Easy onion soup recipe | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between onion soup and French onion soup? ›

What is the Difference Between Onion Soup and French Onion Soup? French onion soup is always made with beef stock. Other onion soups can be made with chicken, vegetable, or beef stock. Additionally, French onion soup typically contains wine or sherry, which isn't typical or necessary in other onion soups.

Dry white wine: this helps to deglaze the pan and add a boost of flavor. Beef broth: I recommend a good quality beef broth or beef stock for the best flavor. You can also use a mix of beef and chicken stock.

The two soups are very similar, yet quite different. Both make use of slowly cooked, caramelized onions. However, the French version always uses beef stock, baguette, and Swiss or Gruyere cheese. The English version uses any type of stock (beef, chicken, or vegetable) with any sturdy bread and Cheddar cheese.

French onion soup is the ultimate comfort food. Onions get slowly cooked until sweet and caramelized, then simmered in rich broth until they're practically falling apart. To finish it off, toasted bread is added to give it that lovable crisp-gone-soggy texture and a generous amount of Gruyère cheese is melted on top.

Made slightly thicker than most watered down soups because every mouthful NEEDS a slightly thickened texture to compliment the caramelized onions.

What Is French Onion Soup? French onion soup, or soupe à l'oignon gratinée, is a classic French dish made with caramelized onions and beef stock or broth. The soup is topped with bread and cheese, then gratinéed to rich, gooey perfection. It's traditionally served in a ramekin or a ceramic crock with a handle.

"If your broth is lacking in savory richness, try adding roasted onion, tomato paste, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, or miso. These ingredients add umami flavor and depth to broth," she says. The choice of ingredient depends on the recipe, though.

If you don't add enough salt, pepper, or other herbs and spices, the soup may taste bland.

Onion soup, at its very essence, is nothing more than onions and water boiled together. Period, done, finished, everything added from that point on is pure opinion. Caramelizing the onions brings out sugars, and makes a more luxurious silky and sweet soup, adding flour gently thickens and provides body.

It has even become a trendy dish that tourists are eager to try to experience French gastronomy. However, onion soup is in fact not part of French people's daily meals. It was originally meant to be eaten after a family reunion in the middle of the night to cure hangovers…

What ethnicity is French onion soup? ›

When you are sauteing onions to build flavor as a base for your dish (soup, tomato sauce, you name it), the yellow onion is your friend. That being said, white onions are a totally acceptable substitute for yellow, especially if you're cooking them.

A few sprigs of thyme and a bay leaf elevate the soup even more, but I take it a step further, adding a splash of fish sauce for complexity and depth—don't worry, it won't taste fishy—and a hit of cider vinegar to balance some of that oniony sweetness.

Bread: I use toasted slices of French baguette rubbed with a bit of fresh garlic to make them extra delicious before adding them to my soup. It's the best! Cheese: The best cheese for French onion soup is Gruyère. It melts beautifully and tastes earthy and nutty, which works nicely with the savory soup base.

With such a soup, a knife is your friend, not your enemy. Using both the soup spoon and the knife, push the baked cheese against the rim of the cup or bowl and cut it gently with the knife. Once you've broken the cheese barrier, you can use the knife again to nudge bits of cheese onto the spoon.

I'm told that French Onion Soup is called just “onion soup” in France, but to more accurately describe what we have come to know is called Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée. Gratin is a culinary technique in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg or butter.

In traditional French cuisine, soups are classified into two main groups: clear soups and thick soups. The established French classifications of clear soups are bouillon and consommé.

First, French onion soup calls for a ton of onions. While onions aren't expensive, there's a lot of labor involved in halving, peeling, and slicing 10, 12, 50, or one billion onions (I don't know how much soup you make).

What is the difference between French onion dip and regular onion dip? French onion dip is typically made with French onion soup mix, a mixture of dried onions and beef bouillon. Onion dip is made with only onions.