French Onion Soup with Homemade Beef Stock

French Onion Soup with Homemade Beef Stock

Although crafting beef stock from scratch requires time and effort, it yields the most flavorful broth for French onion soup! Alternatively, if you're pressed for time, you can purchase beef stock. This recipe serves four as a main course when paired with crusty French bread and a straightforward side salad. Consider combining tender butter lettuce, sweet green and red leaf lettuce, crisp iceberg lettuce, delicate confetti light green cabbage, and grated carrot with candied pecans and a light balsamic or Italian dressing.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 20 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine world cuisine
Servings 4
Calories 865 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 12 cups water
  • 1 pound beef short ribs
  • 3 parsnips, peeled and cubed
  • 3 onions, coarsely chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • 2 stalks celery with leaves, coarsely chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 4 large onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, smashed
  • ¼ cup flour, or more as needed
  • 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, or to taste
  • ¼ cup dry white wine
  • 2 tablespoons dry sherry
  • 1 dash hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco®), or to taste
  • 4 thick slices French bread
  • basil and garlic-flavored olive oil for brushing
  • 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese

Instructions
 

  • Place water, beef ribs, parsnips, onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and 1 tablespoon fresh thyme into a large soup pot over medium heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, skimming and discarding foam that forms on top of broth, until broth is a rich brown color, 5 to 6 hours. (Broth may also be made in a slow cooker.) Strain broth, discard ribs and vegetables, and refrigerate extra broth.
  • Melt butter in a large heavy skillet or cast-iron pan over medium-low heat. Cook onions and garlic until caramelized and brown, about 30 minutes.
  • Mix flour, herbes de Provence, paprika, and garlic powder together in a bowl, sprinkle over browned onions. Cook and stir 5 minutes, season with salt and black pepper. Stir in parsley and 1 teaspoon thyme.
  • Pour in 4 cups beef broth, white wine, sherry, and hot pepper sauce; simmer until flavors have blended and soup has thickened, about 15 minutes. (More time doesn't hurt.)
  • Preheat the oven broiler about 15 minutes before serving time. Place a rack about 6 inches from the heat source.
  • Brush slices of French bread with flavored olive oil. Toast under the preheated broiler until well-browned on each side, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Ladle soup into oven-proof soup bowls; place a toasted bread slice on top of each bowl. Sprinkle each bread slice evenly with Gruyère cheese.
  • Place the filled soup bowls under the broiler until cheese is melted, bubbly, and browned, 2 to 4 minutes.

Notes

  • On December 26, my dear Mom passed away. She was an amazing cook who didn’t let the ravages of Parkinson’s and rheumatoid arthritis stop her from creating the most amazing and tasty dishes! My father recently came across a small but thick notebook packed full of my mom’s original recipes — all handwritten — and this is one of them. It rocked then (I remember), and I hope you will enjoy it now (although making the beef stock is time-consuming). And of course, store-bought does work, lol.

Nutrition

Calories: 865kcalCarbohydrates: 83gProtein: 42gFat: 41gSaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 136mgSodium: 1320mgPotassium: 1351mgFiber: 14gSugar: 22gVitamin C: 48mgCalcium: 739mgIron: 6mg
Keyword French Onion Soup with Homemade Beef Stock
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