I think you would be hard pushed to find someone who doesn’t love croquettes, rich buttery fillings with little nuggets of flavour, all coated in breadcrumbs and fried to a deeply satisfying golden coating, that gives ways to the perfect crunch when bitten into. As well as being at the perfect size, that means it’s perfectly acceptable to keep ordering another plate of them. I’ve combined two of my favourite starters, to make French Onion Soup Croquettes. This recipe has that deep golden crunchy fried coating but the filling is all the flavours of French Onion Soup. Buttery, sweet caramelised onion, plenty of garlic, thyme, a splash of white wine and deep rich beef stock, thickened to a dreamy rich filling all ready to be coated and fried. Think of the coating as substitute croutons and of course, still served with a good sprinkle of Gruyère cheese on top. Great to be served as a starter or alongside as a side dish. Or just as a great snack with drinks, you’ll want to serve them with something hearty to stand up against all the delicious flavours.
I used Japanese panko breadcrumbs for my croquettes, which gave a great crispness and slight sweetness to them. You can use golden traditional breadcrumbs if you prefer. As ever, when working with hot oil for frying be really careful, these can be oven-baked if not keen on working with the oil.
Equipment You'll Need
French Onion Soup Croquettes Recipe
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 10 Croquettes 1x
Description
Makes 10 Croquettes
Ingredients
- 500g White Onions, thinly sliced
- 50g Unsalted Butter
- 4 Garlic Cloves, crushed
- 1/4 tsp Thyme
- 100ml Dry White Wine
- 2tbsp Plain Flour
- 375ml Strong Beef Stock
- Vegetable Oil, for frying
- 2 Large Free Range Eggs
- 200 g Panko Breadcrumbs
- 25g Gruyère, finely grated
Instructions
- Line a 8×8 tin with cling film and set aside. In a large pan on very low heat, sweat off the onions with the butter, garlic and thyme. Don’t rush this stage as you want the sweetness and flavour to develop. You want to cook the onions down to a golden sticky pile, the amount of onions will reduce. Every 10 minutes, give the onions a stir and add a splash of wine as you go along. This process will take about an hour, in that time make sure you’ve used up all the wine and reduced it down.
- Once the onions are golden and buttery soft, increase the heat to medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook for a few minutes, add the beef stock in, little by little. Once all the stock has been added you should have a fairly thick mixture. Pour into the prepare tin, level the top and allow to cool before chilling for at least an hour.
- Once the mixture has chilled, remove from the fridge and cut into 10 fingers of the mixture. In a shallow dish beat the eggs together, in another dish sprinkle out the breadcrumbs.
- Roll each croquette in the breadcrumbs, then the beaten egg, then the breadcrumbs again. Place the coated croquettes on a lined tray whilst waiting to be fried. When all the croquettes have been coated, prepare to fry.
- In a large pan, pour roughly a litre and half of the vegetable oil, use a thermometer that clips to the side of the pan so you don’t have to hold it in the pan of oil. Heat the oil slowly until it gets to 180C-190C. Carefully add the croquettes, two at a time and cook until golden brown. Slot out of the pan, draining any excess oil as you go and transfer to kitchen towel-lined plate. Keep warm in a low oven while you fry the rest of the croquettes.
- Serve hot with the Gruyère sprinkled on the top
- Prep Time: 1hr
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Savoury
- Method: Deep Frying
- Cuisine: French
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