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Home » Soup » French Onion Soup From Scratch

French Onion Soup From Scratch

January 8, 2015 by Tracy | Updated December 14, 2020 This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

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a crock of soup with bread and melted cheese with Pinterest pin text.
crock of soup with onions and bread with Pinterest pin text.
crocks of soup topped with cheese and onions with Pinterest pin text.
a bowl of soup with a spoonful of bread and onions and Pinterest text.

This is hands down, the best French Onion Soup From Scratch with a secret ingredient that makes this soup better than any other - homemade ham stock!

crocks of soup with melted cheese

What a crazy end of the year / beginning of the year it's been!  A ski trip to bend, and just the general craziness of the holidays, phew. However, one of my favorite part of this holiday season is the holiday ham. And what do we get from holiday hams? This amazing French Onion Soup From Scratch!

This soup is so good, that we've made an obscene amount of for two people and happily ate it for days and days reveling in it's deliciousness from the 1st bowl on day one to the 4th bowl on day 4.  It is that good.

Key to French Onion Soup

ham in a dutch oven

It's ham! Did you make a holiday ham? Did you make a Sunday ham? No matter what, save that ham bone, and especially that grease!

ham bone in a dutch oven with ham stock

Because then, you can make a Ham Stock! Which is truly key to this recipe. I mean what makes more sense than ham stock in a onion and cheese soup?? It's like a delicious bowl of ham and cheese!

No joke.  We've done this twice now, bought a ham when it was on super sale then cooked it when we were ready for French Onion Soup.  The ham?  Oh yeah that got used to make sandwiches (like the amazing Croque Monsieur ) and quiches (like the Spinach Ham and Cheddar Quiche), but those are all afterthoughts.  The focus of this ham is totally, hands down, no questions asked, this soup. Why?  Because of that deliciousness right there.And the ham bone.  Once we stripped the ham and put away all of the meat, I added water to the ham grease and bone in my beautiful new Le Crueset Dutch Oven!  It was an amazing surprise Christmas present from my studly husband even though we had said no gifts because we'd bought ourselves a brand new amazing mattress for Christmas. He's so sneaky.

onions and butter on cutting board

And because we had about 3 quarts of stock, I sliced up 8 onions.  5 large white and 3 smaller sweeter yellow onions. Proper onion to broth ratio for this soup is also key. That ratio: the more onions the better!

Tip: Use both white and yellow or just white or just yellow. Use whatever you have / want.

sautéed sliced onions in a dutch oven

Into the Dutch Oven with a few of tablespoons of butter for the proper slow simmering of the onions.  Slow being the operative word.

cooked sliced onions in a dutch oven

The key for the onions are sautéing them over low / med low heat, stirring regularly ensuring no burning (you don't want the usual quick browning) of the onions.  Any burnt onions would throw the flavor of the soup way off.

two loaves of bread

Meanwhile, I took a couple of loaves of Dan's Como Bread out of the oven. Mmm fresh bread.

Our cheese of choice for this recipe is Gruyère and sometimes a little fresh mozzarella, too!

dutch oven with ham stock and onions

Once the onions were nice and soft and tender, we added them all back into the Dutch Oven with the ham stock to heat up on medium.

When it all heated back up, we turned our oven to broil, ladled in the onions and broth, and my adorable husband sliced a few pieces of the fresh Como Bread to fit our new little soup crocks.

On top of the bread we added a healthy dose of the shredded gruyere.

crocks of soup with melted cheese and a spoon

Under the broiler for a couple of minutes until all the cheese was melted and out came this French Onion Soup From Scratch- one of my absolute favorite soups!!

crocks of soup with spoonful of onion soup

 It's just sooo incredibly flavorful.  The ham broth truly makes this soup. That and all of the onions and the homemade bread and the melted nutty gruyere.

crocks of soup with spoonful of onion soup

I'm obsessed with this French Onion Soup From Scratch.  I have yet to find another that's as delicious and I'm sure it's because of that ham stock!  This is a seasonal classic in our household now, for sure!

crocks of soup with spoonful of onion soup

Helloooooo perfection! Seriously, we absolutely LOVE this soup and make it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. we have a leftover ham bone!

Leftover Ham Recipes

Spinach, Ham, and Cheddar Quiche

Denver Omelette Waffles

Our Other Favorite Soup Recipes

Crock Pot Beef Pho

Homemade Hot and Sour Soup

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Chickpea Kale Curry Soup

Rhode Island Calm Chowder

Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!

crocks of soup with melted cheese.

French Onion Soup

5 from 6 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Soup
Prep Time: 4 hours
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 5 hours
Author: Tracy

Equipment

  • Dutch Oven
  • or large stock pot

Ingredients

Make Ham Stock

  • 1 quarts ham bone
  • ham grease from cooked ham
  • celery, onion, carrots, fresh garlic - whatever you have to add flavor
  • 5 large white onions sliced thin
  • 3 small yellow onions sliced thin
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 tablespoons salted butter
  • Fresh Como Bread Slices cut to fit soup crocks
  • 1-2 Shredded Gruyère cheese
  • 1/2 - 1 tablespoon of salt pending how salt rich your stock is
  • Fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Make Ham Stock

  • To make homemade ham stock, add ham bone and ham grease from cooked ham (optional), with 4 -5 quarts of water and whatever veggie scraps you have. Heat on medium high until boiling and then turn down to simmer for 2-4 hrs or until you have a lovely rich stock.
  • You can prepare this in advance and store the stock in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 6 months.

Prepare Onions

  • In a Dutch oven or large stock pot, sauté sliced onions with garlic and butter slowly on medium / low heat, stirring constantly, and cooking for about an hour or until caramelized. Be sure that the onions do not burn!
  • Add ham stock to onions and heat (if stock was previously made) until stock is fully heated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble Soup

  • Turn oven to broil and set tray to 2nd level.
  • Fill soup crocks with onions and broth, add fresh sliced bread, and top with cheese. Put crocks on baking sheet (to catch any dripped cheese) and broil for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.
  • Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes

Yields about 4 quarts of soup.
Substitute gruyere for some fresh mozzarella. 
Make it in advance!  You can freeze the ham stock and onions for up to 3 months.
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Comments

  1. Megan Marlowe

    August 11, 2015 at 5:48 am

    I have the same bean crocks! I cannot wait until the weather cools down a bit so I can indulge in soup and this one looks like perfection!

    Reply
    • Tracy

      August 13, 2015 at 6:38 pm

      They're great, aren't they?? They're a gift from my MIL when she heard we were making her soup but didn't have the proper crocks 😉

      Reply
  2. Crash MacDuff

    January 19, 2015 at 8:31 am

    Reblogged this on Crash Course.

    Reply
  3. indusinternationalkitchen

    January 16, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    This looks soooo… good! My mouth is watering! I love French onion soup and this recipe looks great - i am definitely going to pin this! thank you! 🙂

    Reply
  4. But That's For Another Blog

    January 16, 2015 at 8:38 am

    I would love to try to make this, but I'm pretty sure cutting all those onions would make me cry out my soul... if it's still hanging around 😉

    Reply
  5. The Novice Gardener

    January 15, 2015 at 5:00 pm

    Ham broth for French onion soup! You are a genius!

    Reply
  6. cookingwithauntjuju.com

    January 12, 2015 at 7:44 am

    Love onion soup - interesting that you use ham stock in your soup - I am sure it is good 🙂

    Reply
  7. Feast Wisely

    January 11, 2015 at 11:12 pm

    My husband nags at me to make this - maybe now I will finally give it a go! Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  8. Hilda

    January 10, 2015 at 3:30 pm

    This is the first French onion soup I have seen using ham, but it does make perfect sense. Will have to try it for one of our winter meals. Thanks for sharing your mother's in law beautiful recipe.

    Reply
  9. Kloesunny @ Kloe's Kitchen

    January 10, 2015 at 9:00 am

    Just thinking about this soup yesterday. I am going to have to try your recipe some time soon!

    Reply
  10. toozesty

    January 10, 2015 at 6:56 am

    I like french onion soup but my dad goes crazy for it. We'll have to make this the next time a visit him. I've never heard of using ham broth in french onion soup either but I bet it lends an awesome salty smokey flavor vs. beef stock and wine. Do you think a butch would be willing to sell a ham bone only?

    Reply
  11. Arl's World

    January 09, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    I love French onion soup. This looks so good!!

    Reply
  12. heididmedina

    January 08, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    I've been meaning to make French Onion Soup. You just kicked me in the butt to get it done. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Tracy

      January 09, 2015 at 9:29 am

      Thank you, Heidi for visiting! 😀

      Reply
  13. Sue

    January 08, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    this post really did me in. First the ham broth. We use hambone for pea soup but I have never ever heard of using it for onion soup. That is flat out genius. Ham and cheese sandwich = classic; ham broth + cheese in soup = new classic! Then the damn Como bread! I wish I could be over at your place right now! Fabulous.

    Reply
    • Tracy

      January 09, 2015 at 9:28 am

      Haha, I love this, Sue! I wish I could take credit, it's all my mother in law- she's one smart cookie who can make a mean cookie! I wish I could care package this soup to everyone I know because it's so good I just want to share it with everyone! 😀

      Reply
  14. nancyc

    January 08, 2015 at 7:31 pm

    I absolutely love French Onion Soup–yours looks so good!

    Reply
    • Tracy

      January 09, 2015 at 9:27 am

      Thanks, Nancy!

      Reply
  15. strawberrymintsays

    January 08, 2015 at 1:09 pm

    My favorite soup! This looks delicious!

    Reply
  16. Julie is HostessAtHeart

    January 08, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    This looks delicious. Anything to warm the bones is on my favorite list!

    Reply
    • Tracy

      January 09, 2015 at 9:26 am

      I agree!! I prefer the term "Soup Season" over "Winter" 😉

      Reply
      • Julie is HostessAtHeart

        January 09, 2015 at 5:06 pm

        That does have a better ring to it.

        Reply
  17. Ginger

    January 08, 2015 at 11:41 am

    I love onion soup! Unfortunately I am alone in this, so I'll have to drool over your pictures ...

    Reply
    • Tracy

      January 09, 2015 at 9:26 am

      Looks like you'll just have to make your own personal batch! 😉

      Reply
      • Ginger

        January 09, 2015 at 9:59 am

        I imagine so 😉

        Reply
  18. Stephanie @ The Cozy Cook

    January 08, 2015 at 11:23 am

    DAAAHHH French onion soup is my FAV-FAV-FAVORITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With that yummy cheese... omg.. I'm eating a lean cuisine as I'm looking at this and that's just not fair. Poor choice Steph, poor choice.

    Reply

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