Vegetarian French Onion Soup
French onion soup is always a fan favorite! When I was a kid and my family would all go to a chain restaurant, this was my go-to appetizer.
For a while after I stopped eating meat, I just gave up on the idea of French onion soup. Any attempt at french onion soup without beef broth always fell just a little… flat.
Until now!
I’ve figured out a few hacks that work. One is to get a no-beef bouillon, like the one from Better than Bouillon, but I also have a few tricks up my sleeve for when you need to use vegetable broth or another type of Bouillon. vegan worcestershire sauce and soy sauce when you combine them make for an amazing depth that’s very similar to the depth you get from beef broth!
So, go ahead and make this. You don’t need fancy equipment — just some oven safe bowls will do.
Vegetarian French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 8-10 large white onions, sliced to preferred thickness.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 8 oz block of gruyere or swiss cheese
- 1 baguette or loaf of italian bread
- Vermouth, to deglaze
- Red wine, to deglaze
- 6 cups broth or bouillon (vegetable, no-beef or no-chicken)
- 2-3 bay leaves
- thyme, to taste
- rosemary, to taste
- sage, to taste
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tbsp worcestershire
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
Instructions
- Slice your onions and baguette and grate the cheese.
- Heat a dutch oven or soup pot on low heat. Add oil and 1 tbsp of butter.
- Add onions, a pinch of salt, rosemary, sage and thyme to hot oil.
- About 5 minutes in, add the rest of your butter. Allow onions to caramelize for 45 minutes up to 2 hours, depending on the heat of your stovetop.
- While your onions are caramelizing, toast your bread. You may add some cheese on the bread.
- Once your onions are browned and caramelized, deglaze with vermouth and red wine.
- Add broth or bouillon mixed with water to pot. Add bay leaves, soy sauce and worcestershire sauce. Let simmer for 30-40 minutes.
- Taste and add more seasoning as needed.
- Add a small amount of cheese to the bottom of an oven safe bowl or crock. Add in your soup. Add your toasted cheesy bread slices on top and layer the entire top with cheese. Now, torch or broil the top of the soup.
- Use oven mitts to transfer to table and enjoy!!
