Quick & Easy French Onion Soup

Prep time
10 MIN

Total time
40 MIN

Serves
4

This simple, flavourful recipe delivers on the delicious flavour of French Onion Soup in a fraction of the time.

Ingredients

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions; cook for 10 minutes, stirring often, add sugar and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or until golden brown. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Then add red wine vinegar and deglaze pan, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
Add broth and bring to simmer. Reduce heat, cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes. While soup is simmering, preheat broiler and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place baguette slices on baking sheet. Top each with roughly 1 to 2 tbsp cheese. Set aside. When soup is ready to serve, broil baguette slices for 3 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Portion soup into 4 serving bowls. Place 2 baguette slices on top of soup in each bowl. Garnish with fresh chopped thyme, if desired.

For a traditional broiler finish: Preheat broiler to high; place four broiler-safe bowls on a baking sheet. Portion hot soup into bowls; top each with two baguette slices then cover liberally with grated cheese. Broil on top rack of oven for 1-4 minutes, watching closely, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Carefully remove tray from oven and serve. Bowls will be very hot!
Try using different cheeses for an extra twist! Havarti, smoked gouda, aged cheddar or even a spicy Jalapeno cheese are all great options.
Adding garlic and red wine vinegar helps to deepen flavour with a shorter cook time; increase or decrease the amount to taste.
Using sugar helps speed up the caramelizing process of the onions. If you have more time, feel free to omit the sugar and cook onions at a lower temperature for longer time until golden brown.