Smoked French Onion Soup
Smoked french onion soup is a rich, decadent broth-based soup topped with toasted baguette and melted provolone cheese.
Ingredients
- 8 sweet or yellow onions
- ½ cup unsalted butter bacon grease or lard
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons sherry
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 8 cups smoked turkey stock or low sodium beef broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 baguette
- 10 slices provolone cheese
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker to 180f. Slice both stem and root ends off 8 sweet or yellow onions and remove peels. Place the onions directly on the grill grates and smoke at 180f for 60 minutes or until the onions start to soften and have a smoky aroma. Once smoked, remove onions from the smoker and slice them into rounds, or slice them from root to stem.
- Melt ½ cup unsalted butter in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook them down until browned and caramelized. Add 3 cloves garlic and sautee for another minute or two.
- Use the 3 tablespoons sherry to deglaze the pan.
- Add3 tablespoons all purpose flour and stir until thickened.
- Add 8 cups smoked turkey stock or low sodium beef broth, 2 bay leaves and 3 sprigs fresh thyme.
- Bring the soup to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400f. Slice 1 baguette into 3/4 to 1" rounds and lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Toast the rounds in the oven for 7-9 minutes or until golden brown.
- Preheat oven on broil.
- Ladle the soup into your french onion soup bowls.
- Top the soup with a toasted baguette and a slice of provolone cheese.
- Broil the soup on the top rack for approximately 2 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted and a bit bubbly!
Notes
Batch:
This soup recipe makes approximately 10 servings of soup. It can easily be doubled or halved.Storage:
This smoked french onion soup is easy to store thanks to its broth base. Avoid storing your soup with any bread or cheese on top, these will not keep in the fridge, or freezer without affecting the consistency of your soup.- Fridge: Allow your delicious smoked soup to come to room temperature before storing it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: If you got carried away making delicious soup, and who can blame you, you can even freeze the leftovers. Allow the soup to cool to room temperature before transferring it to a freezer-safe container and store it in the freezer for 2 -3 months. Defrost your frozen soup on the counter for 3-4 hours, or in the fridge overnight.
- Reheat: Reheat smoked french onion soup on the stovetop or microwave before adding toasted bread and cheese!
variations + substitutions
- Use beef broth if you don't have smoked turkey broth in your freezer!
- If you've got smoked garlic, swap that in for the fresh garlic.
- Use cold-smoked mozzarella instead of provolone.
- Sub in swiss or gruyere for the provolone.
- Swap the baguette for cubed italian bread, sourdough loaf, or even crusty french bread.
