Nothing beats the soul-warming comfort of Panera’s famous French onion soup, especially when you can recreate it perfectly at home. This copycat recipe captures every element that makes the original so beloved: deeply caramelized onions swimming in a rich, savory broth made from chicken and beef stock, topped with golden croutons and bubbling Gruyere cheese. The secret lies in the dual-stock base and generous chunks of perfectly seasoned onions that ensure every spoonful delivers maximum flavor.
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Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
The magic happens when you combine chicken and beef stocks, creating layers of complex flavor that single-stock recipes simply can’t match. The generous amount of caramelized onions, chopped rather than sliced, ensures every bite contains substantial onion pieces rather than just broth. The addition of a beef base intensifies the umami flavors, while the flour creates a perfect body without heaviness.
Ingredients you’ll need
Here’s what you need to make this copycat Panera Bistro French onion soup recipe: Click on the recipe card to get the full recipe.
For the Soup:
- Butter – Creates the foundation for caramelizing onions and adds richness
- Yellow onions – Provide the sweet, caramelized base when properly cooked
- Salt – Helps draw moisture from onions and enhances all flavors
- All-purpose flour – Thickens the broth and creates a silky texture
- Beef stock – Delivers deep, savory backbone to the soup base
- Chicken stock – Adds lighter, balanced flavor that complements beef stock
- Dried thyme – Provides earthy, aromatic herbs that enhance onion flavors
- Beef base – Concentrates umami flavors without excessive saltiness
For the Topping:
- Croutons – Add essential textural contrast and absorb delicious broth
- Gruyere cheese – Melts beautifully and provides nutty, complex cheese flavor
- Asiago cheese – Adds sharp notes that complement the mild Gruyere
Ingredient notes
Beef base is sold in the grocery store, it is typically next to the beef bouillon cubes. It has less salt than the bouillon cubes.
When preparing your onions for this recipe, you will find that they are chopped rather large, not sliced. The chopped onions ensure that the onion pieces end up in every bite. It is nice when you can dive into a bowl of soup and get something more than broth in every single bite.
When purchasing the soup’s ingredients, I suggest buying stock instead of broth. Stock has more flavor, and you want all of the flavors you can get with this soup. The soup base also adds a lot of flavor. You will find it sold near the soups.
They top their soup with croutons. You can use store-bought, make them in a skillet or the oven, or learn how to make croutons in an air fryer.
The cheese that tops the soup is Gruyere cheese with a touch of Asiago cheese.
How to make Panera French Onion Soup
- Peel and slice the onions. I like to slice them in half from root to tip and then into half-moon shapes.
- Melt butter in a large pot or a large Dutch oven. When the butter has melted, add the chopped onion.
- Sprinkle a little salt over the onions so they sweat and brown.
- Browning onions can take a while. It will take about 20 minutes to sweat the onions. Stir them every few minutes so they brown but do not burn.
- When the onions have browned, add the flour.
- Stir to coat the flour over the onions.
- Cook the onions for about a minute so the flour does not taste raw.
- Add the beef stock, chicken stock, beef base, and thyme. Simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Top with croutons and cheese. Serve immediately.
Homemade croutons are easy to make
If you would like to make your homemade croutons for the soup in a skillet, you can get a loaf of sourdough bread and cube it up into large pieces.
Add about a tablespoon of butter to a large skillet and then add the bread cubes. Sprinkle in seasoned salt and some garlic powder, and toast the bread until it becomes nice and brown.
You may want to try my air fryer croutons if you have an air fryer.
What you can serve with French Onion Soup
French onion soup can be served with many different things. It goes great with steak as an appetizer or with a salad for a light lunch. I suggest serving it with some Parmesan cheese garlic bread or a baguette.
How to Serve Classic French Onion Soup
Ladle soup into oven-safe bowls or use a bread bowl. Top with a handful of croutons and a heavy sprinkling of cheese. Place the soup under your oven’s broiler, and broil until the cheese begins to brown. Remove the soup from the oven and serve.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Freezer Storage: Freeze soup base in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Refrigerator Storage: Store soup base in airtight containers for 5 days. The flavors improve after the first day as they continue to develop.
- Reheating Method: Warm gently on the stovetop over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally. Avoid microwave reheating, which can create uneven temperatures.
Love Panera Bread soups? Check out these recipes:
- Creamy Tomato Soup
- Broccoli Cheese soup
- Baked Potato Soup
- Autumn Squash Soup
- Black Bean Soup
- Warm Grain Bowl
Popular soup recipes
- Friendship Soup
- Copycat Zuppa Toscana Soup
- Potato Soup from Scratch
- Chili’s Enchilada Soup
- Celery Soup
- Cheese Soup Recipe
- Black Bean Soup
Look at more of my easy homemade soup recipes and the best Panera copycat recipes.
Panera French Onion Soup – Easy Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 pounds yellow onions chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 32 ounces beef stock
- 14.5 ounces chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons beef base
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1 cup croutons
- 1/4 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
- 1 tablespoon shredded Asiago cheese
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium-high heat, Add the chopped onions and salt and sauté for about 20 minutes, or until the onions are golden brown.
- Add 1 tablespoon of flour, stir to coat the onions, and sauté for another minute, until the flour becomes fragrant like pie crust.
- Add the beef stock, chicken stock, beef base, and thyme. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Serve topped with croutons and shredded Gruyère and Asiago cheese.
I just made this and followed all directions and ingredients. It tastes good more beef flavor than the original. What is the best way to lessen the beef flavor?
You could use vegetable stock.
Made this declious French soup today. Perfecto! My only tweak was to double the amount of flour, I like a thicker soup. in my favorites.
This is absolutely delicious! I’m glad I decided to half the thyme because it for sure would have been too overpowering with using the full amount recommended.
This is a keeper for sure!!!!
Also I see people saying it wasn’t beefy enough for them. I thing making sure you buy a good beef base that’s rich and thick is the key to making this like Panera bread as far as that beef flavor.
I just made this soup yesterday and it really does taste like the Panera Bread soup. Delicious!
Can we use vegetable stock besides beef and chicken?
Yes, you can.
We absolutely love this recipe and it is a dead ringer for Panera soup. This is now the third time in two weeks that I’ve made it and we get nothing but compliments. You hit the nail on the head and thank you for that!
I made this soup tonight. I did 1/2t thyme. And added 1 can Campbell’s French onion soup in it. Turned out good. But Next time, I’d half the servings of the beef broth and add 3 cans of French onion Campbell’s soup as I agree with other comments that I couldn’t pull out the beef flavor in the original recipe.
Beyond delicious!! I’ve many your recipe many times and my husband and I cant get enough! Actually making it right now!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
I am glad you liked it!
The recipe does not match the video which I’m grateful I used your recipe listed. It was a bit heavy on the onions but I just added more beef stock and it was great. The cheese and homemade breadcrumbs are a must if you are truly wanting the Panera French onion soup. With the one change it was perfect for our family!! Thanks so much!
You are right, the video was not scripted, and it can be a smidge off. The written recipe is correct.
Making it now can’t wait to see how it turns out thanks for the recipe!
I hope you enjoy!
This soup was not good. It was thin, way too many onions, too much thyme, not a strong enough beef flavor. Very disappointed.
I am really sorry you didn’t like it. I appreciate descriptive comments. Again, my apologies this recipe didn’t give you the results you wanted.
100% agree. I will definitely try it again without the thyme because it’s way too over powering of a flavor in this recipe.
Just making this recipe for the first time. It smells great!! Can I make it ahead for a party and freeze it??
I think that would work fine!
Yes! I have done that many times.
I absolute love Panera French Onion Soup. And making my own was a must. So I looked for a copy cat recipe. Omg this is beyond delicious. I put everything together and let it simmer in my 8 ounce slow cooker. Thank you so much.
Did you just throw everything in the crockpot together and let it simmer and how long did you let it cook?
Making tonight. First thyme making French Onion soup. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Im excited!!!!
I hope you liked it.
For years I’ve started my French Onion Soup using the overnight crockpot method – The night before you want the soup, cut up 3-5 lbs of onions to fill a large oval slow cooker to heaping, put a whole stick of salted butter on top, put on the lid, turn it to low, and go to bed, Throughout the night you will enjoy the most delicious aroma, and in the morning you’ll have perfect golden brown onions, no stirring, no watching. I usually haul out the food processor and slice halved onions on the 2mm blade, but after having Panera’s onion soup earlier this week and appreciating that the chopped onions were easier to deal with than long strings of sliced onions, and somehow the soup seemed thicker, I coarsely chopped my onions manually. (Yay! no food processor to dig out of the pantry, assemble, disassemble, wash, and put away!)
So, I googled and found your recipe, and followed it almost precisely except for overnight slow cooking the onions in the crockpot and switching the quantities of chicken vs beef stock. I bought Better Than Bouillon and reduced sodium beef broth (not stock), and since I always have chicken stock in the freezer (I never met a carcass I didn’t cook!), I reversed the chicken/beef quantities and used 32 oz of chicken stock and a 14.5 oz can of beef broth. I prefer the lighter taste of chicken and often use only chicken broth/stock in my onion soup. I added only 1/2 tsp of salt – coarse Kosher salt – and crumbled my thyme before putting it in. I have fresh on the patio, but at 1:30 AM I didn’t feel like venturing out and dealing with spiders.
Usually at this point, onions cooked and seasoned, I freeze the “base” in 8 oz containers, and make soup whenever I feel like mixing one of those with in a can or pint of whatever stock I have on hand. But now, everything is simmering away merrily in the slow cooker, and it tastes superb! (can’t cook without tasting!) I got Gruyere and Fontina cheeses – couldn’t remember the Asiago and thought Fontina, being buttery-mild and very meltable – would be a good option. In awhile when the flour has thickened it up a bit I’ll refrigerate it and go to bed. I’m looking forward to this for lunch and/or dinner tomorrow 🙂
I am so glad you enjoy the soup! I will have to try your method of cooking the onions in the future. I can just image how amazing your house smells while those are cooking.
PB soups are not made by PB – factory made it
*crickets* ?
We don’t really care who makes it, we just know that we get it there, we love it, and want to make it ourselves – as long as it tastes like the factory made soup we buy there!