How to Perfect Julia Child's French Onion Soup in Your Own Kitchen

French Onion Soup was one of the first recipes Julia cooked on The French Chef, and for good reason—it is a classic that personifies French cuisine. But it is a working-class dish in Paris—affordable and accessible, as Julia liked things to be.

Julia Child's French Onion Soup.

In July 1962, in a pilot episode of The French Chef, Julia Child inspired home cooks everywhere to slice onions efficiently and to make the most French of dishes: Classic French Onion Soup. At the time, President Kennedy and his wife hosted dinners at the White House featuring glamorous and refined French cuisine. American cooks were fascinated, but few understood how to cook restaurant-quality French dishes.

This did not stop Julia, who encouraged American cooks to make French Onion Soup at home, even if they needed to use canned beef broth. She even advised cooks on embellishments that made canned beef broth taste homemade. There is a reason the world loved Julia. She took everyone where they were and inspired them to cook. Many viewers listened, and French Onion Soup became one of Child's most popular recipes.

Why is French Onion Soup Often Bad, Watery, or Bitter?

After years of ordering French Onion Soup in restaurants, I know one basic truth: it is nearly always disappointing. The soup is bitter, watery, or tastes too salty. The bread

becomes soggy, and the cheese melts inadequately. Or the broth is so tasteless that all the melted cheese in the world can't save it. But this does not have to happen when you make French Onion Soup at home because you control the dish's quality.

The Broth

In The French Chef, Julia advises viewers to use canned stock if needed. I am convinced that canned options today are of less quality than in the 1960s. Even in my cooking life, I've seen canned stock go sharply downhill. I started buying and eating broth in a Vietnamese grocery store, and the reality of how bad canned broth is hit me. Canned beef stock is typically not very good. Julia recommended grating a little fresh onion and adding some good cognac. That helps. I also have found that adding some Better than Bouillon paste (a product designed to enhance broth-Anthony Bourdain used it to embellish his broth) greatly improves the quality of canned beef stock. .

If there is only one thing you could do to improve the quality of this dish, it is clear:

make your beef stock. Real, restaurant-quality beef stock makes all the difference between a run-of-the-mill soup and a masterpiece. Making beef stock can be done hands-off using a crockpot or sped up using an instant pot or pressure cooker. American cooks fear using beef bones, and that's a shame. Your grandmother and great-grandmothers knew how to do this and found beef stock a great way to use up beef bones. You can do this.

Making beef stock is not complicated: I use the recipe and technique from The

Spruce Eats. Get a few beef bones, including some with meat (I used a bag of purchased bones and a beef shank for $12), and roast them in the oven for around an hour. Throw in onions, carrots, and celery, roughly cut, for another hour or until golden and caramelized. Put in a pot with 3.5 quarts of water, dried or fresh rosemary, thyme, and a bay leaf, and simmer for several hours. Strain and refrigerate or freeze.

If you choose not to make your beef stock, use the best canned stock you can find, or use homemade or canned chicken stock. Embellish the beef stock with Better than Bouillon and fresh grated onion. Also, Costco, Sam's Club, or grocery store rotisserie chicken you can't resist makes great stock. Simmer the carcass in water with onion, carrot, and celery for a couple of hours. Chicken stock, homemade or canned, is often much better in this dish than poorer-quality beef stock. If you caramelize your onions, you won't even notice the lighter color of chicken stock. The stock you use is up to you, but the broth makes this dish, so putting in a little extra work is worth it.

The Onions

In an excellent article in Serious Eats on French Onion Soup, Daniel Gritzer tested a variety of onions. He found that a mix of onions got the best result, with plain,

inexpensive yellow onions a close second. That is my advice: use yellow onions and throw in a sweet or red onion if you have one. Slice the onions thinly, about 1/8 an inch. If you watch Julia slice the onions on The French Chef, you will notice how quickly and efficiently she slices onions. It's okay if it takes you a bit longer. Cut each onion in half, give it a little turn, and slice away.

The Cheese

Julia used a combination of Swiss and Parmesan cheeses. I like to do the same. Aldi

sells a good Gruyere and Swiss mix and a Gruyere block cheese. Trader Joe's also sells good Gruyere cheese inexpensively. If those stores are not an option, go for the best Swiss cheese you can find and afford, and throw in a little Parmesan. For my soup today, I used a Swiss/Gruyere blend from Aldi for under $5 and a bit of Parmesan, also from Aldi, for around $4 for 8 ounces. The results were very, very good.

The Bread

I love making homemade bread, but that usually isn't an option because of time limitations. I used a take-and-bake baguette from Aldi for this recipe, which cost under $2. Panera sells a wonderful baguette for under $4, and Whole Foods sells a good loaf for the same price. You can use any bread you prefer. You can use a round cookie cutter to cut a little toast circle out of a standard piece of bread. It's okay to be creative and use what you have on hand.

Extras

Like many other cooks, Julia liked to add some cognac or brandy. I add a tablespoon or two of good brandy. It makes the soup more well-rounded and nice if you have it. She also advocated adding a poached egg to the soup and showed the viewer how to do this. If you don't overcook the egg, it breaks into the broth and enriches it. But I love a well-poached egg on almost anything. This soup becomes a hardy meal in Paris with a poached egg and extra bread.

Instructions and Technique

Step One - Brown Onions in Butter/Oil

The first step for French Onion Soup is the most important one. Heat butter and oil

in a heavy skillet or pot and dump in your sliced onions. Cook the onions slowly until they are a deep golden brown but not beyond. If you cook the onions until deep dark brown, they are less appetizing and may be bitter. It's hard to tell how brown Julia Child wanted the onions in her recipe because the video is in black and white. But her words suggest that she wants them caramelized and golden brown, but not dark brown. The picture on the right shows an ideal amount of caramelization and browning of the

onions. This takes time and varies considerably depending on your cookware and heat source. Keep the pan on a nice, steady medium, and do not be tempted to speed up the process with high heat or baking soda or sugar. Just breathe and caramelize your onions. The smell is wonderful, and the neighbors will be thinking of a way to drop in and get a dinner invite.

Step Two - Add Flour and Deglaze the Pan with Broth and Wine

Next, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour and cook into the onions for 3-4 minutes. Heat about a cup of broth in the microwave until it is hot. Whisk the hot broth into the onions and flour, add 1/2 c. white wine, and scrape the little bits from the bottom of the pan. Then add 2 cups of beef broth, a little dried or fresh thyme, and a bay leaf.

Simmer for about 30 minutes. Wow, that smells wonderful. Your soup is done. That sure was easy. Now it's time to assemble your soup and put it under the broiler.

Step Three - Prepare Your Bread

While your broth is simmering, prepare your bread. Slice a baguette into thin slices and place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the slices and rub with garlic if you prefer. Toast in the oven under the broiler until they are light brown.

Step Four - Assemble and Broil Soup

Turn on your broiler, shred the Swiss cheese, and grate the Parmesan. Put a little cheese in the bottom of an individual oven-safe bowl, and place one toast in the bowl. Ladle the soup over the bread until 2/3 full. Put another toast on top, and liberally sprinkle on Swiss and parmesan cheeses. Place under the broiler until the cheese is bubbling, and serve immediately.

Julia Child's French Onion Soup