Despite being called French onion soup, French onion soup actually has an origin that dates back to the middle ages. It is a flavorful comfort soup usually made with onions, bacon, salt pork cubes, cheese, carrots, and celery.
The modern version of this soup was made in Paris during the 18th century, hence the name French onion soup. This soup features beef broth and caramelized onions.
Whilst the soup on its own is enough to keep anyone happy, for the best dinner, you have to serve it with a tasty side dish. Luckily for us, we have plenty to choose from. In fact, we may have too many options.
In today’s post, we want to show you just how many delicious side dishes you can serve with a French onion soup. To do so, we’ve listed 20 of the best. Stick around if you want to learn more!
1. French Toast
One of, if not the most popular side dish served with French onion soup is bread. Whether it be a buttered slice of bread or a baguette, bread goes really well with this soup.
However, if you want the most impressive flavor combinations, serve your soup with French toast.
Sweet, buttery, and slightly crisp, French toast puts a unique spin on this classic combination, offering up something that tastes both sweet and savory. On top of that, the bread helps balance the umami flavors of the soup.
2. 1905 Salad
If you want a simple, yet flavorful side dish to go with your rich, meaty soup, give this 1905 salad a try. This light, healthy salad is refreshing, crunchy, and full of green goodness.
Helping add flavor, fragrance, and nutritional value to your soup, this recipe can be made in a pinch. What we love about this salad are the zesty flavors it offers the soup. This gives the soup a nice balance.
We have the tangy lemon, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and vinegar dressing to thank for that. Feel free to throw any toppings you like into this salad too.
3. Cheese And Crackers
A rich, meaty soup like French onion soup goes nicely with an elegant, light appetizer like crackers and cheese. Incredibly easy to prepare, cheese and crackers offer French onion soup a refreshing balance of flavors.
The freshly baked soda or saltine cracker combines nicely with the richness of the melted cheese. The crackers also add an extra layer of savory flavor.
For extra flavor and divine creaminess, why not serve your crackers with sour cream and chive dip? The extra creaminess will only make your soup more decadent.
4. Sour Cream And Chive Baked Potatoes
Sticking with the theme of sour cream and chives, you can combine the dip with baked potatoes to make a hearty side dish.
Creamy, savory, and super filling, this baked potato recipe not only helps you create a tasty side dish but it also helps you up your jacket potato game.
Loaded with sweet and savory flavors, this recipe only calls for baking potatoes, olive oil, sour cream, chives, and shallots.
This recipe may be perfect how it is, but we also like to add some crispy bacon and cheese to the top of our sour cream and chive baked potatoes.
5. Buttered Noodles
Saucy, rich, buttery, and very easy to make, the next recipe on our list is buttered noodles. Bringing some Italian flair to your French onion soup, buttered noodles are made from fresh fettuccine.
The pasta is cooked in butter and garlic, seasoned with salt and pepper, and finally topped with parmesan cheese. The end result is a comforting side dish that is both full of flavor and healthy. You can make this side dish in just 20 minutes.
6. Chicken Pesto Panini
The combination of French onion soup and panini is fantastic. Both dishes feature a rich melted cheese that gets the taste buds tingling. As a result, it only makes sense to combine the two.
This particular panini recipe contains chicken, cheese, avocado, salt, pepper, mayonnaise, and tomato. All you have to do to make this hearty panini is spread the butter on each slice, load the bread, and grill it for 5 minutes.
You’ll be left with a golden panini that’s full of flavor and delightfully crispy.
7. Sauteed Mushrooms
Next up, we have a super simple sauteed mushrooms recipe for you. Mushrooms are a versatile ingredient that go well with a wide range of foods and dishes. Luckily for us, French onion soup is one of them.
Rich in sweet, meaty, and earthy flavors, they can be used to add strong flavor to a dish and a unique texture. The flavor and texture of sauteed mushrooms go brilliantly with a French onion soup.
Ready in 13 minutes, we only need mushrooms and garlic to make this side dish. However, adding soy sauce, olive oil, butter, and thyme will help elevate the flavors further.
8. Dark Chocolate
The next recipe on our list might seem completely bonkers but it’s actually a great side dish to serve with French onion soup. Yes, you read that right, dark chocolate is a fantastic French onion soup side dish.
It is the bitterness of dark chocolate that goes so well with French onion soup. When this bitterness of the chocolate is combined with the sweetness of the onions, a wonderful contrast of flavors is created.
We’ve attached an easy recipe that will show you how to make delicious dark chocolate.
9. Wine
Another interesting side to serve with French onion soup is wine. This also happens to be one of the easiest sides you can serve as all you have to do is buy a bottle of wine off the shelf.
A medium to full-bodied glass of wine will compliment the rich flavors of the soup perfectly. Most people prefer white wine because it offers more sweetness and is more affordable.
However, red wine is also a strong contender as it offers a rich flavor that blends nicely with the soup’s broth.
10. Scalloped Potatoes
The best way to serve a side dish that suits the richness of French onion soup is to find one that’s equally as rich. This scalloped potato recipe is perfect. Better still, it’s also super creamy.
Seriously crispy too, scalloped potatoes are a great side dish to serve at parties and family dinners. They are filling, easy to prepare, and can be made in batches.
All you need to make scalloped potatoes is potatoes, butter, plain flour, milk, cream, cheddar cheese, and gruyere cheese.
11. Steak
Meat lovers out there will love nothing more than a juicy steak alongside their French onion soup. Made in a matter of minutes, steak is quick, easy, flavorful, and delicious.
The best thing about serving steak with French onion soup is that it can be seasoned and prepared in any way you like.
The flavors of the onion soup and steak are quite bold so you might want to tone things down a bit by choosing a leaner cut of meat. However, if you want to get your teeth sunk into a meaty dish, go for a nice flank steak.
12. Oven Baked Salmon
If you’d prefer something a little lighter than a juicy steak, why not serve your soup with a freshly baked piece of salmon instead? In all honesty, it doesn’t matter how you prepare salmon.
Whether it be grilled, baked, or served raw, salmon tastes great. This fatty fish is perfect for balancing the richness of the onion soup. It’s effortless to prepare too. Simply flavor your fish with brown sugar spice mix and garlic butter, and bake it.
13. Cheese Plate
Most of us would only serve a cheese platter at the end of a meal, which is completely fine. However, cheese platters can also be a great appetizer, particularly when served with other dishes such as French onion soup.
One of the best things about a cheese plate is that it can be easily thrown together. All you have to do is select your favorite ingredients and place them on a cheese board.
Aside from serving the plate with cheeses, it’s also nice to place hams, olives, and fruit on your board.
14. Ratatouille
Next up, we have a tasty ratatouille recipe from Chef de Home. This recipe shows you how to make a classic ratatouille dish from scratch. Vibrant, healthy, and full of flavor, the greatest thing about this recipe has to be its simplicity.
Despite its complex appearance, this ratatouille is extremely easy to make. A real party pleaser, ratatouille is a roasted vegetable dish that is rich in nutrients and creamy.
The caramelized textured veggies go perfectly with the caramelized onions in the soup. Again, throw in any veggies you like.
15. Garlic Bread
If you love serving bread with your French onion soup but want to make things a bit more interesting, you could always make tasty garlic bread instead.
Crispy, soft, and flavorful garlic bread is a popular Italian side dish that can be made using a wide range of bread. This particular recipe calls for ciabatta. We appreciate this because we love how crispy ciabatta bread is.
This gives the garlic bread that amazing crunch we all love. To make the garlic bread more enjoyable, this recipe helps you make garlic breadsticks. These sticks are much easier to dip in your soup.
16. Caesar Salad
The next recipe on our list teaches you how to make a simple, yet hearty Caesar salad. It might seem like a simple side dish at first, but Caesar salad is actually one of the best things you can serve with French onion soup.
It adds a beautiful finish to the classic dish and plenty of freshness. It’s also a lot lighter and less rich than the onion soup, making it a pleasant accompaniment.
The only ingredients you need to prepare a Caesar salad are chicken, lettuce, croutons, and cheese. It could be worth making a sweet and tangy dressing too though.
17. Wiener Schnitzel
We love serving our French onion soup with schnitzel. It adds a much-needed crunchiness to a meal. This schnitzel recipe follows a more traditional style of schnitzel but you can use any type of meat you like.
Traditional schnitzels are made using veal cutlets. This recipe is nice and gives us the choice to use veal, pork, or chicken. If veal isn’t something you enjoy, we recommend using pork as this offers plenty of flavors and a crispy texture.
18. Bourbon Cocktails
As far as beverages go, wine isn’t the only drink that goes well with French onion soup. A good bourbon cocktail works well too. Bourbon is an excellent pairing with French onion soup because it is sweet, warming, and slightly smoky.
These are all things that offer French onion soup something special. Deciding which bourbon cocktail to make can be tough, so we’ve attached a long list of recipes you can try.
Personally, we love Bourbon Old Fashioned. The hints of orange and the strong bourbon finish are just perfect.
19. Baked Parmesan Tomatoes
Baked parmesan tomatoes take very little time to make. You don’t need too many ingredients either. As a result, they are easily one of the best side dishes you can make to serve alongside your French onion soup.
Aside from the easiness of this side dish, the flavors taste great. The sweet flavor of the tomatoes works wonders, whilst the creamy, rich flavors of the cheese take the tomatoes to a new level.
All you need to make this side dish are tomatoes, parmesan cheese, oregano, salt, pepper, and virgin olive oil.
20. Roasted Vegetables
If you have an array of leftover vegetables in your kitchen, you should use them to make a quick and easy roasted vegetable side dish. Roasted vegetables are just about the easiest and simplest side dish you can make with veggies.
It’s also one of the tastiest. Roasting vegetables helps to trap in all the sweet and savory flavors the vegetables contain. It also makes them incredibly tender. To make this side dish more flavorful be sure to season it with salt, garlic, thyme, and pepper.
What Are Some Delicious Side Dishes That Pair Well with Fettuccine Alfredo?
Looking for perfect sides for fettuccine alfredo? Look no further! Here are some delicious options to enhance your meal. A fresh Caesar salad with crunchy croutons adds a refreshing contrast to the creamy pasta. Roasted asparagus drizzled with lemon juice complements the rich flavors. Mouthwatering garlic bread is an irresistible addition. Finally, sautéed mushrooms in butter lend an earthy touch.
Final Thoughts
As you can see from our list, there is a long list of amazing side dishes we can make to serve alongside French onion soup. It doesn’t matter what you like or what you want to make, there’s a French onion soup side dish that you can enjoy.
In this post, we gave you 20 delicious side dishes that you can make quickly and easily at home. We looked at simple bread recipes, light salads, hearty veggie dishes, and tasty meat side dishes.
Now you have this list of side dishes available to you, you should start working out which sides you want to make first. We’re confident you’ll love whichever side dish you choose to make first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, sandwiches do go well with French onion soup. In fact, sandwiches are a go to side for a lot of people. The best sandwich you can serve with onion soup is a beef sandwich.
There is a wide range of wines you can use in an onion soup, however, the very best would have to be pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, and merlot.
For the best-tasting onion soup, it is important to use a good-quality wine so make sure the wine you choose is of good quality.
Browning your onions before putting them in your French onion soup is a good idea. Whilst it isn’t a must, sauteeing the onion in a pan before adding them to your cooker will ensure they are cooked through thoroughly.
20 Delicious Sides You Can Serve With French Onion Soup
Is French onion soup on your menu? Do you need a delicious side to serve with it? Here, we show you 20 sides you can serve with a French onion soup.
Ingredients
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