Patty Melt French Onion Soup
A classic French onion soup but instead of bread and cheese melted on top, it’s a whole patty melt! It’s so indulgent and epically delicious! It also promotes French onion soup from appetizer status to a full meal in my opinion. Eating the patty melt that has been soaked in savory French onion soup is truly next level.
The inspiration for this recipe
These flavors go so well together anyways, it felt like time to combine them. French onion soup already has bread and cheese on top, why not make it a patty melt? And many patty melts have caramelized onions, so we know the flavors work. The only question was if I should use rye bread or not. I went with no, but you could do it if you want!
Start caramelizing the onions for the soup base
Cooking the onions down take a while so pull up a chair and a beverage and roll with it. You need to cook a lot of onions! I typically wait to salt the onions until about half way through the process. Salting brings out moisture, so I like to make sure I have cooked off a lot of the water before adding the salt, or else you will start boiling the onions.
When the onions are almost there, I added garlic and butter and cooked another 5 minutes. Then flour and another 5!
Add broth to make it French onion soup
Finally some vermouth, and then broth. Whisk it well to make sure the flour is fully incorporated.
Make the patty melts
Form the burger to a similar size as the bread, but a little bigger. Season with salt and pepper and get it on the griddle. I used provolone and mozzarella for inside the sandwich, and then gruyere on top.
Build the patty melt French onion soup
Fill the soup to the brim! The sandwich is larger than the soup crock, and you want the bottom bread still gets saturated with that soupy goodness. Top with gruyere and broil!
Serve the patty melt French onion soup
Let the patty melt French onion soup cool a few minutes after it is done cooking, then put it on a plate. You need the plate because it will spill out as you eat and you do not want to lose anything. Trust me.
I used a knife and fork sometimes, a spoon sometimes, and my hands sometimes. It was a delicious adventure!
Twists on this recipe
If you have never made a classic French onion soup, this recipe is a great starting point.
You could always just serve a patty melt on the side of the French onion soup instead of cooking it on top to make it easier, but where is the fun in that?
I have done a lot of fun twists on French onion soup over the years, like this vindaloo version, or this one where it is served in an onion!
Patty Melt French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 stick butter (split in half)
- 6 yellow onions sliced thin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1.5 ounces vermouth see note
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablesppons flour
- 6 cups beef broth or whatever broth you have
- 12 ounces ground beef 80% lean
- salt and pepper
- 8 slices French bread (you could also use rye)
- 4 slices provolone
- 4 slices mozzarella
- 2 cups grated gruyere
Instructions
Make the soup
- Add half the butter to a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions, and cook for about a half hour, stirring often, until about halved in size. Add in the salt.
- Continue to cook and stir another half hour or 45 minutes until drastically reduced in size and beautifully golden brown
- Add in the garlic, and the rest of the butter. cook about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add in the flour next along with the dried thyme, and cook another 5 or so minutes, stirring the whole time and making sure any clumps of flour are gone.
- Add the vermouth and stir to combine. Then add in the broth. Whisk to make sure everything is well combined. Simmer about a half hour until slightly thickened and flavorful
Make the burger
- Add some oil or butter to a griddle or frying pan. Form the meat into 4 patties that are a similar shape to your bread, but bigger.
- Add the patties to the pan or do this in batches if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the first side is browned, then flip.
- Add the slices of bread to the pan next. top one of the breads with a slice of provolone, then top the burger with the mozzarella.
- Put the burger on the bread slice with the cheese, then put the other bread on top. Cover and cook a few minutes until the bread is golden brown, then flip and cover again so the cheese inside can melt as the bread browns and crisps up.
Put the burger on the soup
- Preheat the broiler to low and place a rack under it, but it might not need to be the closest rack height because these are kinda tall.
- Split the soup into soup crocks and fill them all the way up.
- Top with the patty melts. the bread should be larger than the crock so it stays on top, but with the soup full to the brim, the bottom bread will still get saturated with the soup.
- Top with the gruyere cheese and place them all on a baking sheet.
- Broil about 5 minutes or so until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.