French onion soup

French onion soup is an hour of patience at the stove: a kilo and a half of onions softening, turning golden and browning slowly until they are the colour of chestnuts, then stock, white wine, a slice of bread and cheese browning on top. Our version uses vegetable stock, so the cheese-topped bowl is kosher and dairy.

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VegetarianDairyAllergens:GlutenMilk

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French onion soupIllustration
Time2 hCook 1 h 40 min
Pot6 bowls2.1 litres
Per bowl420 kcal17.1 g protein · a 350 ml bowl
Cost of the pot₪52for the pot, about ₪8.7 a bowl

The story of French onion soup

Onion soups were poor people's food in Europe for centuries, because onions, bread and water were in every house. The version known today, with bread and cheese browned on top, is linked with Paris and its great wholesale market, Les Halles, where it was eaten late at night and early in the morning. In France it is usually made on beef stock.

A kosher kitchen cannot put cheese on a soup made with beef stock, so there are two ways: vegetable stock with butter and cheese, a dairy soup, or beef stock with no cheese and no butter, a meat soup. The main recipe is the dairy one, because the golden crust is half the experience. Most of the flavour does not come from the stock anyway, but from the onions after an hour of browning.

What makes French onion soup itself

There are no other vegetables here to hide mistakes. The soup is all onion, so all its depth depends on the browning: not fried onion that stays pale, and not burnt, bitter onion, but brown, soft, sweet onion that smells like jam. Ordinary yellow onions give the best result, because they have both sugar and a sharpness that turns into depth.

French onion soup for any number of people

Change the number of people and the bowl size, and every ingredient updates in grams, with the cost, calories and protein per bowl.

Bowl size
Units
2.1litres in the pot
3Pot to use, litres
₪52Cost of the pot
₪8.7per bowl
420kcal per bowl
17.1g protein per bowl
IngredientAmountCost
The onions
Yellow onions, thinly sliced1.5 kg · 8 pcs₪8.9
Butter40 g₪2.0
Olive oil20 ml₪1.1
Salt, for the onions6 g₪0.0
The soup
Plain flour15 g₪0.1
Dry white wine150 ml₪6.8
Hot water1.5 l
Parve vegetable stock powder20 g₪1.3
Fresh thyme sprigs3 g · 4 pcs₪0.7
Bay leaves0.4 g · 2 pcs₪0.1
Ground black pepper1 g₪0.1
The gratin
Day-old baguette or country bread, sliced180 g · 6 pcs₪7.1
Aged hard yellow cheese, grated200 g₪24
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Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026. Nutrition from the ingredients in grams, before cooking.

How many calories in French onion soup? Nutrition facts and calorie calculator

Change the amount of any ingredient, drop one, or pick a lighter version, and the numbers per serving update at once: calories, fat, carbs, protein, sodium and fibre.

French onion soup has 120 calories per 100 ml. A 350 ml bowl made with our recipe has 420 calories: 17.1 g protein, 18.9 g fat and 40.7 g carbohydrates. A 250 ml cup has 300 calories.

Lighter

Ingredients, for the whole recipe

  • 8 pcs100 kcal per serving
  • 40 g48 kcal per serving
  • 20 ml27 kcal per serving
  • 6 g0 kcal per serving
  • 15 g9 kcal per serving
  • 150 ml20 kcal per serving
  • 20 g12 kcal per serving
  • 4 pcs1 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs0 kcal per serving
  • 1 g0 kcal per serving
  • 6 pcs81 kcal per serving
  • 200 g122 kcal per serving

What each add-on adds to French onion soup

Values for the amount in the row, from the national food database.

Add-onCaloriesProtein, gFat, g
A tablespoon of oil122013.8
A slice of white bread792.50.5
A slice of challah12641.1
30 g feta744.56
30 g soft white cheese, 5%292.71.5
2 tablespoons sour cream480.84.5

How to make French onion soup

In cook mode the screen stays on, tap a step when it is done, and the timers run next to each step.
  1. Slice the onions into thin half rings, about 3 mm, along the grain rather than across it, so the slices keep their shape.
  2. Heat the butter and oil in a wide, heavy-based pot over medium heat, add all the onions and the 6 g of salt and stir. Cover for 10 minutes, until the onions soften and release their liquid.
  3. Uncover and cook over medium-low heat for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. When a brown layer forms on the bottom, add 2 tablespoons of water and scrape it into the onions.
  4. Keep going until the onions are deep brown, soft as jam and reduced to about a quarter of their starting volume.
  5. Sprinkle in the flour, stir for 2 minutes and add the wine. Cook for 3 minutes, until the alcohol evaporates and about half the liquid remains.
  6. Add the hot water, stock powder, thyme and bay leaves, bring to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove the bay and thyme, taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
  7. Meanwhile toast the bread slices in the oven at 180 °C for 10 minutes, until completely dry.
  8. Turn on the oven grill. Ladle the soup into heatproof bowls, lay a slice of bread in each and scatter about 35 g of grated cheese on top.
  9. Grill for 3 to 5 minutes, until the cheese melts, bubbles and browns in spots. Serve at once, and carefully, because the bowls are scorching.

The science of French onion soup

Kitchen science

What happens to the onions in that hour

Onions contain sugars, glucose, fructose and sucrose, as well as amino acids. Once the water has evaporated, they react with each other in the Maillard reaction while the sugars also break down by caramelisation. Together the two create the brown colour and hundreds of flavour compounds. Over medium-low heat this takes 50 to 70 minutes, so a recipe promising caramelised onions in ten minutes is describing fried onions.

Kitchen science

Water on the bottom, not sugar

The brown layer that sticks to the bottom is concentrated onion that has browned. A spoonful of water dissolves it back into the onions, and also cools the bottom for a moment and prevents burning. That lets you work on slightly higher heat and save time. Sugar is not needed, onions have plenty of their own, and added sugar only burns faster.

Kitchen science

Baking soda, carefully

A pinch of baking soda, about a quarter teaspoon for 1.5 kg of onions, raises the alkalinity, and the Maillard reaction runs faster in alkaline conditions. The onions brown faster, but alkalinity also breaks down pectin and they collapse into a soft mush. Any more and the taste turns soapy.

Kitchen science

Salt at the start

Salt draws water out of the onion cells by osmosis, so they soften faster and the water evaporates sooner. That is why part of the salt goes in with the onions, and the rest at the end, after the soup has reduced.

Kitchen science

Why vegetable stock feels thin

Beef stock gets its body from gelatine released from bones and connective tissue. Vegetable stock has none, so a spoonful of flour gives body, and the flavour is deepened by long browning and a little soy sauce, which adds glutamate.

French onion soup in every kitchen

Parve, without cheese

Use olive oil instead of butter and serve with croutons toasted in olive oil and garlic. The soup is parve.

On beef stock, a meat soup

Cook it on homemade beef stock and brown the onions in oil, with no butter and no cheese. The taste is deep and meaty, with toasted bread on the side.

Cream of onion soup

Blend the soup after cooking and stir in 150 ml of double cream. Dairy, smooth and gentler, and no gratin.

Three onions

Swap a third of the onions for leek and a third for red onion. The leek adds a gentle sweetness and the red onion gives the soup a darker tone.

Common French onion soup problems and how to fix them

The onions burnt instead of caramelising

The heat was too high, the pot too thin, or they were not stirred. Black bits make the whole pot bitter, so move the unburnt onions to a clean pot without scraping the bottom. Next time: medium-low heat, a heavy pot and a spoonful of water whenever the bottom browns too fast.

The onions are stewing, not browning

The lid stayed on too long, or the pot is narrow and crowded. Take off the lid, move to a wider pot and raise the heat a little until the liquid evaporates.

Onion soup is too sweet

Especially sweet onions, or sugar added to the caramelising. Balance with salt, black pepper and a spoonful of wine vinegar or a little more reduced white wine.

The soup is thin and lacks body

Vegetable stock with no flour and no reduction. Mash a spoonful of flour with a little soft butter, whisk it into the simmering soup and cook for 5 minutes, or reduce it uncovered.

The bread turned to mush

The bread was not toasted dry, or the bowl stood too long before grilling. Toast until the slices are completely dry, and lay them on just before grilling.

The cheese went greasy and did not melt well

Low-fat cheese, ready-grated cheese with anti-caking agent, or too long under the grill. Grate an aged hard yellow cheese yourself and take the bowls out once it bubbles and is speckled brown.

Storing, freezing and reheating

4 days, without the bread and cheese

In the fridge

3 months, without the bread and cheese

In the freezer

2+4

To cool

Bring it from 60 to 21 °C within two hours and down to 5 °C within four more. Split a big pot into shallow boxes.

75 °C

Reheating

Bring the soup to the boil, and only then ladle it into bowls, add the bread and cheese and grill.

Nutrition of French onion soup

From our recipe, per bowl and per 100 g, next to the national food database.

ServingkcalProtein, gFat, gCarbs, gFibre, g
Our recipe, a 350 ml bowl42017.118.940.75.3
Our recipe, 100 ml1204.95.411.61.5
Typical French onion soup, 100 g290.32.12.10.3
Typical French onion soup, 100 g (2)542.04.12.00.3

What the ingredients of French onion soup cost

What each ingredient costs in one pot, and where to buy it.

IngredientPriceIn this potWhere to buy
Aged hard yellow cheese, grated₪120 per kg₪24Supermarket
Yellow onions, thinly sliced₪5.9 per kg₪8.9Greengrocer
Day-old baguette or country bread, sliced₪9.9 each₪7.1Supermarket
Dry white wine₪45 per litre₪6.8Supermarket
Butter₪50 per kg₪2Supermarket
Parve vegetable stock powder₪65 per kg₪1.3Supermarket
Olive oil₪53 per litre₪1.1Supermarket
Fresh thyme sprigs₪6.9 each₪0.7Greengrocer
Bay leaves₪360 per kg₪0.1Supermarket
Ground black pepper₪139 per kg₪0.1Supermarket
Plain flour₪5.9 per kg₪0.1Supermarket
Salt, for the onions₪2.1 per kg₪0Supermarket

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026, VAT included. Vegetable prices change with the season.

Make French onion soup a meal

Shabbat

Ready Shabbat food

Soup, hamin, mains and sides, with a quantity calculator and prices.

Plan Shabbat
Hosting

Hosting trays

9 trays to go with the soup, with a planner by number of guests.

Tray planner
Events

Catering

A whole menu in grams per guest, with a reheating table.

Menus

What to serve with French onion soup

It is a whole meal in a bowl. Serve with a green salad dressed with a sharp vinaigrette, which balances the sweetness and the fat.

French onion soup in large quantities: events, offices and communities

How much of everything by number of guests, at a 350 ml bowl. For institutional pots, catering and community kitchens.

GuestsLitres30 l potsCost of ingredients
258.81₪217
50181₪435
100352₪869
200703₪1,738
5001757₪4,345

Every ingredient for any number of guests is in the calculator above: type the number of people.

Order French onion soup

A ready pot for Shabbat, an event or the office, ordered ahead.

  • Cooked to order, for Shabbat, an event or the office.
  • Tell us how many people and when, and we send a quote.
  • Delivery in Tel Aviv from ₪35, free over ₪750.
Ask for a quote for French onion soup

Order French onion soup for a large event

Large orders in Israel and abroad: events, offices, synagogues, communities and institutions.

  • In Israel: cooked in Tel Aviv and delivered to events in the area, and to large events anywhere in the country on a quote.
  • Abroad: for communities, events and restaurants. Tell us where, how many and when, and we come back with a quote and options.
  • Institutional quantities and a shopping list for any number of guests, in the calculator above.
Ask for a large-order quote

Frequently asked questions

How long do onions take to caramelise for onion soup?

50 to 70 minutes over medium-low heat, depending on the amount and the pot. They are ready when deep brown, very soft and reduced to about a quarter.

Can I caramelise onions faster?

Yes, in about 30 minutes. Work on medium-high heat and add a spoonful of water every time the bottom browns. A pinch of baking soda shortens it further, at the cost of texture.

Which onions are best for onion soup?

Ordinary yellow onions. Red onions give the soup a greyish purple tint, and sweet onions make it too sweet with less depth.

Is French onion soup kosher?

This version is: vegetable stock, butter and kosher cheese, a dairy soup. If you cook it on beef stock, leave out the cheese and the butter.

Which cheese goes on onion soup?

An aged hard yellow cheese that melts and browns, in the style of gruyère or emmental. A little parmesan mixed in gives a sharper taste.

Can I make onion soup without wine?

Yes. Replace the wine with the same amount of water plus a spoonful of white wine vinegar or lemon juice, to keep the acidity that balances the sweetness.

How do I slice 1.5 kg of onions without crying?

Cutting onions releases a gas that irritates the eyes. A sharp knife crushes fewer cells, and onions chilled for half an hour release less gas. Work by an open window or under the extractor hood.

How many calories are in French onion soup?

A 350 ml bowl of French onion soup made with our recipe has about 420 calories and 17.1 g of protein. Per 100 ml: 120 calories.

How much does it cost to make French onion soup at home?

A pot of 6 bowls costs about ₪52 at Israeli shelf prices in October 2026, about ₪8.7 a bowl. The calculator above works it out for any number of people.

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