Does the staff make vats of veal stock on the regular? Mais, oui. Does that mean you have to? Of course not. Sub low-sodium beef broth instead. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.
Recipe information
Yield
4 Servings
Ingredients
Veal Stock
6
1
2
6
1
¼
1
4
1
Soup and Assembly
3
1
1
4
3
6
1
4
4
4
Special Equipment
Preparation
Veal Stock
Step 1
Preheat oven to 425°. Place a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet and place bones on top. Roast bones (undisturbed) until deep golden brown, 40–50 minutes. Transfer to a large pot and add 5 qt. water. Bring to a simmer, then use a fine-mesh sieve to skim off any foam or gray bits from the surface. Remove from heat.
Step 2
Meanwhile, in another large pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onions, celery, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables start to caramelize, 10–15 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring often, until slightly darkened in color, 6–8 minutes.
Step 3
Add bones along with liquid, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf to vegetables. Bring just to a boil; reduce heat to low, and cook at a bare simmer, adding water as needed during cooking to maintain level of liquid until stock is flavorful, about 2 hours. Strain stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, then strain again into another large bowl or airtight containers.
Step 4
Do Ahead: Stock can be made 5 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill, or freeze up to 1 month ahead.
Soup and Assembly
Step 5
Heat oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. Place garlic, cut side down, in pot and cook undisturbed until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer garlic to a plate.
Step 6
Add onions to same pot, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally at first and then more often as onions darken to keep them from getting too brown in any one spot, until golden but not mushy, 60–70 minutes (and no, this process can’t be rushed at a higher temperature).
Step 7
Add Sherry and stir, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Stir in 8 cups veal stock. Bundle up garlic, thyme, and bay leaf in cheesecloth and tie closed with kitchen twine. Add to pot; bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by one-quarter, flavors have melded, and onions are completely tender, 45–50 minutes.
Step 8
Heat broiler. Divide soup among bowls and top each with a toast and a slice each of Gruyère and Emmenthal cheese. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and broil until cheese is melted and brown in spots, about 5 minutes. Let cool for a minute or so before serving.
Nutrition Per Serving
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Reviews (24)
Back to TopThis was amazing, but very time consuming. It was a bit sweet so I might skip the carrots in the stock next time.
Tom
Los Angeles, CA
10/25/2021
Making the veal stock is key in this recipe. I followed Thomas Kellers veal stock recipe and used veal shanks. The stock turned out perfectly gelatinous! Made the stock three days prior and the onions, the day before. Low and slow for 4 hours on the onions produced amazing results. You can see pics from my process @cooking_meraki
Kelly Dorafshar
Woodland Hills, CA
3/2/2021
I usually make the Greystone onion soup with gruyere souffle, but I was too lazy to make the souffle and tried this (at 1/4 the recipe). I used low sodium beef broth and agree with another comment that veg (or chicken) broth would do as well. I used 1 very large onion, and added finely chopped peeled garlic cloves and a couple of large shallots to the saute. I added a bay leaf and a squirt of tomato paste and 1 tsp. (dried) thyme to the 14.5 oz. broth. For the smaller amt. onions, I cooked approx. 45 minutes and deglazed with white wine. Added broth (removed bay leaf), cooked at very low heat approx. 20 minutes. The soup was very good (maybe too rich with the beef broth), the onions were perfect texture (I tested regularly), and my ratio meant that it truly was onion soup, not a bit of onions floating in a bowl of broth (as many $$$ restaurants serve up). I added the toast and sliced gruyere and some tiny cubes of parmesan. Broiled. I didn't end up with the usual gooey cheese, except for the first couple of spoonfuls at the top. It became a big clump. (I believe I should have grated the gruyere). For left-over, I will simply reheat and add a pile of grated gruyere, no toast. This was a lot of work, using canned broth, and 2 food processors. For the effort, I could have made the gruyere souffle version. I will never make stock from bones, so if that's the key, this recipe won't do it here.
Anonymous
san francisco
12/21/2020
I hope you're ready to eat like the French, and by that, I mean eating this at 11 pm even if you start in the early afternoon. I honestly can't bag on this recipe too much: even without the stock (I used low-sodium beef broth, which I think could have easily been swapped for veggie), the flavor in this soup is nothing short of a journey. It's simply the best French Onion Soup I've ever had, and I bet it'll be the best I'll ever have. The only question you need to ask yourself is how much you love French Onion Soup. Because if you're doing this one by the book, you're gonna be working with it for quite a while.
WkndChef
Ventura, CA
7/17/2020
LOVE! We made this recipe tonight and it was perfection! We did not have emmenthal cheese so we substituted for Havarti instead. We also substituted the veal stock for Beef Broth, although one day in the future i would love to attempt to make the veal stock! All in all a classic recipe that should be essential in everyones recipe books!!
Anonymous
Bay Area, CA
5/25/2020
i love this recipe, especially the veal stock. i came here via the Healthyish BA version, but no thanks, BA. fresh-made veal stock is extremely important to this soup, and the bread/melted cheese topping is also essential; it's not *French onion soup* without those two ingredients, plus butter and of course the caramelized onions. it would, in such a case, merely be onion soup. i've seen various takes on French onion soup, one of which used a bleu cheese topping on the toasted bread. that intrigues me. so does the Petit Trois version with the two cheeses. but the veal stock and topper of toasted bread with melted cheese are ESSENTIAL (did i already stress that?)!
hollis5
Vero Beach, FL
2/21/2019