Chef Matthew Ryle has shared his top tips for making the perfect French onion soup, including the one ingredient he adds to make the flavours ‘sing’
Ellen Jenne U35 Spare Time Writer and Katie Oborn GAU Writer
15:43, 30 Oct 2025
Take the humble French onion soup to the next level with a secret ingredient loved by chefs(Image: Getty Images)
Soup season has arrived and one chef is encouraging home cooks to try their hand at a traditional French classic. French onion soup is amongst the most iconic dishes to enjoy during the colder months.
Chef Matthew Ryle has recently outlined some of his best advice for mastering classic French cuisine in the latest issue of Good Food magazine, showing just how straightforward it is to make them at home. He called French onion soup the “ultimate comfort food”, packed with deep flavours of caramelised onions, beef stock, and topped generously with plenty of grated cheese.
But to elevate it further, the chef shared that he includes one surprising ingredient to make the onion flavours “sing”.
He said: “A staple in restaurants across France, the recipe actually originated as a humble peasant soup made with just onions, stale bread and water. Today’s version might be a bit fancier, but this is still simple to make at home.”
Matthew’s secret ingredient, reports the Express is soy sauce.
He told Good Food: “The secret ingredient to this soup is time, as the onions need to be cooked very low and slow. The more caramelised, the more flavour they’ll have.
“Making your own stock will result in the most authentic-tasting soup, but shop-bought stock will do the trick as long as your onions have received enough love. It’s not traditional, but my other secret is a splash of soy sauce, which adds richness and makes those caramelised onion flavours sing.”
If you’re on the hunt for a comforting, hearty soup to savour during the chilly winter months, here’s how you can whip up Matthew’s French classic in your own kitchen.
French Onion Soup
Ingredients:
1.5kg onions, finely sliced
100g butter
Three garlic cloves, crushed
Three bay leaves
Few thyme sprigs, leaves only
300ml white wine
1.3 litres good-quality beef stock
50ml soy sauce
½ day-old baguette
250g gruyere
Method:
Soy sauce will help the onions ‘sing'(Image: Getty Images)
Begin by cooking the onions in the butter over a low heat in a broad, heavy-based pan. After 10 minutes, introduce a pinch of salt, the garlic and bay leaves.
Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions have caramelised and turned brown, which should take about 45 minutes. Then add the thyme and pour in the wine.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and keep it cooking until the wine has reduced by half.
Next, add the beef stock and soy sauce and let it gently simmer for roughly 10 minutes. In the meantime, slice the baguette into 2cm-thick pieces and grate the gruyere.
Turn on the grill. Check the seasoning of the soup, adding salt and pepper if needed, then ladle it into ovenproof bowls that can go under the grill.
Top each bowl with the baguette slices and heap on the grated gruyere, distributing it evenly between the bowls. Place them under the hot grill until they turn golden brown and start to bubble, then serve.
Dining and Cooking