🧅 Onion Soup Gratinée
Soupe à l'oignon gratinée is a French bistro soup of slowly caramelised onions simmered in beef broth until sweet and deeply savoury. Each bowl is crowned with toasted bread and grated Gruyère and slid under a hot grill, so the cheese forms a bubbling, browned crust that you break through with a spoon to reach the rich broth underneath.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.2 l beef broth
- 2 bay leaves, thyme sprigs
- 1 tsp sugar
- 4 slices crusty bread, toasted
- 120 g Gruyère, grated
- Salt, pepper
Method
- Cook the onions in the oil over low heat for 40–50 minutes, stirring often, until deep brown; add the sugar halfway.
- Pour in the broth, add the bay and thyme and simmer 20 minutes; season.
- Ladle into ovenproof bowls and top each with toast and cheese.
- Grill 3–5 minutes until the cheese is melted and browned.
How to make it lighter
- Measure the oil — 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal — and add water if the onions stick.
- Use thinner bread slices and less cheese on top.
- Serve a smaller bowl as a starter with a green salad.
History
Onion soups are old peasant food in France, but the gratinéed version with bread and melted cheese is closely associated with the Paris markets of Les Halles, where it was eaten late at night by porters and revellers. The story that King Louis XV invented it is a popular legend rather than established fact.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →