French onion soup is a classic restaurant dish that can easily be made at home! Our recipe is rich, inviting, and delivers restaurant quality results every time. What makes this version special is the combination of deeply caramelized onions, robust red wine, and beef bone broth that creates layers of complex flavor in every spoonful. Topped with baguette slices and an extra special bubbly, golden melted cheese, this soup is the ultimate cozy comfort food for fall and winter.
As a Midwesterner who’s developed dozens of soup and main dish recipes for this website, soups and chilis are a huge part of my fall and winter diet thanks to the very cold weather we experience for about half the year. But I have an especially special connection to this French onion soup because it reminds me of my father in law, who orders it without fail every single time it’s on a restaurant menu. I originally began working on this recipe after his retirement (which happened to be right before the pandemic) because these life changes dramatically changed his access to this beloved soup (no more client lunches, and well, you know, staying in for a while there). I wanted to create the ultimate homemade version just for him.
I tested this recipe multiple times, adjusting the wine type, experimenting with different broths, and perfecting the caramelization process to get the deep, complex flavors just right. The key to exceptional French onion soup is patience during the caramelization step. Through all my testing, I’ve learned that slowly cooking the onions for 30 to 45 minutes really transforms them from sharp and pungent to sweet and deeply flavorful. I’ve also made this soup with bone broth instead of regular beef broth, which adds extra protein, collagen, and nutrients to make it even heartier. My father in law was the official taste tester for this recipe, and it passed with flying colors!
So whether you’re hosting a fall or winter dinner party, looking for a new soup recipe to master, or in need of comforting meal, this French onion soup is a must try.
Jump to:
- Why You’ll Love This Easy French Onion Soup Recipe
- Best French Onion Soup Recipe Ingredients
- How To Make French Onion Soup With Red Wine
- Expert Tips for Making French Onion Soup with Red Wine
- What to Serve with French Onion Soup with Red Wine
- How to Store the Best French Onion Soup
- Best French Onion Soup Recipe FAQs
- More Recipes To Try
- Easy French Onion Soup Recipe
Why You’ll Love This Easy French Onion Soup Recipe
Rich, Deep Flavors. The combination of caramelized onions, red wine, and beef broth creates complex, restaurant-quality taste that’s incredibly satisfying.
Impressive but Straightforward. While it takes about 75 minutes to make, the technique is simple, the time spent caramelizing the onions creates amazing depth of flavor, and the results look and taste like you’re a professional chef.
Cozy Comfort Food. Nothing beats the warm, melty cheese and savory broth combination!
Best French Onion Soup Recipe Ingredients
- Salted Butter. Creates the rich base for caramelizing the onions and adds depth of flavor throughout the cooking process.
- Yellow Onions. The star ingredient that becomes sweet and deeply flavorful when slowly caramelized.
- Bay Leaf and Fresh Thyme. Add aromatic, earthy flavors that complement the onions and create the signature French onion soup taste.
- Garlic. Provides savory depth of flavor that enhances the caramelized onions without overpowering them.
- All-Purpose Flour. Used as a thickening agent to helps create a heartier, more substantial soup consistency.
- Red Wine. Adds rich, complex flavor and used to deglaze the pan after the onions are cooked, helping us to get all those delicious caramelized bits into our soup.
- Beef Broth. Provides the savory, meaty base that makes this soup deeply satisfying and flavorful.
- Salt and Pepper. Allows you to adjust seasoning and enhance all the other flavors in the soup.
- Baguette. Creates the classic bread topping this soup is known for that helps to soaks up the broth and provides textural contrast.
- Merlot BellaVitano Cheese. Melts beautifully under the broiler to create that signature golden, bubbly cheese top that makes French onion soup so irresistible while also adding a little special flair. You can also use a more classic Gruyere or Swiss Cheese if desired.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Broth Options For French Onion Soup
You have several broth options when making this recipe:
- Beef Broth – this would be the standard broth used in this soup recipe and is a great option if that is what you have in your pantry
- Beef Stock – this is pretty much the halfway step between broth and bone broth. Based on how stock is made, it is generally thicker and has more protein, vitamins, and minerals than broth.
- Beef Bone Broth – this is the type of broth I’ve recommended for our recipe because it adds a lot of additional protein to your dish, as well as collagen and all kinds of nutrients. Because of this, bone broth French onion soup is much heartier, making it more sustaining! I like and use this beef bone broth.
The Best Wine For French Onion Soup
While I’ve created our recipe with red wine (because I love how red wine plays off of the beef flavoring from the broth), you can use both red wine and white wine to make your soup. No matter which type of wine you choose, select a wine you’d enjoy drinking on it’s own!
- The best red wine for French onion soup: select a drier red wine, such as a Pinot Nior (this is what I use), Merlot, or a Cabernet Sauvignon
- The best white wine for French onion soup: select a drier white wine, such as Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, or an unoaked Chardonnay
How To Make French Onion Soup With Red Wine
Caramelize onions with butter and herbs: Melt the butter in a Dutch oven (or another thick-bottomed soup kettle) over medium heat. Add in the onions, salt, bay leaf, and the sprigs of thyme and cook the onions until caramelized (~30-45 mins), stirring frequently. When caramelized, remove the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme. Add in the garlic and cook until aromatic (~30 seconds)
Optional step to thicken your soup, add flour: Stir in flour to coat onions, allowing to thicken for 1-2 mins
Add liquid: Deglaze your pan by adding the wine and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Then add in the bone broth and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper to taste
Prep crocks and melt your cheese: Heat your oven’s broiler. Spoon soup into crocks or oven-safe bowls. Top each bowl with 2-3 slices of bread and a generous amount of cheese. Broil to melt cheese (watch your soup closely!). Serve immediately
Expert Tips for Making French Onion Soup with Red Wine
When putting your soup crocks under the broiler, place them on a baking sheet! Doing this makes it much easier to handle your soups, and safer to remove from a very hot oven.
Using a Dutch oven to caramelize your onions will be faster than a large saucepan. I’ve made this recipe using both my Dutch oven and a large-sized soup kettle. Based on how a Dutch oven conducts and retains heat, it made the caramelization process faster (by almost 10-15 minutes!).
What to Serve with French Onion Soup with Red Wine
French onion soup is often served ahead of the main meal at restaurants. You could do this at home as well. Alternatively, serving this soup alongside a hearty fall salad or paired with your favorite sandwich would create a delightful meal!
How to Store the Best French Onion Soup
Store fully cooled leftover homemade French onion soup, without the baguette slices, in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat the soup in the microwave, or in a pan on the stovetop, until your desired temperature has been reached. For the full experience, transfer to an oven-safe bowl or crock and top with fresh baguette slices and cheese and heat under the broiler as noted in the recipe card.
How to Freeze the Best French Onion Soup
Yes, you can freeze French onion soup with red wine! Transfer fully cooled soup, without the baguette slices, to an air-tight freezer friendly container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, allow the soup to thaw in the fridge overnight and then reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Best French Onion Soup Recipe FAQs
To give your homemade soup that restaurant vibe, you will want to serve your soup in a crock, like these. The mini cocottes shown in the photos are a little smaller, but I love them! You can also check your local home goods store for soup crocks. You can also use smaller sized oven-safe bowls. I usually serve this soup to my family using our everyday Fiesta stoneware bowls.
While this recipe uses a specialty cheese, Merlot Bellavitano (it’s just so good!), Gruyere, and Swiss cheese are both excellent cheese options for this recipe.
More Recipes To Try
Easy French Onion Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon salted butter
- 3 lbs yellow onions, thinly sliced (approx. 3-4 large onions)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Optional 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 C red wine (I use Pinot Noir)
- 4 C Beef Bone Broth*
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Baguette, sliced into ½" pieces
- Merlot BellaVitano Cheese, grated*
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or large soup kettle over medium heat. Add in the onions, salt, bay leaf, and the sprigs of thyme and cook the onions until caramelized (~30-45 minutes), stirring frequently.
- When caramelized, remove the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme. Add in the garlic and cook until aromatic (~30 seconds)
- Optional step to thicken your soup: stir in flour to coat onions, allowing to thicken for 1-2 mins
- Add wine and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze. Add bone broth and simmer for 10 minutes
- Add additional salt and pepper to taste prior to spooning into crocks
- Heat your oven’s broiler. Spoon soup into crocks or oven-safe bowls. Top each bowl with 2-3 slices of bread and a generous amount of cheese. Broil to melt cheese (watch your soup closely!) and serve immediately
Heather Lupo says
So easy to make, and absolutely delicious!! Thank you!
Meredith says
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed our French onion soup recipe Heather!
Meredith says
Great recipe, thanks!
Mary says
Yum! Just the thing on a cold winters night! This is the second time I’ve made this recipe. I substituted Nokomis Cranberry wine for the Pinot Noir. I also substituted Cardamom for the Thyme. Delicious. The Guyere tops it off. Really love this! So did my husband!
Meredith says
So happy to hear you’ve made this recipe several times! Glad everyone enjoyed it, even with some changes.
Mary Kruse says
Amazing. Especially the wine,bay and thyme flavors !
ourlovelanguageisfood says
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it!