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This French Onion Soup with Beef Consommé is rich, cheesy, and deeply flavorful. Learn how to make the best homemade version—better than any restaurant!
Table of Contents
- Homemade French Onion Soup That’s Next-Level Delicious
- What Makes This French Onion Soup Special?
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How to Make French Onion Soup with Beef Consommé
- Freezing & Storing Tips
- Vegan & Vegetarian Options
- Questions About French Onion Soup with Beef Consommé
- Craving More Cozy Soups?
- How to Make French Onion Soup
- French Onion Soup Recipe
Homemade French Onion Soup That’s Next-Level Delicious
There’s something magical about a steaming bowl of French onion soup—especially when the broth is rich, the cheese is bubbly, and the bread is perfectly crisp. Honestly, this homemade version is way better than what I’ve had at most restaurants. Once you try it, you’ll never go back!
I love making this soup in the fall when onions are at their sweetest. The deep, savory broth paired with gooey, golden cheese and soft-yet-crunchy bread? Absolutely irresistible. And here’s my secret: beef consommé. It adds a depth of flavor that regular beef broth just can’t match. If you’ve never cooked with it before, you can find it in the canned soup aisle—usually right next to the beef broth.
What Makes This French Onion Soup Special?
- Beef consommé: This is the game-changer. It’s richer, more concentrated, and gives the soup an incredible velvety texture.
- Perfectly caramelized onions: The key to a deep, sweet, and savory flavor.
- The ultimate cheese topping: A mix of provolone, Swiss, and Parmesan (or classic Gruyère) makes every bite heavenly.
- Crispy, golden baguette slices: They soak up the broth without getting too soggy.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Butter – Enhances the flavor and helps caramelize the onions.
- Sweet onions – Yellow onions are the traditional choice for their natural sweetness.
- Garlic – Because garlic makes everything better!
- Thyme & Bay leaf – Add earthy, aromatic notes. Make sure to remove the bay leaf before serving.
- Beef consommé & Beef broth – The perfect combination for a deep, rich broth.
- Red wine vinegar – Balances the sweetness of the onions.
- French bread – Toasted until crisp, ready to soak up the broth.
- Cheese blend – Provolone, Swiss, and Parmesan (or swap in Gruyère or mozzarella).
- Paprika – A little extra flavor boost.
How to Make French Onion Soup with Beef Consommé
1. Sauté the Onions
Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat. Add sliced onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Stir often and let them caramelize—this takes about 30 minutes, but trust me, it’s worth it.
2. Simmer the Broth
Pour in the beef consommé, beef broth, and red wine vinegar, then let it simmer for another 30 minutes. For an extra-deep flavor, you can transfer it to a slow cooker on low for a few hours.
3. Toast the Bread
While the soup simmers, slice your French bread and toast it under the broiler until golden and crisp.
4. Assemble & Broil
Remove the thyme and bay leaf from the soup. Ladle it into oven-safe bowls, top with a slice of toasted bread, and sprinkle generously with cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and golden brown.
Freezing & Storing Tips
This soup freezes well, so make an extra batch to keep in the freezer for a day when you just don’t feel like cooking!
- Let it cool completely before freezing.
- Store in airtight containers or freeze individual portions.
- When ready to eat, thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave or stovetop.
- The onions will soften slightly after freezing, but the flavor stays incredible.
- You may need to adjust the seasonings, adding a little more salt and pepper to taste.
Pro Tip: Don’t freeze with the bread and cheese! Add those fresh when reheating.
Vegan & Vegetarian Options
You can still enjoy a cozy bowl of French onion soup without the beef! Simply swap in vegetable broth and a splash of dry white wine. For the cheese, use vegan mozzarella or Gruyère—it melts beautifully!
“My favorite! I absolutely adore soup of all kinds and I especially LOVE this soup! I never have it enough! So delicious! And deceptively easy! The caramelized onions, the rich broth… the perfectly broiled cheese on top. Yum!”
-Betsy
Questions About French Onion Soup with Beef Consommé
Onion soup can use a mix of onions, while French onion soup typically sticks to yellow onions and a rich beef base.
The classic soup gets its name from France. It was famous in the 18th century and became a famous soup from there on out. During that time, onions were inexpensive and easy to grow. This made them readily available and affordable for everyone to make.
White or yellow onions are always subtle and give a sweet flavor. Yellow onions are the traditional way and are sliced very thin. As an extra step, caramelize the onions to boost the richness and flavor of the soup!
Beef consommé is more concentrated, velvety, and full of deep umami flavor. It makes the soup restaurant-quality!
Craving More Cozy Soups?
If you love French onion soup, you’ll want to try these, too:
- Vegetable Beef Soup
- Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup
- Ham and Bean Soup
- Clam Chowder
- Roasted Tomato Soup
- Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Pastina Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Black Bean Soup
Let me know if you try this recipe—I’d love to hear what you think! Drop a comment below or tag me on Instagram with your cheesy, golden-brown creations.
How to Make French Onion Soup
French Onion Soup
Video
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick
- 4 medium sweet onions
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ground black pepper to taste
- 31.5 ounces Beef Consomme 3, 10.5 oz cans (found with the canned soups at the store)
- 10.5 ounces Beef Broth
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 4 slices French baguette OR 2 c. Parmesan croutons
- 8 ounces Gruyere cheese shredded
- Parmesan cheese to taste
- paprika to taste
Instructions
- Peel and thinly slice the onions.
- Melt butter in a stock pot. Add onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until onions are soft and brown (about 30-45 minutes).
- Add consomme, beef broth, and vinegar and simmer for another 30 minutes (at this point you can also transfer to a crock pot and cook on low heat for several hours).
- When ready to eat, toast French baguette slices in the broiler for about 2 minutes turning once, until lightly toasted on each side. Remove from broiler, but keep broiler on.
- Remove and discard bay leaf and thyme from the soup. Ladle soup evenly into 4 oven-safe serving bowls. Place a slice or two of French baguette into each bowl.
- Sprinkle cheese and paprika over the top.
- Broil for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
Notes
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- Make sure the soup has cooled completely before freezing, so it doesn’t run the risk of growing bacteria.
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- Freeze in individual servings or in airtight freezer containers. This makes it easier to thaw and reheat only the amount you need.
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- When you’re ready to reheat, remove the soup from the freezer and let it thaw in an airtight container in the fridge overnight. Heat the soup in a soup bowl in the microwave, stirring every thirty seconds or so.
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- Keep in mind that the texture of the onions may change after freezing and reheating. They can become softer and less crisp compared to freshly made soup.
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- You may need to adjust the seasonings, adding a little more salt and pepper to taste.
My favorite! I absolutely adore soup of all kinds and I especially LOVE this soup! I never have it enough! So delicious! And deceptively easy! The caramelized onions, the rich broth… the perfectly broiled cheese on top? Yum!
I love french onion soup! I made this last weekend when it was it was dreary, it was a perfect way to warm up. My family loved it too, which is always a plus!
This french onion soup is the perfect fall comfort food!
Yummy! This looks great. My mother in law loves this soup.
Oh my goodness! I absolutely LOVE French Onion soup and always order it. I had no idea it was so simple to make. Thanks for sharing.
Right?? It’s SO easy to make! Let us know how you like it!
This is my favorite kind of soup! I agree that making it with the consomme makes all the difference. Thanks for such a great recipe!!
Can it just be made in the crock pot , or do you have a recipe for the crock pot ??
Yes, this can easily be made in the crock pot 🙂
Do you have any suggestions on how to make a vegetarian version of this soup?
Hmm good question. You could try using vegetable broth but it probably won’t taste quite as good ;/ let us know if you try it and how it turns out!
I made this but it was extremely salty. I don’t have any experience cooking with beef broth or consomme. Afterward I Googled “what is the best beef broth” and the answer is the best broth is when you make it from scratch! But second best option is Better Than Bouillon – a jar of concentrated bouillon paste to which you add boiling water to make beef, chicken, or vegetable broth. Google results said that all canned beef broth is too salty – I had used Campbell’s beef consomme and Swanson’s beef broth. Google also told me that French Onion Soup can be made with chicken broth or plain water, so I bought the low sodium Better Than Bouillon chicken broth jar. I spooned out and strained the onions from my existing soup and discarded the salty beef broth/consomme, then prepped the Better Than Bouillon chicken broth and added my existing cooked onions. The results were much better for me than using the canned beef broth/consomme.
How many people does this serve? I have a family of four (the men usually go in for seconds) and I’m trying to decide if I need to double up on this recipe.
It makes 4 good-sized bowls… if it is your main course doubling-up might not be a bad idea.
My daughter made this and it was sooo good…..now I’m craving more….
If you can get broth from cooking a roast it is extra fantastic. And as crazy as it may sound, adding a few dashes of balsalmic vinegar before dishing it out, the flavors are intensified!
Great idea! Thank you for sharing! Will definitely try that next time I make a roast. YUM!
This recipe looks amazing. I live in an apartment with a low end stove. A lot of recepies I have wanted to make lately say to use broiler but we haven’t had much luck with it and it usually ends with the smoke detector going off. Any ideas on getting around this and would this recipe suffer without that step?
My advice would be just to watch it VERY closely. As soon as it starts to bubble, take it out. You could probably use a kitchen-torch if you have one!
Would like the nutritional breakdown, as I think this might be quite high in sodium, with salt, canned soup and cheese. Sure hope it falls in the acceptable range as it sounds delish.
I don’t have that information but you can plug this information into a source like livestrong.com if you needed to find out!
I love French onion soup and home made would be excellent. I have a question, what consommé do you use? Is it 3 cans of undiluted concentrate or do you dilute as per the directions on the cans?
UNdiluted for sure– don’t follow the directions on the can. We use beef consomme. Hope this helps!
I made this when I cooked in a restaurant but we used only about 2 tbsp of butter.. 1/2 cup it would swim in grease as there is also fat coming off of the cheeses. We also added about 2 cups of bar brand sherry for a large pot so I would think at least 1/4 cup for this size of recipe.
Great recipe easy to follow, turned out perfect thanks
Can I double the recipe
Sure!
I typically just skim the broiled cheese off the top but this I know I would devour!! =)