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crocks of soup with melted cheese.
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5 from 8 votes

French Onion Soup

Course Soup
Prep Time 4 hours
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 5 hours
Author Tracy

Equipment

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.

Caramelize Onions

  • In a Dutch oven or large stock pot, sauté sliced onions with garlic and butter slowly on medium stirring often, and cooking for about 10 minutes. Then let the onions caramelize and only story every few minutes for at least another 50 mins or up to 3 hours until caramelized. Be sure that the onions do not burn, but a little sticking to the pan is what will help develop the brown color. If they’re sticking too much, add a tablespoon of water. To quicken the caramelization, you can add a teaspoon of sugar.
  • 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.