turned out great! Tip, after browning the onions, add the wine & allow it to reduce by 1/2 before adding the broth. This infuses the onions with a lovely sweet ,mellow winey-flavour. Delicious. I will defiantly make this one again ... and again ... and again!

SOOO good! I've tried about six different recipes for French Onion Soup, and I was always seriously disappointed until this recipe. It's not too salty, the wine adds a nice flavor without being overpowering, and the beef with chicken broth was a nice combo. HOWEVER, I did a few things a tad differently, just because I worked with what I had lying around. 1. I used ALL yellow onions (It was all I had!), so I threw in 1/2 tsp of sugar with the salt while I cooked the onions. 2. I also had only 40oz of beef stock (a big box and one can) and no chicken broth, so I used all the beef stock plus 22oz water (just to make sure i had the correct amount of liquid) and I threw in a chicken bouillon cube. 3. I didn't have fresh herbs so i used dried (1tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1 bay leaf) plus added some herbs de provence (I didn't measure, just threw some in). 4. I added only 1/2 tbls of balsamic vinegar (has to be GOOD kind! Balsamic vinegar is NOT something to be cheap with. It can totally ruin a great recipe!) and then remembered the poster's comment that the vinegar counteracts a chemical reaction caused by RED onions. Since I had no red onions, I didn't add the other 1/2 tbls. Other than that, everything was followed exactly, and this recipe is a KEEPER! :)

Very good! I tripled this recipe. I prefer my onion soup a little more chunky so I added a lot more onion to it. Otherwise made as written (aside from going wild with the cheese). Fabulous flavor! Thanks for the recipe!

Absolutely Delish! I will definitely keep this one in my repertoire. Missing something, not sure what, for the best one I've ever had-but it come in a CLOSE second. YUM!

I followed the recipe exactly (other than using croutons instead of the French bread) and WOW, it was delicious!!! The only thing I might do different next time is reduce the amount of wine to 1/4 cup or maybe just use a milder tasting wine. I used a Merlot and the "wine taste" seemed just a bit overpowering. Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing!... This made exactly 4 soup crocks full, so my husband and I ate the other 2 for lunch the following day and I must say it was even better the second day!! It was so good I'm thinking next time I might make the soup a day ahead of time and allow it to sit in the fridge overnight, then reheat it the following day and do the bread/cheese thing... Either way, YUM!!!!! :)

One of the best onion soups I have ever tried. I reversed the amounts of the chicken and beef broth but otherwise it is fantastic.

Fantastic. Tip: dried thyme, parsley and a bay leaf fit perfectly in to a tea bag. take the tea out and refill with my herbs. :) Works great!

This is the best French onion soup I have ever tasted. I love french onion soup and order it often whenever we go out. There is a restaurant by us that makes a phenomenal one and this one beats it. It did take me a long time for the onions to carmelize but be patient. It does happen. This is key to the success of the soup. You need to add the salt at the beginning but I did not add additional salt at the end b/c I knew there was going be salt in the cheese. It turned out perfectly. I don't have oven proof crocks. So I sliced the bread and toasted it with a slice of swiss. Once that was toasted for a bit I then added the grated asiago on top. Toasted (in the oven) for a bit more. Ladled the soup into bowls. Added a pinch of asiago cheese and then toppped with the toasted cheese slices. It worked out great. I completely forgot about the paprkia though ! Didn't make an ounce of difference. Will absolutely be making this over and over again. This is a great soup for a cold winter day. I would also suggest making large batches of this when you need to feed alot of people. It's very satisfying and filling. Comfort food at it's finest ! ~Changes to recipe~ I used low sodium beef broth and low sodium chicken broth~ Simply for health reasons. Thanks Again !!!

I can tell the flavor would be wonderful. HOWEVER, the only pot I had on hand was non-stick. Onions will not caramelize in a non-stick pot. Next time, I'll be certain to have a pot without teflon.

AWESOME! I followed the recipe as written, but used white wine, and garlic croutons instead of bread. 4 onions made enough for 3 large soup bowls. It took prob 40 min for the onions to carmelize. I did everything in a huge frying pan, then broiled the bowls of soup/croutons/cheese on the top rack of the oven for 2.5 min.

awesome!!!! thanks. Used croutons, too...it's easier! For those of you who had trouble caramelizing onions on the stove top...you can do it in the crock pot. Use one pound of onions and two tablespoons of butter per quart in your crock pot. (So a six quart crock pot can caramelize six pounds of onions with 12 tablespoons of butter) Pile onions into crock pot, add butter to the top, stir after a few hours and leave on low overnight. http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/canning/caramelized-crock-pot-onions/)

Excellent! Even tasted delicious when made with vegetable broth and no-chicken stock (I was worried). Used dried herbs because that is what I had on hand and made my own worcestershire sauce because I was out: equal parts soy sauce and white vinegar with a dash of hot sauce). At the end, I sliced french bread and broiled both sides until lightly browned and then topped with shredded Swiss cheese and fresh parmesan and broiled again until cheese was bubbly. Placed toasted bread over bowls of amazing soup! Fanstastic recipe - Thank you!!

This is the recipe that made me sign up for this site. I saw the picture and felt I had to make it. Now, let me say, the experience of eating this was somewhat mindblowing for me. On one hand, it's delicious food. On the other hand, I felt like I ceased to exist as I ate it. That's how good it is. It really takes food the next level. Follow the recipe exactly and you'll end up with the potential for an enlightening lesson in what good food can do for you! A note: I recommend going to the full 35 minutes recommended for caramelizing. I thought the onions looked syrupy and I think I jumped the gun at 25-30 minutes of cooking when I poured in the broth. So, go the full 35. This recipe is a work of art.

Thanks so much for this fine recipe! My wife and I made it one rainy day and we jst loved it! Be sure to double the batch and freeze the remainder because it really freezes well. At the same time, unless you intend to cook the whole batch in the bathtub, don't increase the serving size to more than double cause' it's a lot of onions! MAKE THIS!

I've made this 5 or 6 times this fall/winter. I usually make a double/triple batch so we can freeze half of it. I also use some of the tips and ingredients from the recipe "Rich and Simple French Onion Soup" so I guess I make a combo. Delicious! I cook the onions for at least 2 hours though, otherwise they are not carmelized enough for our liking. I also use more yellow onions, fewer red, and more beef broth, just some chicken broth. I do add a little sherry as the other recipe calls for and even my husband, who is not a fan of sherry, loves the soup and doesn't want a thing changed. Little does he know that I pretty much make it differently each time since I can't remember all of the little things that I change... but he says it is one of the best things I make.

Delicious! It takes time to make this soup but definatley worth it!! We followed the recipe to a T and it turned out great. Tip when using the broiler = keep your oven door open slightly, this way you can watch the cheese melt properly and it wont burn. I find closing the door tends to burn a lot of food when broiling, this trick will stop that :)

Magnifique! This is the only recipe I will ever use for french onion soup. Please follow the directions! The key is caramelizing the onions and adding your balsamic right before serving (I add a little extra because I love it). It's easy to sub in spanish onions or even a couple yellow onions in a pinch. I use either mozzarella or gruyere, whatever's handy. I served this today with a thrown together nicoise salad with a honey balsamic dressing, and french bread with honey butter. TRIFECTA of flavor, my friends. TRIFECTA.

I am a throat cancer survivor....SOUP is and will be my main diet for life...THIS soup is AMAZING...I have had TONS of soup over the past few years and this is by far one of THEE BEST...I did sub the soy sauce instead of the vinegar and it was absolutely the best. I have searched hi n low for a good french onion recipe. Thank you for the recipe and thank you ALLRECIPES....you ROCK!!!....I am the other

I had never made French Onion Soup before, and this recipe was very easy to follow. It also turned out delicious. DH was very skeptical (not an onion fan), and I was nervous as I went along, but it all came together really well. TIP: Don't skip the toasting step. I thought it seemed unnecessary and time consuming, but it helps your bread not just soak up soup and sink. If your bread sinks (like mine did), your cheese doesn't have something nice to brown on top of. EDIT: I've made this a few more times now, and it's still amazing!!

This was delicious. I made is exactly as written, served it with an iceberg wedge with bleu cheese dressing, chopped toasted walnuts and bacon crumbles. It made 4 very generous servings. I used my mandoline slicer (made by OXO) for the thinly sliced onions, it worked perfectly. With the mandoline making such quick work of slicing the onions, it was actually quite easy to prepare. It does take a bit of time to caramelize the onions, but since it is the most important step, take your time!

Excellent and delicious! I have extremely little experience cooking and followed the recipe as written. Due to kosher restrictions, I used beef and chicken flavored bullion cubes dissolved into the appropriate amount of water instead of actual chicken and beef stock. This allowed me to use cheese for the final steps, which I think was much more critical to the final outcome. I made this for my wife on her birthday, and she absolutely loved it, and keeps asking for it!

This soup is really good, but I used half chicken broth & half beef broth. I also only used shredded Gruyere cheese & I took the thyme leaves off the stem & left the leaves in the soup. I did not add the parsley & paprika, but they were not missed. Next time I may only use beef broth. I used low sodium broth & would recommend using full sodium broth. For the wine, I used a not too sweet port which gives the soup an interesting dimension, but may try a drier wine next time. As written, I don't think I would like the soup, but it's easy to adjust to your own tastes.

Fantastic! I made this tonight. I was determined to follow the recipe exactly because of the rave reviews and number of saves. Unfortunately I was out of Thyme of all things. I used Tarragon instead..not the best choice but it still came out fantastic. I'll make this again and again. Note: This soup takes 10 minutes to cool enough to be eaten without getting second degree burns.

This recipe is very, very similiar to my own version. I add garlic to the onions while onions are cooking, I use beef and chicken stock from the carton instead of canned, omit the vinegar and add my secret ingredient --- a cup of coffee!!!

This IS a great soup recipe. The only thing I would change the next time is to use less chicken stock and more beef stock or beef consume. I've never used beef base as another reviewer mentioned, i might ty that as well. It was very good as is but just not beefy enough for our tastes.

I hate to be the sole naysayer here, but this soup was just bad. My whole family threw their noses up at it, and this is a family that could live on French Onion soup. This recipe is very similar to how I make my own, with the exception of the red onion (I use only vidalias), the vinegar and the worstershire. The flavor was just way, way, way too salty with an acidic taste. I also normally use beef and chicken stock, so I am sure the broth, along with the worstershire, contributed to the salty taste. I will stick to my own recipe, which is raved about from now on.

My hubby loves french onion soup and has been wanting me to try it at home for 4 years. I finally got the oven safe crocks and last night printed out this recipe to try. WOW I don't think I will try another recipe! I was so excited because I had everything on hand. I did only use 3 onions instead of 4 - which I felt was fine. Also used Italian style croutons instead of bread slices, its what I had but I think we like it better with croutons anyway because its easier to eat. The only wine I had was Marsala, so fearing it might make the soup too sweet I only used 1/3 cup instead of the 1/2 called for and it was fine - to compensate I added a little water and a bit more worchestshire. Also did not have fresh herbs, so I used about 1 Tbsp. dried parsley and approx. 1 tsp. dried thyme and omitted the bay leaf. Used swiss cheese for the slices and for the shredded I used an Italian blend which had Asagio, fontina, mozzarella, etc. Broiling on the middle rack for just over 4 minutes was perfect....the cheese had crusted and was nicely browned - I feared I had burnt it but I think I pulled it out just in time! A bowl of this and a salad was enough for us for dinner, and I have leftover soup to freeze. I plan on trying this recipe on company too. Thanks so much to the submitter for your 30 years of perfecting this recipe!

This soup was awesome! Hubby thought it was great. Was a little too salty for me. Probably will use low sodium broth (either chicken or beef) next time. Only had swiss (Baby Swiss) on hand and just the dried herbs. Got a little carried away with the balsalmic vinegar. Still was wonderful. Didn't have red wine on hand so I threw in a little white wine. If you get the bread nice and brown, the edges remain crunchy. Will be making this often. Best French Onion Soup we have ever had! Thanks!

Most french onion soup has a tendency to be more like gravy then soup like, but not this recipe. I absolutely love this soup. Thanks a million!

Excellent! I think next time I will try a different type of red wine (I used cab) I also used "Texas Toast w/cheese" in place of the French Bread toasted because I had it on hand and didnt want to purchase a loaf of french bread that would go to waste.My opinion is that 30 minutes cooking the onions in the first place is too long...

Excellent! I used an Italian sweet red wine.

I love French onion soup! This was really good, but I could taste the wine a bit more than I would have liked. I don't find red wine to stand out when I use it in other recipes, but I'm not a big red wine drinker so I will either use a bit less or use a white wine instead when I make this next. And I will make it again!

This was FANTASTIC. I had French Onion Soup at a restaurant not long ago and thought that I had never tried making it. So this is the recipe I used. VERY good. I followed the recipe exactly except that I don't eat bread. So I ate it without. This is one of those recipes that is easy & delicious and...will be used again!

Yea this recipe is on point. I go with gruyere cheese and it's definitely better but i've tried with the swiss and thats fine also.

I never thought I'd like this recipe -- chicken broth, in a french onion soup recipe!? However, it turned out better than most other recipes I've tried and you can't even see or taste that it's mostly chicken broth. (I do think I switched them around though and used mostly beef and some chicken). I used Very Dry Sherry instead of red wine, because I think it tastes phenomenal in FO soup. Definitely a keeper.

This is the best French Onion Soup I have ever made or tasted. It's better than the restaurants in my opinion. I get together with my 3 best friends for coffee once a month and made this for our get together shortly after Christmas. They also said it was the best French Onion Soup they have ever tasted. The balsamic vinegar is a weird ingredient but it makes the broth clear. I was doubtful but amazed. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I will surely be making it again.

This was as good as everyone said it was. It had a slightly more "gourmet" flavor than those I've had at casual restaurants, but we loved it! For those who, like me, never drink wine and thus never have it on hand, I substituted (for the wine) 1/2 c. of grape juice soured with 1 tsp. of red wine vinegar and is turned out just great.

Great recipe and relatively easy. I went with some others and used (herbed) croutons rather than bread, but the hubby said that he would prefer without flavored crouton, plain would suit him better. We also both thought that this was a bit earthier than we would have liked, but that's probably just our particular pallete. All in all pretty darn good. Easy, and delicious!

This is the closest recipe I have found for that awesome French Onion Soup. Maybe the wine I am using is not complimenting the soup like it should, but this was really good and my favorite thus far.

One of my go to's if I'm looking to impress with a soup.

After reading all the fantastic reviews I decided this was definitely a recipe to try. Unfortunately it didn't turn out for me at all. For whatever reason mine reeked of wine and tasted nothing like any french onion soup I've ever had. I was quite disappointed.

Superb. I have made this recipe multiple times and every time it has received rave reviews. I personally add a bit less onion, but that is my personal taste. The first time I made it I used the full complement and still got plenty of compliments. Great recipe!

Amazing. I used about a cup of dry red wine. Other than that I made it as written. Absolutely divine recipe... thank you for sharing!

Yummy! I have been searching for a French Onion Soup recipe similar to the one my mother made, and the is the closest I've ever been able to find! My local grocery store didn't have fresh bay leaf, so I had to used dried, and I used provolone cheese (because I LOVE it). Otherwise, I followed to the tee, and it turned out great. My boyfriend, who says he's never been a fan, thought it was awesome. Thanks for sharing!

I've never attempted to make French Onion soup but after seeing all the rave reviews, I had to try this recipe. No doubt about it, this is the best soup I have ever tasted! It was easy to make and made a terrific appetizer for our London Broil. Thank you so much for sharing!

Was very good - followed recipe exactly. I will go with Swiss the next time I make as I spent $21 on Gruyere cheese (2 bricks).

Made this recipe today for lunch. It is wonderful. I would highly recommend this to any one who loves french onion soup.

Excellent, easy to prepare and quick. My only changes were that I skipped the salt as it is totally unneccesary given the broth additions later (even though I used low sodium broths) -- and I used a pre-shredded cheese mixture from one of the now-common pre-packaged zip-lock bags of cheese (asiago, parmesan, mozzarella, etc). Also, I left the bay and parsley in and removed it later without going through the twine tie step. I used cooking sherry for the wine. Great recipe!

This was awsome and really easy to make. Was a hit at my home.

Absolutely fantastic and as close to restaurant quality as you will find.

AWESOME! My family LOVED it. I made it for father's day, huge hit!

Made this last night. One word: Amazing.

Made this last night very good no changes, for toast I had a bouguette rubbed it with garlic oh so good.

I followed this recipe exactly and made this soup a few nights ago to break in my new Le Creuset stockpot that was gifted to my husband and I for our wedding. Wow, this soup is amazing. I didn't have a bay leaf, or sprigs of fresh herbs, so I just used the dried versions and everything tasted awesomely. Instead of 4 onions total, I used about two large (one sweet yellow, and one red) onions that I sliced super thinly and that seemed plenty for us. For the cheese component, I used two slices of Provolone topped with several slices of Asiago cheese, placed on thick slices of French bread that I had placed over the soup. I broiled under the broiler until the cheese was blistered and melty. This is the most unique and flavorful French onion soup I've ever had.

I've been wanting to try my hand at French Onion Soup for a while now. I chose this recipe over Julia Child's only because this cooking time was shorter. This turned out not to be true in my case. The onions took nearly 90 minutes to caramelize. There was so much liquid accumulated, I had to drain it off to get them to brown. Not wanting to lose all that great flavor, I added it back in gradually with the broth. I did not add the Balsamic Vinegar since the flavor was already amazing! Couldn't find Gruyere cheese at my local store so used Munster & Mozzarella. I took the suggestion of some other reviewers and used croutons instead of toasted bread. Worked fine. Next time I'll try the bread for comparison. 4 stars is only due to the cooking time. This was truly delicious! I love that it can be made a day ahead for company and then easily finished for the table. Excellent soup!! Will be making this for a long time to come! Aunt Tilly

I thought this would be good based on all the reviews but blecht. Not good. Maybe it was because of the wine I used, merlot. I've had better soup from a packet.

I loved this. I need a bigger pot to make it in next time though, because my onions steamed instead of caramelizing properly. I did wind up getting them caramelized a bit once I was able to put my full attention on them though. I used dried herbs -- 1 tsp parsley and 1 tsp thyme. I'd have used fresh if I had them available, but dried worked ok for me. I'd use this recipe again if I had a craving for French Onion soup, it's better than Panera (and mine was less salty because I made my own broth). Thanks for the recipe!

Just like a 5 star restaurant!

This is a fantastic recipe! I followed the directions as written and we managed to get five bowls of soup. We just didn't have the cheese overflowing over the edges of the bowls, but it was plenty. I also used onion and garlic flavored croutons instead of the bread to make it easier. This was so easy and I was able to keep it on the stove while waiting until it was time to bake them with the cheese and serve. I had never made French onion soup before, but I will be making this recipe again for sure. Thank you so very much for this delicious and easy recipe! Five star all the way.

I was in France a few weeks ago and while I was there I had French onion soup. This Recipe has almost Exactly the same flavor... Fabulous... The only changes I made was 1 (48 fluid ounce) can BEEF BROTH and 1 (14 ounce) CHICKEN BROTH. Traditionally french onion soups is made with a beef base and is fairly heavy. I also added mozzarella cheese, asiago, and the swiss.. Fantastic Recipe! Defiantly a keeper!

This is one of the best recipes out there for French Onion Soup. I occasionally replace the wine with Sherry but that is personal preference. If you want to impress your guests stick to the recipe. You can't go wrong.

My first attempt at French onion soup was a hit! I forgot to pick up the fresh herbs so I cut the top off of a tea bag emptied it and filled with the right amount of dried retied it with its own string and simmered it with the broth. My husband said Excellent which is a feat as it his favorite and he get it at every place that has it on the menu!!! as I scaled it to 2 servings since its not really a kid friendly soup. I may try it with sherry next time as some have suggested. Its really rich and filling! I topped with provolone slices, a small amount of grated asiago and shredded swiss since I was running low on just swiss. I WILL make again!

this recipe, as is, is a perfect french onion soup! A bit of work and tears, but well worth it! I wouldn't change a thing!

Hi all ! What amount of dried parsley and thyme should I use if I don't have fresh herbs ? Thnx !

"delightful" "lovely" were the words coming out of my husbands mouth while he ate this :) I made almost as directed but had to improvise homemade vegetable stock with half a chicken stock cube and we had swiss emmental in the fridge so we used that for the cheese. Would definately make again and again.

The best soup I ever made!!! I made this soup for 14 people! We used two large deep oven pans on the stove. We divided the recipe into each. Beacuse of the large amount of onions needing to be carmleized, this worked out beautifully! We had to wait about 45 minutes for carmelization. We used more low sodium beef broth and less chicken broth. We used a dry, full bodied Merlot for the wine. It turned out so well!! We keep the heat up on the pans a little long. The soup reduced a lot. We poured in more beef broth, Worcestershire, and Merlot to allow for more broth. We also had it on the stove for 3 hours before we served it! We toasted the baguettes in the oven and used only caved aged Gruyere Cheese. This was a hit! I will defiantly try this recipe again! Next time we are going to allow the soup to simmer for a couple hours so the reduction is less pronounced.

This was really good and pretty rich. As another reviewer said the salt helps to carmelize the onions when cooking it on the stove, so don't leave it out at this step. When first cooking the onions I stirred them less often to help them carmelized stage, but as they became carmelized I would stir more often to prevent burning. I used swiss cheese and mozzarella because I couldn't find gruyere or asiago, but these cheeses didn't have enough flavor to contrast the broth and I ended up pulling a lot of the cheese out - so I will use gruyere and asiago in the future. Also, for toasting the bread, I put the pan on the highest shelf - but make sure to watch the bread because it will start smoking if left for longer. For melting the cheese I had the top of the bowl at 6 or 7 inches from the burner because I was concerned that my bowl would break. At this lower position, the cheese still browned very nicely and I didn't even need to wait the entire five minutes. Finally, I stored the extra broth in the refrigerator without the cheese or bread and then just heated the broth up on the stove the next day, and toasted the bread and added the cheese the next day. For the wine, I used an inexpensive grocery store brand because other flavors covered the merlot so it didn't make that much of a difference that it wasn't a "nice" merlot. Thank you for the recipe!

I agree with everyone that this does turn out quite good. I would suggest one minor modification, however. As a general rule, I always season beef with at least a little bit of garlic. I followed the recipe but noticed it didn't have that extra little zing. A quarter to a half teaspoon of garlic powder changed all of that! You don't actually taste the garlic- no one will ever know that its there. It just accentuates the flavor of the beef. Goes great with a roast beef sandwich :)

Excellent !! Best french onion soup I've ever had!!

This is the soup I have been searching for :) We all loved it and followed the recipe as is. A bowl full of chessy yumminess :)

I have made this recipe several times, and it is delicious just the way it is..thanks for sharing!!

Loved it--I followed the directions exacly and it came out great!! Hubby said it was one of the best FO soups he's had!! Thanks for the post! :)

I would give this 6 stars if I could!!! French Onion Soup is my ultimate comfort food, and it doesn't get much better than this! Sometimes I'll substitute Parmesan for the Asiago, and use dried herbs instead of fresh ones, but otherwise I stick to the original recipe.

This soup is to die for! Wonderful flavor..yum. The only thing I did differently was that I added about a Tbsp. of olive oil to the butter so the butter would not burn & also, I didn't have fresh thyme or parsley so I used about 1/4-1/2 tsp. of the dried stuff. This soup has such a rich flavor to it. If I could, would give it 10 stars!

Great recipe to base your soup on. A couple tips. I used provolone cheese. Which is the cheese used in most restaurants. I ended up using 1/2 the chicken stock because I prefer a beef base broth. The chicken stock is a must, but just not that much. I used Merlot and it did have a sweeter taste to it. Next time, I'll probably use a red wine that is more dry. All in all it is a great recipe once you put your own twists on it.

This was SO good. Aside from not buying fresh thyme (sprinkled a bit of ground thyme in instead, but did use fresh parsley and the whole bay leaf), I followed the recipe exactly. I had French Onion Soup for the first time on a very intoxicated night in Vegas... we had $100 room credit at theHOTEL that we hadn't used and it was our last night, so we blew all $100 on room service :) I was skeptical but my male suitor told me it was to die for.. this soup was just like that. I had made a recipe awhile back that I saw in a magazine that was extremely sweet and nothing like my experience with this soup in Vegas, but this was spot on. It's exactly what I remember, so tasty. This soup was very robust and hearty, I near licked my bowl clean and was peeling bits of cheese off the side of the ramekin and baking sheet. Mmmmm! I wish I had more! I used gruyere with a bit of mozzarella and parmesan on top as well, then after I pulled them out of the oven I sprinkled a bunch of crispy onions on top! Ha! So tasty. I forgot the paprika. Doh! Anyway, just make it, and make it as it's written. It's very good!

That was outstanding!! I only had sweet and yellow onions, so I used what I had and was thrilled with the results. I used swiss and fresh grated asiago for the cheeses. I'm sure this will be a staple for cold winter nights! Awesome recipe! Thank you!!

I'm adding my vote for this delicious onion soup. The worcestershire and vinegar take this over the top. My boyfriend loved it as well! But then he likes everything I make (lucky gal that I am!!)

This is absolutely delicious. Even my onion-hating daughter liked it!!!

This was just fantastic!

OMG this soup is to die for. Made it exactly as written. This is the best I have ever had.

wonderful!

I always order this at restaurants and each place has a different tasting soup. I usually find it much too salty but this recipe was not. The only odd thing is that it was really sweet tasting. I agree with other reviewers and next time I will use white onion instead of sweet. I also thought I would have WAY too many onions when I cut them (I filled an entire mixing bowl) but they shrank down a lot.

My husband and friends liked it alot. I think next time though I'll use more beef broth than chicken. It wasn't beefy enough for me. I also have a suggestion for those with kids or not enough oven safe bowls. After broiling the bread, broil the cheese on top of it. You can then set the cheesy bread in the bowls full of soup (cut it up for the kids). The presentation isn't the same, but it is just as delicious.