Onion soup is a traditional French dish. And, if you are even a little fond of cooking, you must have heard of onion soup.

At first glance, it seems that a dish whose main ingredient is onion simply cannot have a very pleasant taste. But believe me, the French are the best chefs in the world, and in their hands even the most ordinary products turn into incredible delights of haute cuisine. If you decide to cook a classic onion soup, the recipe should not be changed at all. Cooking technology plays a key role in the process and affects the taste of the finished soup.

How to cook onion soup correctly?

In order to make the classic French onion soup perfect, you need to know some tricks of its preparation.

• Onions need to choose sweet varieties. While frying, the sugar in the onion will caramelize in the pan. It will also give the vegetable the necessary brown color, a special aroma and taste. Therefore, it is important that there is as much sugar in the vegetable as possible.
• In order to turn onion sugar into caramel, it is necessary to properly process the onion thermally. Namely: first fry the onion rings in a pan over high heat until they release the juice, and then simmer over low heat, stirring constantly.
• It is best to caramelize onions with a combination of butter and olive oil. So the taste of the product will be even thinner.
• In order for the taste of the classic French soup to be rich, the onion must be cut into thin half rings and sautéed for 30-40 minutes. Sometimes cooks increase this time to several hours, but this is already extreme.
• You can take the broth on any meat (or even vegetable). In the traditional version of the French dish, onion soup, the recipe involves the use of beef broth. To enhance the specific taste, it will not be superfluous to add dry white wine, cider or sweet sherry.
• The classic recipe uses Gruyere cheese, which can be replaced with Emmental. Cheese should be cut into thin slices or grated and added at the very end of cooking.

Classic recipe

Now is the time to move from theory to action. We begin to cook onion soup, we give the classic recipe first. If the taste of the dish is already familiar to you, and you want to change or supplement it a little, see the recipes below.

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1.2 kg onions
• 1.5 l beef broth
• 150 ml cider
• 150 g Gruyere cheese
• 4 tbsp. l. butter
• 6 slices of loaf, dried in the oven
• 2 tsp chopped thyme leaves
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• pepper, salt

How to cook onion soup according to the classic recipe?

The first thing to do is melt the butter. All onion heads, peel, wash and cut into thin half rings. Divide them into separate layers, pour into the pan. Make the maximum heat for 2-4 minutes, until the onion rings release their juice. Add thyme and salt, reduce heat and sauté the vegetable for 20 minutes, covered. Stir from time to time.

Pour cider into the pan, add sugar. Bring to a boil, simmer the onion over medium heat until the caramel color of the liquid has completely evaporated (about 30 minutes).

Warm up the meat broth. Pour over the onions, cook for another hour after boiling.

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees. Divide the onion broth into 6 serving pots. Place a toast on top, sprinkle with grated cheese. Place the soup pots in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is completely melted.

Remove the French onion soup from the oven, let it cool slightly, and then you can serve the first one for lunch or dinner.

Onion soup with bacon and white wine

This French soup recipe cannot be called a classic, although its preparation technology remains traditional. Bacon, wine and chicken broth included in the composition give the first their flavors. Connoisseurs of this combination, for sure, there will be.

Required set of products for 3 servings:

• 500 g sweet onion hand
• 6 strips of bacon
• 1 glass of dry white wine
• 700 ml chicken broth
• 100 g grated Gruyere cheese
• 6 toasted baguette pieces
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp Sahara

How to make Bacon and Onion Soup

Cut the bacon into pieces, fry in a deep frying pan or saucepan until crispy.

Peel the onion, cut into half rings. Sauté the onion in the bacon fat over high heat until the juices come out. Then reduce the heat, add the amount of salt and sugar indicated in the recipe, simmer until caramelized for about 40 minutes.

Pour wine into saucepan. Simmer onion rings until half of the liquid has evaporated. Add chicken stock. After boiling the soup, turn off the burner.

Turn on the grill in the oven. Pour the semi-prepared soup into portioned heat-resistant plates or pots. Place 2 slices of baguette on each plate and sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake the French onion soup until you see the cheese is browned. This will take approximately 20-25 minutes.

Let the hot dish cool slightly and serve.

Simplified soup recipe

There is not always time and desire to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Therefore, even a dish such as French onion soup can be prepared in a somewhat simplified version. Let it not have a classic taste, but still the soup will turn out to be hearty, rich and very fragrant. And this is the main thing!

Required Ingredients:

• 4 large juicy onions
• 1 liter broth (any choice)
• 100 ml port
• 100 g hard cheese, grated on a coarse grater
• 50 g butter
• 6 slices baguette or loaf
• ground pepper

How to cook?

Start with butter by heating it in a frying pan. Pour in the onion, cut into thin half rings. Fry over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramelized.

Transfer the fried onion half rings to a saucepan, pour hot meat or vegetable broth mixed with port, season with salt and pepper. Simmer the soup in French over low heat for 20 minutes after boiling.

In the meantime, prepare the cheese toasts. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet, sprinkle with prepared cheese and bake at 180 degrees. 20-25 min. During this time, the cheese should be browned, and the bread should dry enough.

Pour the finished onion first into plates, put croutons on top of the soup.

Bon appetit!

When you decide to make onion soup at home, you can choose any of the recipes above. Whether it's a classic soup recipe, with bacon or a simplified version, success is guaranteed, because this French cuisine dish has been highly appreciated by the best chefs from around the world.