German Onion Soup

A rich onion soup with dark beer and caraway, topped with melted cheese on rye toast.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 1h
Total: 1 hour 15 minutes
Vegetarian
❌
Nuts
❌
Serves
4 people
Difficulty
Easy

Ingredients

  • 50g butter
  • 1kg onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp plain flour
  • 250ml dark German beer (Dunkel or Märzen)
  • 1 litre beef stock
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • 4 slices rye bread, toasted
  • 150g Emmental or Gruyère, grated

Method

  1. Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onions, sugar and a pinch of salt, cover and cook for 15 minutes, then uncover and cook for a further 25 minutes, stirring, until deep golden.

  2. Add the garlic and flour and stir for 1 minute. Pour in the beer and boil for 3 minutes.

  3. Add the stock, caraway and bay leaves and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and season.

  4. Heat the grill. Ladle the soup into ovenproof bowls, top with the rye toast and cheese and grill for 3 to 5 minutes until bubbling and golden.