Easy recipe showing how to make the best French Onion Soup. This classic soup is made with plenty of caramelized onions and comes complete with a thick piece of toasted bread loaded with creamy Gruyere cheese. Easy step-by-step video included in this single serving recipe.
A hot bowl of French onion soup is the perfect meal on a crisp, cool day. It's especially nice with a thick slice of toasted bread loaded with melty Gruyere cheese and plenty of caramelized onions.
This soup is a bistro classic and is surprisingly easy to make.
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy: This French onion soup is absolutely delicious and so easy to make.
- Made with just 1 small onion: We use just one small onion which cooks low and slow and beautifully caramelizes giving the soup a wonderful flavor. Caramelizing the onions is one of the most important steps in making a good French onion soup. Caramelizing is a chemical process that occurs when the sugars in the onion turn brown when heated. The more caramelized the onions, the more flavorful they are.
- Recipe can be doubled: This small batch soup recipe yields one large bowl of soup but if you'd like to make a second bowl, just double the ingredients.
Ingredient Notes
See below for ways to use leftover ingredients.
- Butter: I recommend using salted butter.
- Onion: Use 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced.
- Garlic: 1 clove of garlic adds great flavor.
- Seasonings: Dried thyme, salt, and black pepper.
- Red wine: This helps to deglaze the pan after the onions have cooked. If you don't want to use alcohol, it is fine to use broth instead.
- Flour: To thicken the soup. I typically use all-purpose flour but you can you a gluten-free blend instead.
- Broth: Typically, french onion soup is made with beef broth but good store-bought beef broth is hard to come by. I've found that most packaged beef broth has a slightly "tinny" taste. Instead, I use chicken broth. It makes the soup perfect every single time.
- French bread and cheese: The best cheese to use for French onion soup is Gruyere - it is traditional. However, if you don't have any, use Gouda, Swiss, Fontina, or Mozzarella.
For this soup recipe, I use a 2-quart saucepan. For best results use a pot of similar size.
RELATED: Single Serving Comfort Food Recipes
How To Caramelize Onions
The first step to making classic french onion soup is to caramelize the onions. Essentially, you're taking the sliced raw onions and transforming them into sweet, decadent, and completely irresistible onions that serve as the base of this dish.
Since this french onion soup recipe yields a single serving, I use one small onion. In truth, the size of the onion doesn't completely matter. It could be small or it could be medium - in the case of french onion soup, the more onions the better.
The onion is sliced into thin strips and added to a small saucepan with melted butter. The onions caramelize which means that as the onions slowly cook, the natural sugars in the onions release and result in a wonderful sweetness that will transform any dish they are added to. The process of caramelizing onions takes a little bit of time, for this soup recipe I recommend cooking the onions for 25 minutes.
How To Make This Recipe
See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes.
- Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the flour doesn't burn.
- Stir in the chicken broth and bring the soup back to a simmer, cook for 10 minutes.
- Taste and add additional salt, if necessary.
How To Prepare The Bread
While the soup is simmering, prepare the bread.
- Heat the broiler. Place the slice of French bread on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the Gruyere cheese over the top and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3-4 minutes.
- Place the bread in a soup bowl and pour the soup over the top.
Expert Tips
- Traditional french onion soup calls for Gruyere cheese and I highly recommend it. Gruyere is rich, it's smooth and it melts easily. See the Ingredient Notes section above for cheese alternatives.
- Another key ingredient to a good french onion soup is the broth. Typically, french onion soup is made with beef broth but good store-bought beef broth is hard to come by. I've found that most packaged beef broth has a slightly "tinny" taste. Instead, I use chicken broth. It makes the soup perfect every single time.
RELATED: The Best Soup Recipes For One
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use white, yellow, or red onions for French onion soup. My preference is to use a sweet yellow onion.
Leftover wine…is there really such a thing? Sure, you could always pour a glass for yourself and sip on it while cooking or relaxing. But what if you only use wine for recipes?
If that’s the case, you can freeze wine by pouring the wine into plastic ice cube trays and placing the trays in the freezer. When you want to use a little wine in a recipe, pop out one of the frozen wine cubes and add it to your recipe.
No, you can use dry vermouth or brandy instead. Using alcohol in French onion soup is totally optional. You can leave the alcohol out altogether and use a little bit of broth to deglaze the pan as instructed in Step 2 of the recipe.
Store the soup without the bread in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. To reheat, bring to a boil on the stovetop. The cheesy bread is best when made fresh.
What To Do With Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this French onion soup recipe, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving recipes:
- Onions: Vegetable Casserole, Meat Sauce, Pan Fried Okra
- Garlic: Chicken Cacciatore, Hummus, Baked Beans
- Chicken broth: Chicken and Dumplings, Lentil Stew, Chicken Fricassee
- Bread: French Bread Pizza, Breakfast Bread Pudding, Croutons
- Gruyere cheese: Ham and Cheese Scones, Crustless Quiche Lorraine, Baked Pasta with Roasted Vegetables
Other Single Serving Soup Recipes
- Curried Butternut Squash Soup
- Thai Shrimp Soup
- Curried Carrot Soup
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Minestrone Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Potato Soup
- Clam Chowder
- Zuppa Toscana
Serving Suggestions
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French Onion Soup For One
See the post above for expert tips,
FAQs and ways to use leftover ingredients.
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 small yellow onion , halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic , chopped
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- ¼ cup red wine
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 thick slice French bread
- ¼ cup shredded Gruyere cheese
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes.
- Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the flour doesn't burn.
- Stir in the chicken broth and bring the soup back to a simmer, cook for 10 minutes.
- Taste and add additional salt, if necessary.
- Heat the broiler. Place the slice of French bread on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the Gruyere cheese over the top and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3-4 minutes.
- Place the bread in a soup bowl and pour the soup over the top.
Notes
- Traditional french onion soup calls for Gruyere cheese and I highly recommend it. Gruyere is rich, it's smooth and it melts easily.
- Another key ingredient to a good french onion soup is the broth. Typically, french onion soup is made with beef broth but good store-bought beef broth is hard to come by. I've found that most packaged beef broth has a slightly "tinny" taste. Instead, I use chicken broth. It makes the soup perfect every single time.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Christina says
This tasted amazing!