Jason’s Deli French Onion Soup Recipe (Easy Copycat)

Most French onion soup recipes are built like a steakhouse appetizer — a heavy crock, a thick raft of broiled Gruyère, a broth so rich it eats the onions. Jason’s Deli’s version wasn’t that, and it’s why people are still hunting for it years after it left the menu.

Theirs was lighter and cleaner. Onion-forward, genuinely sweet from long caramelization instead of sugar, with cheese and croutons laid on top rather than baked into a lid. It was the soup you could order at lunch and still function afterward.

This recipe is built to hit that profile. It takes about 90 minutes, and roughly an hour of that is the onions cooking down while you do something else.

Why this copycat works

The onions get an hour, not fifteen minutes. This is the difference between a good French onion soup and a disappointing one, and no recipe trick gets around it. Onions cooked fast over high heat go brown without going sweet. You end up with a soup that tastes vaguely of scorched vegetable instead of caramel.

The broth stays light. No cream, no roux beyond a light dusting of flour, no reduction down to gravy. The body comes from the onions themselves.

Provolone instead of Gruyère. Gruyère is the traditional French choice, but it’s nutty and assertive in a way the deli version never was. Provolone melts mild and stays out of the broth’s way.

Sherry does the heavy lifting on depth. Two minutes of deglazing adds more complexity than an extra hour of simmering would.

Ingredients

For the soup

• Yellow onions: Three pounds sliced thin, the whole flavor backbone.
• Unsalted butter: Three tablespoons for richness and even, gentle browning.
• Olive oil: One tablespoon, raises the butter’s smoke point safely.
• Kosher salt: One teaspoon upfront, pulls moisture from the onions.
• Granulated sugar: Half teaspoon, nudges browning without tasting sweet.
• All-purpose flour: Two tablespoons, gives the broth light body only.
• Dry sherry: Half cup, deglazes and adds serious aromatic depth.
• Beef broth: Eight cups low-sodium; quality sets your flavor ceiling.
• Worcestershire sauce: Two teaspoons for savory background depth and umami.
• Fresh thyme: Three sprigs, simmered whole and removed before serving.
• Bay leaf: One leaf, quiet herbal backbone beneath the onions.
• Black pepper: Freshly ground, added at the very end to taste.

For serving

• Provolone cheese: Six slices, mild melt matching the deli original.
• Baguette: Half a loaf, cubed and toasted into sturdy croutons.
• Olive oil: One tablespoon to toss the bread before toasting.

Ingredient notes

• Yellow onions. Not sweet onions, not red. Yellow onions have the sugar-to-sulfur balance that caramelizes into something complex. Vidalias go cloying.
• Beef broth. A good low-sodium stock lets you control the seasoning at the end; a bouillon cube dissolved in water gives you salty brown water that no amount of onion will rescue. If you can find refrigerated stock rather than shelf-stable, use it.
• Dry sherry. Dry white wine works as a substitute. Sweet sherry or cooking sherry does not — you’ll taste the sugar. If you’re skipping alcohol entirely, deglaze with 1/4 cup broth plus 2 teaspoons of sherry vinegar.
• Provolone. Swiss is the next-best option. Mozzarella melts nicely but adds nothing.

Instructions

Step 1: Melt the butter with the olive oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sliced onions, salt, and sugar, and stir to coat. Cook, stirring every five minutes or so, for 45 to 60 minutes. The onions will release liquid, then slowly cook it off, then begin browning. You’re finished when they’re deep mahogany, jammy, and reduced to roughly a quarter of their original volume. If they start sticking hard, splash in a tablespoon of water and scrape the bottom. That fond is flavor — you want it lifted into the onions, not burned onto the pot. Resist the urge to crank the heat. An hour here is the entire recipe.

Step 2: Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir constantly for two minutes. This cooks out the raw flour taste and gives the broth a little body without thickening it into gravy. Pour in the sherry. Scrape the bottom of the pot thoroughly as it bubbles. Let it simmer down for two minutes.

Step 3: Add the beef broth, Worcestershire, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then drop to a low simmer, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes. Pull out the bay leaf and thyme stems. Taste and season with salt and pepper — do this last, after the broth has reduced, or you’ll oversalt it.

Step 4: While the soup simmers, toss the bread cubes with a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Spread on a sheet pan and toast at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes, until dry and golden at the edges.

Step 5: Ladle the soup into bowls. Lay a slice of provolone across the top and scatter the croutons over it. For melted cheese, run the bowls under the broiler for 60 to 90 seconds, just until the provolone slumps and blisters. Stop there. A thick baked crust turns this into a different soup.

Tips for the best results

• Slice the onions evenly. Uneven slices cook at different rates, so you get scorched thin bits alongside undercooked thick ones. A mandoline helps; a sharp knife and patience works fine.
• Use a wide, heavy pot. More surface area means faster evaporation and better browning. A tall narrow pot steams the onions instead.
• Make it a day ahead. The onion flavor rounds out noticeably overnight. If you have the time, this is the single easiest improvement to the recipe.
• Salt at the end, not the beginning. The initial teaspoon helps the onions release moisture. Everything after that waits until the broth has reduced.

Storage and freezing

Refrigerator: Store the soup base (no cheese, no croutons) in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Freezer: Freezes well for up to 3 months. Cool completely, then portion into containers leaving an inch of headspace. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat gently on the stove.

Reheating: Low heat on the stovetop. Add the cheese and fresh croutons at serving time — croutons frozen in the soup turn to paste.

What to serve with it

The classic Jason’s Deli pairing was a cup of this alongside a quarter muffuletta, and that combination holds up. Other options that work:

• A half sandwich — roast beef, turkey, or a Reuben
• A simple green salad with vinaigrette to cut the richness
• Crusty bread and butter, if you want to keep it simple

Is Jason’s Deli French onion soup still on the menu?

Not as a permanent item. Jason’s Deli discontinued it years ago, and when customers asked about a return in 2018, the company said it had no plans to bring it back at the time. A petition asking for its return has been circulating since.

It has reappeared occasionally as a limited-time seasonal soup, usually in fall and winter, but those runs are short and don’t hit every market. If you want to check, select your specific store in the Jason’s Deli app and look under “Limited Time Only” — national menu pages and third-party aggregators still list it long after it’s gone.

For most people, that’s why this recipe exists.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make this in a slow cooker? Partially. You still need to caramelize the onions on the stovetop — a slow cooker won’t get them there. Once they’re done, transfer everything to the slow cooker and hold on low for 2 to 3 hours.

Can I make it vegetarian? Substitute a rich mushroom or vegetable broth and add a teaspoon of soy sauce for depth. It won’t taste like the original, which is beef-broth based, but it’s a good soup in its own right. Skip the Worcestershire or use a vegetarian version.

Why is my soup bitter? The onions went too far. There’s a narrow window between deeply caramelized and burnt, and once you cross it the bitterness can’t be seasoned out. Lower heat and more frequent stirring next time.

Can I use a different cheese? Swiss is the closest alternative. Gruyère works but gives you a more traditional French profile than the deli version. Avoid anything sharp or aged.

How many calories is this soup? Roughly 200–250 calories per serving with the cheese and croutons, depending on your broth and how generous you are with the bread. Sodium runs high, as it does in any beef-broth soup — using low-sodium stock gives you meaningful control there.

Can I double the recipe? Yes, but caramelize the onions in two batches or use a very large pot. Crowding them means they steam instead of brown, and you lose the whole point.

More Jason’s Deli copycat recipes

If you’re rebuilding the deli menu at home, these are the ones worth making next:

• Copycat Jason’s Deli Tomato Soup — the other soup people miss most, done in the Instant Pot with whole tomatoes and a touch of cream.
• Copycat Jason’s Deli Reuben — corned beef, sauerkraut, and Swiss on grilled rye. The classic half-sandwich pairing for this soup.
• Jason’s Deli Chicken Salad — creamy with grapes and celery, exactly like the deli case version.
• Jason’s Deli Baked Potato — oversized russets with crackling salted skin, loaded however you like.
• Easy Copycat Jason’s Deli Mac and Cheese — creamy, cheesy, and made in the crockpot.
• Jason’s Deli Pasta Salad — the salad bar staple, with bell peppers, celery, and sharp cheddar.
• Copycat Jason’s Deli Fruit Dip — three ingredients, five minutes, and closer to the original than most versions online.

Want the full collection? Browse all the Jason’s Deli copycat recipes in one place.