French Onion & Oxtail Soup
French Onion & Oxtail Soup is great comfort food.
Dig down beneath a toasty, cheesy topping and you’ll find rich onion soup made with tasty beef broth, filled with shreds of meltingly soft oxtail.
Although the soup is best made over a couple of days, the hands-on time isn’t huge.
And at the end you’ll have a stunning dish to keep out the chills that’s impressive enough to serve to guests.
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FRENCH ONION & OXTAIL SOUP
I think of this dish as the coming together of two classics. French onion soup and British oxtail soup.
Before I’d made it myself, I’d only ever eaten it at the fantastic Lazy Trout Inn here in the Staffordshire Moorlands. So good, it inspired me to create my own version.
As well as lots of softly cooked, buttery onion, there’s meaty oxtail. And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s a rich broth and cheesy bread topping.
If you’ve had a look at the detailed recipe card at the end of this post, please don’t let its length put you off. Because this really is an easy dish.
Yes, the instructions appear long. It’s also best to start the day before you want to eat my French Onion & Oxtail Soup. But there honestly isn’t that much hands-on time required.
On day one, we brown pieces of oxtail then cook them with stock vegetables until meltingly soft. I do this in my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker but have also given instructions for oven cooking.
The next day, we use the tasty rich broth we’ve made (after easily skimming off the cooled fat) to create a flavourful onion soup.
Finally, the soft meat is reheated in the soup, and the whole lot topped with cheesy toasts then grilled until bubbling.
Now, doesn’t that sound good?
COOKING THE OXTAIL/MAKING A BROTH
According to Faye Levy in Fresh from France (Grafton, 1990), one of the secrets of delicious French onion soup is to use a good homemade stock.
She suggests chicken or vegetable. But to get a really good homemade stock I use oxtail.
I’m so glad that oxtail seems to be becoming more popular again. While there isn’t a huge amount of meat on it, it has bags of flavour.
I got the one pictured above from Dunwood Farm Butchery. Just look at that marbling!
Not just tasty, this will break down during cooking to give a lovely velvety texture to the soup.
To start building the flavours straight away, I first brown the seasoned oxtail in olive oil.
It’s then transferred to the Instant Pot or, if you’re going to cook the oxtail in the oven, to a lidded casserole.
Then we simply add the rest of the broth ingredients.
- onions
- celery
- carrot
- garlic
- peppercorns
- beef stock
At this stage, you only need a light beef stock. A couple of stock cubes in a litre and a half of boiling water is fine.
In my Instant Pot the oxtail takes just 60 minutes to become fall-apart tender. If you’re going to cook it in the oven, allow 3 – 4 hours.
SHREDDING THE OXTAIL
Using a slotted spoon, I fish out the pieces of oxtail and set them aside to cool a little.
I realise they might not look particularly attractive at this point.
But what we have is a bowl of fantastically flavoured, soft meat that’s going to take your French onion soup to a whole new level.
While the meat’s cooling I strain the cooking liquor through a sieve and into a large bowl.
You can discard to contents of the sieve and leave the liquor to cool. This is put in the fridge when cold, ready to make the soup the next day.
I strongly suggest that as soon as the oxtail is cool enough to handle you start separating the meat from the bone and any unwanted fat or sinew. This is so much easier while it’s still warm.
Some oxtails have more meat on them than others. But don’t be alarmed if you only appear to have a small amount. What it will have is great flavour. And that’s what it’s there for. Not to give great mouthfuls of meat.
Like the broth, the meat can now be put in the fridge until the next day.
SOUP INGREDIENTS
When you take a look at the bowl of stock in the fridge, you’ll see why we leave it overnight.
The fat from the oxtail will have risen to the stop and solidified. This makes it very easy to spoon off all or most of it.
But please don’t throw it away! Pack it into a jar, store in the fridge, and use it in cooking. Roast or fried potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, stir-fried vegetables or omelettes will all benefit from its beefy flavour.
Besides the homemade stock and shredded oxtail, you’ll need a few more simple ingredients.
- Onions. The weight before preparing them should be around 800 grams. Peel, cut in half then slice thinly.
- Garlic. This isn’t an overly garlicky soup, so 4 cloves is plenty.
- Butter. For cooking the onions and garlic until very soft. I prefer salted butter, but unsalted is fine too.
- Thyme. Adds a subtle herby flavour. Tie up a few sprigs with kitchen string: this makes it easier to fish them out later.
- Port. I think this adds depth of flavour, but is optional. You could also replace it with Madeira or brandy.
- Flour (optional). I haven’t included this in the image of ingredients as I don’t add any to my soup. A level tablespoon will make the soup a little thicker, but I prefer a thinner broth in this case.
MAKING FRENCH ONION & OXTAIL SOUP
To get great flavour, and to bring out their natural sweetness, the onions should be cooked slowly. I do this in two stages.
First, they’re sweated in butter, with a lid on, until almost tender.
Don’t try to rush this stage. You’ll need to stir now and then to make sure they’re not catching. But they will largely look after themselves. Around 40-45 minutes on a low flame should do it.
For the second stage, I cook the onions a little more briskly, with the lid off and at medium heat. This is to evaporate off some of the water that will have come out and to colour them a little.
After 10 minutes the onions should be noticeably softer and lightly golden.
If you’re going to add alcohol such as port, do it now. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes until almost completely evaporated.
Then you can add the bunch of thyme (plus the optional flour mentioned above) and a litre of the beefy broth.
Pop the lid back on and simmer the soup for just ten minutes. Then add the oxtail and simmer ten minutes more.
Your French Onion & Oxtail Soup is almost there.
CHEESY TOAST TOPPING
When I think of French onion soup I imagine a topping of melting cheese on crunchy bread, going soft underneath from the rich broth.
So I was surprised to discover that many traditional recipes have the bread in the bottom of the bowl, then the soup, then the cheese.
But I do prefer the modern way of bread and cheese on top, grilled until golden.
THE BREAD & CHEESE
Understandably, given the soup’s origins, French baguettes are the favoured bread to use.
If you want to make your own, then try my Homemade Baguettes recipe. Or there’s Stirato: a more rustic, Italian-style baguette that would be perfect too.
But I happened to have a lovely homemade sourdough loaf so used that.
Traditionally, the cheese to use is sweet and nutty French or Swiss gruyère. This is what I use, sometimes combined with a little Parmesan for extra bite.
FINISHING THE SOUP
To add the topping to the French Onion & Oxtail Soup, divide the soup between individual, heatproof bowls. Use smallish bowls so you can fill them almost to the top.
(If you don’t have heatproof bowls, I tell you how to proceed a little further on).
You could first toast the slices of bread before putting one on each bowl. But so they don’t become too hard, I prefer to bake them until dryish.
Around 10 minutes in a medium oven, turning halfway through, is all it takes.
Then scatter over plenty of finely grated cheese.
I like it over the top of the soup as well as the bread.
Under a preheated grill, in just a few minutes you’ll have a bubbling, cheesy topping with the bread just starting to soak up that beautiful soup you made.
Dig in with your spoon and you’ll find rich onion soup and pieces of tender oxtail.
If you don’t have heatproof bowls, simply put the slices of baked (or lightly toasted) bread on a baking tray and top with cheese.
Grill until golden and bubbling then place one on each bowl of hot soup.
I love to pick up the toast in my fingers, dunk it in the soup and transfer to my eager mouth.
FRENCH ONION & OXTAIL SOUP: GREAT COMFORT FOOD
I think French Onion & Oxtail Soup is a great dish for Autumn and Winter. Or a chilly day at any time of year.
Yes, it takes a little planning. But the rewards are tremendous.
The soup, without its topping, freezes well. You can also freeze the broth and cooked oxtail separately, ready to make the soup whenever you like.
Perfect comfort food that’s impressive enough to serve to guests.
HAVE YOU MADE THIS SOUP?
LEAVE A COMMENT & RATE THE RECIPE
French Onion & Oxtail Soup
Rich onion soup with tender oxtail pieces topped with bubbling cheesy toasts. Great comfort food for chilly days that's impressive enough to serve to guests.
Make the broth the day before you want to eat the soup so you can remove the fat layer once cooled.
Ingredients
For cooking the oxtail and making the stock
- 1 oxtail jointed by the butcher
- salt and black pepper
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions peeled, cut into large pieces
- 2 sticks celery cut into large pieces
- 1 medium carrot cut into large pieces
- 4 cloves garlic peeled, left whole
- 8 black peppercorns
- 1500 ml light beef stock
For the soup
- 60 g butter
- 800 g onions peeled, cut in half and sliced thinly
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 6 sprigs thyme tied together with kitchen string
- salt and black pepper
- 100 ml port
- 1 litre broth from cooking the oxtail
- meat from the cooked oxtail fat and sinew discarded, meat shredded
For the topping
- 6 slices crusty bread e.g. baguette or sourdough
- 180 g gruyere cheese grated (replace 30g with Parmesan if liked)
Instructions
DAY 1: Cook the oxtail/make stock for the soup
-
If cooking in the oven rather than an Instant Pot: preheat the oven to 160 C /140 C Fan / Gas 4 and put a large, lidded casserole dish inside to heat up.
Put the olive oil in a large frying pan on a high heat.
Lightly season the oxtail pieces with salt and pepper.
Brown the oxtail all over in the oil. Do this in batches if necessary.
-
If using an Instant Pot (IP)
Transfer the browned oxtail to the IP inner, placing in one layer if possible.
Add the rest of the broth ingredients, plus a pinch of salt then lock on the lid.
Ensure the valve is set to 'Sealing' then press the 'Manual' button. Use the +/- buttons to set the time to 60 minutes.
When the time is up, leave for 10 minutes, press 'Keep Warm/Cancel', then release the pressure manually (or leave pressure to release naturally if preferred).
If cooking in the oven
Transfer the browned oxtail to a lidded casserole dish, placing in one layer if possible.
Add the rest of the broth ingredients, plus a pinch of salt.
Put on the lid, bring to a boil on top of the stove then transfer to the oven.
Cook until the oxtail is very soft and almost falling from the bone (3 - 4 hours).
-
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pieces of oxtail from the broth to a bowl. Set aside to cool a little.
Pour the broth through a sieve into a large heatproof bowl. Discard the contents of the sieve and leave the broth to cool. Cover and store in the fridge when cold.
-
As soon as the oxtail is cool enough to handle, separate the meat and discard any fat and sinew: this is easiest to do while it's still warm.
Shred or dice the meat and put it in a covered container in the fridge.
DAY 2: make the soup
-
Put the butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
Stir in the onions and garlic plus a little salt and pepper.
Put on a lid and sweat very slowly until soft but not colouring, stirring occasionally (40-45 minutes).
-
While the onions are cooking: take the stock from the fridge and skim off any unwanted fat (this can be stored in a jar in the fridge and kept for cooking potatoes or other dishes).
Measure out 1 litre of stock (any extra will keep in the fridge for 2 days or can be frozen).
-
Turn the heat up to medium and, stirring often, cook to evaporate off any water and further soften the onions: after 10 minutes they should be lightly golden.
Pour in the port, turn the heat to high and bubble until the port is almost completely evaporated (2-3 min).
Tip: if you want a thicker soup, stir in 1 level tbsp flour now.
Add the bunch of thyme, the litre of oxtail stock and season with a little salt and a generous amount of pepper.
Put on the lid, bring to a boil then immediately turn down to a low simmer for 10 minutes.
-
Stir in the reserved oxtail meat and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Tip: if you want to reduce the broth then simmer with the lid off. Otherwise leave the lid on.
Remove the bunch of thyme then taste and add more seasoning if needed.
Take off the heat.
The soup can be chilled and stored in the fridge or frozen at this stage.
Make the topping
-
Preheat the oven to 170 C / 150 C Fan / Gas 3.
Put the slices of bread on a tray in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until dryish, turning halfway through. (Alternatively, lightly toast the bread).
Heat your grill to high.
-
Divide the soup between six small-medium heatproof bowls* so it almost reaches the top.
Place a slice of bread on each soup and scatter with the grated cheese.
Put the bowls under the grill and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
* If you don't have heatproof bowls then put the slices of bread, scattered with cheese, on a tray under the grill until bubbling. Put a slice on each bowl of soup.
Serve immediately.
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