My family loves this soup for the feast days of French saints, and it’s always one of the soups I serve at our Lenten Soup and Stations get togethers. To make it more crowd-friendly, I assemble the cheesy crouton topping separately. Gruyere is the cheese traditionally used for French onion soup (try Aldi). Grated Swiss or mozzarella can also be substituted. The crouton part is a great way to use up stale bread and heels. I really like bouillon paste (in the soup aisle) for the convenience and lack of waste, but 6 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of beef broth can be substituted for the pastes and water if you prefer.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/91192/french-onion-soup-gratinee/