French Onion Soup

Here is an easy, simple, and cheap (the trifecta for me for recipes- if it's not quick and simple I probably can't make it!) recipe for French Onion Soup I made today! I have been craving it all week, and so I put together some things we already had on hand to try to make some.

Ingredients:
1 box chicken broth (or beef or veggie)
1 envelope brown gravy mix
2 large onions sliced into 2inch-ish slivers
a bit of olive oil and black pepper
Cut up your onions, and sautee them in a bit of olive oil right in your soup pot. I added some black pepper here because I love things to be peppery, but if that's not your thing you can skip it. It shouldn't need any salt because the chicken stock and gravy mix are so flavorful!

Cook the onions until they are brown and squishy. This is the secret to great French Onion Soup! Fancy cooks call it "deglazing" I call it "demoralizing." Seriously- cook them until they don't even look like onions anymore. Here is a great recipe (for a much more authentic soup if you have more time) that shows how the color of the onions should change. Stir, stir, stir, don't let them burn!

Once the onions are brown, add your packet of gravy mix and cover the onions in half to a third of your box of chicken stock (you could also use beef or veggie stock, whatever you have). Bring to a boil and let simmer for awhile.

Serve into your bowl, top with cheese, and enjoy! My favorite is to put a big slice of provolone on top (you know the deli slices that are already round and bowl-perfect!), but I used mozarella today since it's what we had on hand.
This recipe made 2 medium sized bowls of soup, if you're making it for more than 2 people you may want to double it or even triple if you want a big old pot full. If you want it to be truly authentically French, shove a big piece of crusty, crouton-like French bread down into the bowl, then cover with gruyere cheese and bake it a little until it melts.

Perfect for lunch on a cold and blustery winter day like today!