Introduction: Outbacks Creamy Onion Soup
My wife and I love Outbacks Creamy Onion Soup. I have been working on perfecting this recipe for a few months. After about 6 different batches I was finally able to mimic the recipe to perfectly.
Unlike most onion soups that us a beef broth for the base this one will only use chicken sock. I tried it a few times with beef stock and it just seemed off, so I kept reducing it until I found it tasted better with no beef stock at all.
Step 1: The Ingredients
You will need the following for the soup:
For the stock:
2 quarts of low sodium chicken stock
1/3 cup of Chardonnay
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of black pepper
1 large white onion
2 large yellow onions
or 5 medium onions
some butter for sauteing
For the roux base you will need:
3/4 cup of unsalted butter
1 cup + 2 tbsp of flour
1 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 cup of Colby cheese + additional cheese for topping when it is done.
Step 2: Stock, Onions, & Roux
You are going to cut the onions into fairly large strips and saute them until they are semi-transparent with almost no crunch to them at all. Keep the temperature medium-low to keep them from burning, and stir the often.
The roux is the harder part to get just right.
- Melt the butter in a 1 quart pan
- Add in in the flour and whisk vigorously until it is incorporated into the butter.
- Keep whisking. At about 15 minutes into cooking it you will see the roux break and it will not bubble and fluff up nearly as much. At this point it is almost done it just needs some more color to it. Keep whisking for about another 10-15 minutes total until it turns a nice golden tan color.
- Add in the sauteed onions to the stock about 5-10 minutes before adding in the finalized roux, just to take out and remaining crunch that could be remaining.
- Now you are ready for the heavy whipping cream. Quickly whisk in the heavy whipping cream so it does not scorch. The roux will thicken considerably.
- Now it is ready to be added to the stock.
Step 3: Combining All Steps
After the onions have been added to the stock and the roux is done, whisk everything together and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Now add the cheese and let it sit for another 10 minutes to blend and melt together.
Step 4: Final Touches
After simmering, the soup is done and ready to enjoy, just add a small amount shredded cheese to the top to garnish or ever a few rye croutons.

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23 Comments
1 year ago
So delicious! I have made 4 different copycat recipes for this soup. This one is the most like Outback's. I was so upset when they took it off the menu. Now I can have it whenever I want. Thanks so much!
Question 2 years ago
Forgive a dumb question, is it one large white onion AND two yellow, or just OR? Thank you!
Answer 2 years ago
1 Large onion and 2 yellow onions
Reply 2 years ago
Thank you!!!
9 years ago on Introduction
Excellent, Thank You so much for your hard work and research. I make the soup in a crock pot, low all day. Before serving sauté same amount of onions, add to individual bowl. By cooking all day onion break down and make broth even thicker!
Reply 6 years ago
Can you explain a bit more how you did this? Do you do the amount of onions called for in the recipe in the crockpot and then add more to bowls? Or to the bowls? Thanks
Reply 6 years ago
I follow recipe as written. After soup is all done I add sautéed onions to individual bowls.
Cooking the soup in the crockpot all day breaks down the onions.
It makes the soup thicker, but then there are no whole onions!
I like the onions so I just add more to my bowl.
Add as many as you want!
Hope you enjoy. I love this recipe.
9 years ago
This is BETTER than Outback's!!! Theirs contains MSG which causes lots of allergic reactions in many people. Thanks for posting this!!! Sláinte!
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
MSG is delicious and hasn't proven to have any worse affects on anyone than salt.
Reply 8 years ago
MSG does cause some people to get a bad headache and can cause drowsiness in some people. I know I am one of those people!
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
They did a test with people like you (who claimed MSG gave them headaches) and they couldn't consistently identify food with MSG nor get headaches from it if they weren't told there was MSG in it. Why do 0% of Asian people have MSG sensitivity and magically white people are allergic to it? That's because they're not...
Reply 6 years ago
YOU are uneducated about MSG. It is a real problem for some people I get very drowsy after eating it why would you be doIng research on it anyway if you're not affected? It's not typically in Asian-American food either. That's a myth. If you care read Truth in Labeling.com
All chain restaurants use it it is horrible for many people. Have a little compassion! We never claimed it will kill us! It just makes us feel horrible.
Reply 6 years ago
Because I like to be informed about things and like to stay away from sensationalist websites with lack of proof like "truth" in labeling. Asian restaurants use it all the time, how can you not know that?
8 years ago
How about substituting cream cheese for the heavy cream?
8 years ago on Introduction
SO GOOD!
8 years ago on Introduction
OMG the best soup ever. Thank you for the recipe!
8 years ago on Introduction
You're missing one ingredient. a bay leaf! It will send this recipe to the copycat
hall of fame.
9 years ago on Introduction
I just made this tonight & it was a success!! I followed the instructions exactly. It was just like the Outback!!
9 years ago on Introduction
Very nice. Try ground white pepper instead of or combined with black. You'll be surprised.
9 years ago on Introduction
excellent. Thank you so much for your hard work perfecting the recipe . I used the juice from canned mushrooms instead of the Chardonnay. Tastes just like at the outback. Thanks again.