French Onion Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 6 large yellow onions (about 4 lbs), halved, and cut pole to pole into ¼-inch-thick slices (cut onion in half pole to pole, cut out stem, lay flat and cut pole to pole in ¼ inch slices)
- Table salt
- 2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
- ½ cup dry sherry
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups beef broth
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine
- 1 bay leaf
- Ground black pepper
- Cheese croutons:
- 1 small baguette cut into ½ inch slices
- 8 oz gruyere, shredded (about 2 ½ cups)
Directions
- For the soup:
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Generously spray the inside of a heavy bottomed (at least 7 quart) Dutch oven with non-stick cooking spray. Place butter in pot and add onions and one tsp of salt. Cook, covered, 1hr (onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume).
- Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are very soft and golden brown, about 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hrs longer, stirring onions and scraping bottom and sides after one hour.
- Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot,
- Cook onions, stirring frequently, and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing heat if onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes adjusting heat as necessary. (Scrape any crust that accumulates on spoon back into pot).
- Stir in ¼ cup of water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 to 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown.
- Stir in sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and ½ tsp of salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- For the croutons:
- While soup simmers, arrange baguette slices in a single layer on baking sheet and bake in 400 degree oven until bread is dry, crisp and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside. To serve: Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 ¾ cup of soup (or until soup reaches 2 inches or so from lip of crock). Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around the edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
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Nutrition Facts
| Amount Per Serving | %DV |
|---|---|
| Serving Size 520g | |
| Recipe makes 6 servings | |
| Calories 327 | |
| Calories from Fat 170 | 52% |
| Total Fat 19.34g | 24% |
| Saturated Fat 11.25g | 45% |
| Trans Fat 0.0g | |
| Cholesterol 57mg | 19% |
| Sodium 447mg | 19% |
| Potassium 442mg | 13% |
| Total Carbs 18.29g | 5% |
| Dietary Fiber 2.7g | 9% |
| Sugars 7.6g | 5% |
| Protein 17.11g | 27% |
