What Sandwich Goes Well With French Onion Soup?

A bowl of hearty and savory French onion soup is the perfect comfort food. But this soup may not always make a full meal, especially when you are very hungry.

And though French onion soup is often served with croutons, sometimes you need more than bread to make you feel full. 

This is when sandwiches come to help! 

But what sandwich goes well with French onion soup? A roast beef sandwich might be the best sandwich to go with French onion soup. Other sandwiches that pair well with this soup are grilled cheese, chicken panini, sloppy joe, BLT, and salad sandwiches. 

Continue reading to learn why a roast beef sandwich makes the perfect soup and sandwich combination with French onion soup, and how to make an easy yet delicious roast beef sandwich. 

What Is French Onion Soup?

French onion soup is a classic French soup made with beef or chicken stock and caramelized onions.

If you don’t want to use meat stock, you can make onion soup with plain water. You may or may not use milk in the making of French onion soup.  

The preparation of onion soup isn’t complicated. It starts with cooking a large number of onions. The sliced onions should be cooked on low heat until they are soft and caramelized. 

To create a richer-tasting soup base and deglaze the pan, add white wine or sherry to the onions when they are done cooking. 

How Do You Serve French Onion Soup?

When it’s time to serve onion soup, you can top it with plain croutons. Another popular way to serve onion soup is with croutons with a cheese topping. The cheese should be melted through broiling or baking the bread. 

With this said, eating only French onion soup for dinner may not leave you feeling full especially if you are not eating a large serving. And this is true for all soups that are on the lighter side. 

This is exactly why the soup and sandwich combination is a thing. This meal, which consists of a portion of soup accompanied by a whole or half a sandwich, has been popular in the US since the 1920s.

One of the most iconic soup and sandwich combinations is tomato soup and grilled cheese. 

Onion soup accompanied by a sandwich is another great option for a comforting lunch or dinner. And it’s not surprising that this soup often comes with a side of a sandwich too. But what sandwich goes well with French onion soup?

What Is The Best Sandwich To Serve With French Onion Soup?

A roast beef sandwich is one of the best sandwiches you can serve with French onion soup.

Even half of this hearty sandwich will make a wholesome full meal with onion soup. The roast beef will pair nicely with the rich flavor of the soup especially if it’s made with beef broth. 

So, if you have roast beef leftovers and don’t know how to use them, make some French onion soup and enjoy it with juicy and savory roasted beef sandwich. 

How To Make A Roast Beef Sandwich

There are many variations of a roast beef sandwich. You can make it using your favorite ingredients, including lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, pickles, etc. 

Here is an easy way to make a delicious roast beef sandwich to go with French onion soup: 

1. Cut a small French baguette in half. 
2. Drizzle the baguette with a small amount of olive oil and bake it under the broiler with the cut side up for 1-2 minutes. 
3. Take the baguette slices out of the oven and rub them with fresh garlic. 
4. Add sliced roast beef on the bottom halves of the bread and a slice of Swiss cheese on top. You can use other types of cheese that melt well. 
5. Place the roast beef topped with cheese under the broiler for a couple of minutes until the cheese melts. 
6. Remove the sandwiches from the oven and cover them with the toasted baguette tops. 
7. Serve hot with a bowl of hot onion soup. For a burst of flavor, dip the roast beef into the soup to enjoy the heavenly combination that the beef, onion, and cheese flavors create. 

Other Sandwiches That Go Well With French Onion Soup

A sandwich with roasted beef makes a great combination with French onion soup. However, you don’t always have roasted beef at home, and making one takes time too. 

Here are five other sandwiches that go well with French onion soup:

Grilled Cheese

If you are looking for an easy sandwich option to go with your French onion soup, go for grilled cheese.  All variations of the grilled cheese sandwich will go well with onion soup. 

Making a grilled cheese sandwich doesn’t call for a lot of ingredients and advanced cooking skills.

All you need is two slices of your favorite bread and cheese that melts well. You can use Monterey Jack, cheddar, gruyère, mozzarella, and even American cheese to make a grilled cheese sandwich. 

You can add some other ingredients to your grilled cheese sandwich if you feel like it. Tomato slices, ham, mushrooms, and peppers are some delicious add-ins you can go for. 

When serving a grilled cheese sandwich with your French onion soup, you might want to avoid topping the soup with too much cheese as the sandwich itself is very heavy on the cheese.

Skipping the cheese topping altogether isn’t something we recommend you do as the melty cheese does enhance the texture of the soup. 

Chicken Panini

Chicken panini is another great meaty sandwich to go with French onion soup.

It is quite filling largely thanks to the Italian ciabatta bread and chicken used to make it. Other ingredients that typically go into a chicken panini are mozzarella cheese, greens, and pesto sauce. 

While ciabatta isn’t the healthiest bread, you can make your panini as healthy as possible by using grilled chicken. And while chicken panini is high in calories, half a panini alongside a bowl of French onion soup makes a great satiating meal. 

Chicken panini is usually made with mozzarella cheese which has a delicate milky flavor. So, the cheese in your chicken panini will not clash with the bolder cheeses used to top onion soup, including gruyère and cheddar. 

Salad Sandwich 

If a bowl of French onion soup leaves you hungry but you don’t want to eat anything too heavy with it either, then a refreshing salad sandwich is what you need. A salad sandwich is also a great pick for vegans and vegetarians. 

For a salad sandwich, you can use the greens and vegetables of your choice, including lettuce and arugula, shredded cabbage, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, red onions, and so on.

To make your salad sandwich more flavorful, use dressings. Tahini sauce, homemade honey mustard mayonnaise, and pesto are some of the best options. 

The freshness of a salad sandwich will balance out the rich savory flavor of the French onion soup, creating the best meal combination for lunch or a light dinner. 

Sloppy Joe

Beef sandwiches pair exceptionally well with French onion soup. This is natural as beef and onions always go hand in hand. 

As mentioned above, the roast beef sandwich is one of the best sandwiches to go with French onion soup.

If you like this combination but don’t have any roasted beef leftovers at home, you can make another beef sandwich to go with onion soup. 

A sloppy joe is one of the most popular American sandwiches made with beef. As this sandwich contains ground beef, making it from scratch is a lot easier than making a roast beef sandwich. 

Aside from ground beef, a sloppy joe sandwich also contains onions, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, seasoning, and other ingredients of your choice. Unlike other sandwiches, the sloppy joe sandwich is made with hamburger buns. 

You may consider sloppy joe to be too American for the classic French onion soup. But try this combination once and you will surely add it to your go-to meals. 

BLT Sandwich  

If you are not in the mood for spending time on cooking your sandwich ingredients, then one of the best sandwiches you can make to go with your French onion soup is a BLT sandwich. 

In case you didn’t know, this is a type of sandwich made with bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes (hence the name BLT!).

You can make this sandwich with toasted or plain bread, with mayonnaise, mustard, or other dressings, and other added ingredients such as avocado, hummus, and bell peppers.

A classic BLT sandwich features a familiar flavor combination. A bite of this sandwich in between the slurps of rich French onion soup will make a delicious meal. 

If you are very hungry, you can make a club sandwich instead of a classic BLT sandwich. A club sandwich is a two-layer sandwich.

One layer is typically a simple BLT sandwich while the other layer contains chicken, turkey, other types of meat, and so on.

If you’re looking to make your own French onion soup at home, check out this video from the folks over at Babish Culinary Universe!

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