Famous-Barr’s French Onion Soup Recipe

French Onion Soup from Famous & Barr in St. Louis, Missouri. Nothing is as reminiscent of Famous as this iconic French onion soup.  The soup was thick and rich, bubbling with melted cheese atop two slices of French baguette. As the stores closed their restaurants, it was fortunate that many years ago the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published the recipe in their Food Section so fanatics of this soup could recreate their obsession at home!

 

I also use canned broth. I use a combination of beef and chicken along with white wine to give the soup a depth of flavor along with the onions. This isn’t a difficult soup to make, but the onions will take about an hour to caramelize so you need to plan your time to be in the kitchen to stir often.

 

While often made with Swiss cheese, Gruyere cheese is excellent and adding Parmesan for part of the cheese is fine. One last tip: be careful not to over-salt. It is easy to do as the cheese adds a lot of salt. Under-salt the soup if you are using the cheese. If not, salt to taste.

So thank you Famous Barr and Julia Child for a wonderfully satisfying meal and for introducing it to me.

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Ingredients

  • 5 lbs. med white onions
  • 1/2 C butter
  • 1 1/2 tsp. pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. paprika
  • 1-2 bay leaves
  • 3/4 C flour
  • 3 – 32oz containers (8cans) of beef broth (I’ve also used a combination of beef (64 oz) and chicken broth (32 oz) and it has actually been my favorite result.)
  • 1 C white wine
  • Salt to season
  • 16 oz. Gruyère cheese (can substitute Swiss which I typically do), shredded
  • 1 French Baquette, sliced
  • Olive Oil
  • Parmesan

Directions

To Prepare the Soup:

  1. Slice the onions 1/8″ thick. Melt butter in a large pot and sauté the onions over low heat for 1.5 – 2 hours.
  2. Add seasonings; pepper, paprika and bay leaves. Mix well and saute on low for 2-3 minutes; stirring frequently.
  3. Add 2/3 of the broth to the pot and stir well. And the flour to the remaining broth and mix thoroughly and then add to the pot, stirring in. Add wine and simmer 2 hours.
  4. Refrigerate overnight.

To Serve:

  1. Turn on oven to broil.
  2. Brush bread slices with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Lightly brown bread using the broiler watching very carefully so not to burn.
  3. Heat soup on stove top.
  4. Layer soup, then Parmesan toasted bread, then cheese in ovenproof bowls.
  5. Broil until cheese melts; 3-5 minutes. Watch carefully!
  6. Let cool for a couple of minutes before eating.

Recipe Notes

Some readers have asked for smaller portions. These proportions will produce half as much soup; follow same directions for cooking.

2 1/2 lbs yellow onions
4 Tbsp butter
3/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp sweet Spanish paprika
1 bay leaf, broken in half
1/3 cup flour
6 cups prepared beef bouillon
1/2 cup white wine
8 oz Gruyere or Swiss cheese
1/2 French Baquette
Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese