French Onion Chicken Soup adds chicken to make a main dish meal out of classic French Onion Soup.
I had the most incredible French Onion Soup of my life for my birthday this year. One of my best friends who also happens to be my neighbor took me out for a fancy lunch to a restaurant owned by an actual French chef so I had to order the French Onion Soup. The broth was delicate and sweet, yet full of umami and rich flavor. I knew I couldn’t begin to recreate it at home, but I tried to created something unique and still delicious with this French Onion Chicken Soup.
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I read a lot of basic French Onion Soup recipes. Marsala wine was my ultimate choice to flavor the broth and give it the sweetness reminiscent of my restaurant experience. Plus Chicken Marsala, duh. In addition I used chicken stock and beef consommé in my broth. Trust me, it works.
Basically I created a very passable version of French Onion Soup that can be created for a busy weeknight dinner. I added chicken to make it more filling and suitable for a main dish. Not only is this soup really delicious but it’s economical too. And filling! Lots of bread and cheese on top help with that.
Tips for French Onion Chicken Soup:
- The better your ingredients, the better your soup. I used this brand of butter for my soup.
- I used a soup pot similar to this one to cook my soup.
- Broiling your soup before serving in ramekins like these makes for an impressive appearance. It’s not necessary though. You can simply toast your bread cubes in the oven and serve the soup with shredded cheese to top.
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French Onion Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 sweet or yellow onions
- 2 sprigs fresh Thyme
- 1/2 cup Marsala wine
- 1 whole rotisserie chicken bones and skin discarded, meat shredded
- 1 10 oz can beef consommé broth
- 4 cups chicken stock
- salt to taste
- 1 16 oz loaf sour dough bread
- 2 cups shredded cheese Gruyere or Swiss are classic choices - but I use Munster sometimes
Instructions
- Peel and halve the onions. Then slice them.
- Heat the butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and sprigs of thyme, stir well, set the heat to low and cover. Cook for about 20 minutes.
- Remove the lid, turn up the heat a bit and cook the onions until they are caramelized and the liquid is evaporated - about 10 or 15 minutes more.
- Stir in the Marsala wine and allow it simmer for a few minutes so the alcohol content evaporates.
- Stir in the shredded chicken, beef consommé and chicken stock. Bring the soup to a simmer and allow to cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
- Taste the soup. Add salt if necessary.
- Ladle the soup into bowls or oven-safe ramekins.
- Top the soup with toasted sourdough bread cubes. Top the soup with shredded cheese. Serve.
- Or, heat the broiler and place the bowls of soup under the broiler for a few minutes to make the cheese browned and bubbly.
Ellen says
Two of my favorite soups rolled into one! Great comfort food.
foodtasticmom says
Thanks Ellen
kim says
Such a yummy soup! So perfect for these chilly temps too!
foodtasticmom says
Thank you Kim!
Emily says
I love how this soup has all the food groups in it. It’s a perfect meal.
foodtasticmom says
I still like a classic French Onion Soup but this is the whole package 🙂
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
This sounds like the most indulgent comfort food EVER. French onion is my daughter’s favorite soup, so I know she’ll love it with the chicken! Perfection.
foodtasticmom says
Great to hear, I hope you try this version for her. Thank you so much Lisa!
Annissa says
This soup recipe looks so creamy and comforting! So delish!
foodtasticmom says
It was so delicious! Thanks Annissa!
Felicia says
I’d love to fix this soup, but I need a substitute for the Marsala wine. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
foodtasticmom says
You could add a little white grape juice – probably half the amount of the wine.
Donna says
OMG… The best soup ever! I have made many soup recipes and some of my own, but this is the best ! I altered it some, did not use any beef stock, and used fried tyme, a lot of tyme. Otherwise, I basically follower your recipe. Love this soup. It would calm many symptoms of the flu or sore throat, I am sure. Thank you for this recipe.
foodtasticmom says
You’re welcome. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for taking the time to comment and review.
Eric P says
This was excellent! My wife loves French Onion Soup, but since she hasn’t had beef in over 30 years, she’s been missing it. She found this recipe the other day and I decided to make it. I didn’t want to go buy a whole bunch of fresh thyme, so I just tossed in a teaspoon of dried stuff. I used almost all of a Costco rotisserie chicken, and instead of the beef consomme I concocted a mixture of 1/2 C chicken broth, 1 tsp Better than Bullion chicken base, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/8 tsp celery seed, with just a splash of pinot noir for color. I used a slice of french baguette at the bottom and topped with shredded swiss/gruyere cheese from Trader Joes, broiled until it was bubbly and a little browned. This was a total winner, and my wife was super happy.
foodtasticmom says
This made my day. I even shared your comment on Twitter (don’t worry, I didn’t share your name or email address). Thank you for the feedback and taking the time to rate and review!
Gil Schmidtke says
Hi there,
Your recipe answered the call! I wanted to make French Onion soup but wanted it
to be a “main course” adding the chicken was the perfect solution. I modified it slightly
by adding some sliced fresh mushrooms! But really nice for one of our first cold days
in Colorado! Thanks Dr Gil
foodtasticmom says
Mushrooms are a great addition to this soup. So happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for taking the time to rate and comment.
Wonderful cook says
Thank you so much Jill! This chicken soup looks amazing, can’t wait to give it a try!
foodtasticmom says
You’re welcome. Enjoy!
Michelle says
I was wondering what I can use to substitute the beef consummate because I’m allergic to all things mamal, mamal byproducts,carageen and gelatin. I also want to know how to use just boneless skinless chicken breast if possible?
foodtasticmom says
You can use boneless skinless chicken. And yes you can not use the beef consommé. Just use more chicken broth or more wine instead to replace it. Can you eat Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce? A couple of tablespoons of one of those would help to mimic the flavor lost from not using the consommé.