Happy Thursday friends! Tonight I’m posting my recipe for French onion soup. This is one of my all time favorite dishes. If we go out to eat and it’s on a menu, you better bet your sweet ass that’s what I’m ordering. You could say I’m borderline obsessed. When I make soup, I hardly ever follow a recipe, but I wrote this one down so I could share with you all and have the recipe at my finger tips for future soups-capades at home (I get really into making soups and stews when the weather gets cold, so brace yourselves for a slurry of them!)
For the record, I had this three nights in a row. I also use store bought French bread for my “crouton” for sake of ease. I slice them up ahead of time and just keep them in a Zip-loc baggy so they are ready to pop on top of the soup. You can even toast the bread before or while on the soup (sans cheese) to crisp it up a little before you add the cheese. I topped these with one slice of provolone and two slices of Mozzarella. (Yes, that’s a lot of cheese. I’m aware and if you are going to judge me based level of my cheese intake, please remove your negativity from this cheese positive space.) . I’m usually a fan of artisinal cheese, but for this recipe, good old deli slices get the job done.
So here it goes! I’m sure it’s certainly not authentically “french” but we liked it!
- 6 Vidalia Onions, sliced
- 4 gloves garlic, minced
- 2-32 oz boxes Beef Broth
- Beef Base (homemade- see notes) OR Beef Bouillon cube
- 2 Tbsp flour (or Cornstarch if need to be Gluten Free) prepared according to instructions
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 c red wine
- 1/4 c bourbon
- 1 Tbsp Dijon
- 1 Tbsp Balsamic
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 pkg Lipton French Onion Soup and Dip Mix
- Dash of cinnamon
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 3 sprigs of fresh Thyme
- 1.5" thickness- sliced French Bread from local bakery
- Deli sliced provolone (1) and mozzarella (2 per serving)
- Thyme for garnish
- Brown butter in skillet and add onions. Do this in two batches. (You want to give the onions a little space so they will brown and caramelize. If you put too many in one skillet at a time, they will just steam each other and no caramelization will occur).
- Transfer onions to soup pot and add wine and bourbon.
- Let this cook down for about 10 minutes or until the alcohol starts to evaporate.
- Add Dijon, balsamic, brown sugar, cinnamon, Thyme and Lipton seasoning packet.
- Let this cook over Medium-high for about an hour.
- Now add your flour/cornstarch mixture. (You don't want this soup to be thick, but it adds a small amount of texture and works wonderfully here!)
- Add salt and pepper to your liking.
- Heat oven to 400 F and turn broiler on to High.
- Place soup bowls on baking sheet for easy transport.
- Ladle soup into bowls and top with one slice of french bread, leaving the top of the bread slice exposed.
- Cover with cheese and put the whole tray of soup bowls into the oven.
- Broil until cheese starts to bubble and brown.
- Remove, let cool and garnish with sprig of Thyme.
- We used a beef base that we had frozen left over from a smoked/slow cooked beef shank. It was about 1/2 c of concentrated flavorful juice straight from the cooking of the beef, no water added.
Sharing a photo of what the seasoning box looks like, I always forget and have trouble finding it in the store so here it is!
What’s your favorite warm weather soup? I’d love to hear what your favorites are! Comment below!
