How to Make Gordon Ramsay’s French Onion Soup Recipe at Home
Gordon Ramsay’s French Onion Soup recipe may seem complicated to some, as the chef has a way about him that can be scary. However, this soup can easily be made at home and it serves as one of the best ways to keep warm now that the winter months are upon us.
This soup is a great summer choice as well, don’t get us wrong. Of course, there are also those who may be unsure about French onion soup from a taste standpoint. If you would like to make this recipe at home, please be sure to read on and learn more.
Prep Time and Cook Time
The process of making Gordon Ramsay’s French onion soup recipe does not have to be particularly time-consuming. This makes it a great choice for anyone who is looking to put together a great meal without having to spend all day in the kitchen.
Prep time will only take 15 minutes and once you add in 45 minutes of cook time, the French onion soup will be ready in an hour’s time. If you adhere to the recipe as it is about to be given, you can serve a family of four with ease.
Ingredients
- Cup of unsalted butter (1/4)
- Sliced onions (2)
- Chopped garlic cloves (2)
- Bay leaf (1)
- Fresh thyme sprigs (2)
- Fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt
- Cup of red wine (1/2)
- All-purpose flour (2 heaping tablespoons)
- Cups of beef broth (4)
- Sliced baguette
- Gruyere cheese (4 slices)
Cooking Instructions
- Grab a large pot and turn the heat on medium. From there, take your butter and melt it.
- At this time, the onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and salt and pepper are going to be added to the pot. Take the time to cook the mixture until the onions have had the chance to go soft. In most instances, this process will take up to 25 minutes, so keep a close eye on the pot. Don’t make the mistake of cooking the mixture for too long.
- Now, the wine is going to be added. Bring the mixture to a boil. As soon as a boil has been achieved, reduce the heat and give the mixture the chance to simmer. Simmer the soup until the wine has fully evaporated. The onions should also be dry. As a rule of thumb, wait at least five minutes before proceeding.
- The bay sprigs and the bay leaf will be discarded.
- The flour is added to the soup now. Once it has been added, take the time to stir it up. Bring the heat down to medium-low and allow the soup to cook for at least 10 minutes.
- The beef broth is added. The soup is then brought to a simmer. From there, continue to cook the soup for another 10 minutes.
- This is where the at home chef will have the latitude to season the soup to their personal taste. Use salt and pepper to season the finished product.
- Preheat one of your broilers.
- Slice up the baguette. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet, making sure that they are in a singular layer. Personal tastes may vary but in most instances, the at-home chef will want to bake the slices until they have had the chance to get crispy.
Enjoy and don’t forget:
The soup is best enjoyed when it has been topped off with 1 or 2 crispy baguette slices. Add a slice of the Gruyere cheese, place the soup back in the broiler and keep it there until the cheese has had a chance to melt.
The Roots of French Onion Soup
French onion soup may seem like an elegant meal in the present day but in reality? It comes from very humble origins. It was considered to be a popular meal for the poor because it is so easy to make and the ingredients are readily available. The meal was simple at the time because onions were plentiful.
No one had to spend big to acquire these ingredients, making the preparation process very easy. Onions are also easy to grow and storage is a snap, making this a common choice for the at-home gardener. It did not take much for the soup to be transformed into a highly sustainable meal, either.
While we will be using a fresh baguette that is sliced and crisped to perfection, those who prepared this soup during Roman times or the Middle Ages were not so lucky. They would add a slice or two of stale bread to the soup to make it a more hearty meal.
These characteristics made French onion soup a popular dish and it has managed to persist into the present day. The soup had a number of variations, allowing its popularity to spread throughout the European continent.
Once America was discovered, the soup did not take long to migrate across the pond. In fact, anyone who takes the time to sift through ancient colonial texts that were written by the Americans and the British will find that they were mentioning the soup on a regular basis.
A Final Word From Gordon Ramsay
“All of the flavor in this French onion soup is in the onions, and you cook them a long time so they turn into this voluptuous sweetness. I use butter, a good amount of it because it’s important that we get that richness from those unsaturated fats. I also add duck or beef stock because they have more flavor than chicken stock and because there are two meats in the dish,” Ramsay says.
This was one of the chef’s favorite dishes when he was growing up, making it a no-brainer choice to share with all of his modern-day fans. He acknowledges its simplicity, but he loves it because it is a dish that is well-thought-out. The layers of flavors really jump out and the cheese provides the necessary balance and texture.
As a final pointer, Ramsay recommends that we do not remove the root of an onion when it is time to cut one. Those who do are placing themselves in a more challenging position when it comes to avoiding the tears that usually take place when onions are sliced.
Make a long incision in the center of the onion, so that the knife’s weight is doing the work. If the root is removed, the onion juices will leak out and this is the source of those tears that you have been trying your best to avoid. The root will ensure that the onion is held together as you slice.
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This sounds amazing and I love French Onion Soup. Just clarifying, in step 5, you add the flour to the dry onions and cook it for 5 minutes. There would be no liquid in the pot, is this correct?
Thank you,
Cheryl
Cheryl, When I made it worked, it is like creating a roux when making gravy.