The Art of Soups & Stews is a monthly recipe column that explores the world of vegan soups and stews. Written by Best of Vegan contributor Devorah Bowen, this column is a treasure trove of satisfying, comforting, cost-effective, and low-waste vegan soup and stew recipes that are sure to delight your taste buds. In today’s article, Devorah shares her recipe for a Vegan French Onion Soup.
Table of Contents
French Onion Soup is the ultimate comforting dish for whenever the weather cools. While there are not many ingredients that go into making this soup it does require some patience. Both the color and flavor come from truly caramelizing the onions. When you give the onions time to caramelize you bring out this intense sweet umami flavor that makes French onion soup what it is! The best part is the toasted bread covered in melty cheese that sits afloat the delicious sweet and savory onion soup. Everything together makes for an experience you will think fondly of and that will motivate you to make it again!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Yellow Onions
- No Beef Broth
- Dry Sherry
- Vegan Butter
- Thyme
- Flour
- Miso Paste
- Salt & Pepper
Bread & Cheese Topping
- French style Baguette
- Oil
- Salt & Pepper
- Vegan Mozzarella Shreds
How To Make This French Onion Soup
Step 1: Onion Preparation and Cooking
- Prepare the onions by chopping off the ends and peeling away the skin and the first layer of onion is papery. Cut the onions in half from end to end. Place the onion cut side down and cut the onion into thin slices (root to stem). Repeat until all onions have been sliced.
- Melt the vegan butter in a large but wide bottomed pot set on medium low heat. Add the onions and allow them to sweat or release their water. Stir occasionally and lower the heat if you notice any burning.
- Continue to cook the onions down stirring them every so often. Be patient this entire process will take about 45 minutes to an hour. The onions will release sugar and leave little bits on the bottom of the pan, this is good. If the onions become too dry you can add a tbsp of water to keep them going.
Step 2: Adding Flour, Sherry, Miso, and Simmering
- As the onions cook they will become a beautiful dark brown color, reduce greatly, and become jammy in consistency. Once this happens add in the flour and mix well. Cook for another minute or so before adding in the sherry. Use a wooden utensil to scrape up any of those oniony bits and mix them into the onions.
- Add in the miso paste and thyme and mix well. Allow everything to cook for another minute before adding in the broth. Stir well and cover the pot. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt & pepper if needed.
Step 3: Baguette Preparation
Cut the baguette bread into slices (about 2 per bowl) and place on a baking sheet. Brush with a bit of oil and season with salt & pepper. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Allow them to cool slightly before rubbing with a garlic clove.
Step 4: Serve your French Onion Soup and Enjoy!
- Preferred method of melting the cheesy top. Heat a nonstick pan on medium low and add the dry vegan mozzarella shreds. Cover the pan and allow the shreds to melt completely. Lower the heat if the cheese starts to bubble.
- Build the bowls of French Onion Soup. Pour a generous serving of soup into an oven safe bowl. Top with the garlic rubbed toast then spoon over with melted mozzarella. Place the bowls onto a baking sheet. Set them under the broiler at 425 for 5-7 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Garnish with a bit of fresh thyme and enjoy while hot!
Melty Cheese Tip
You can certainly top the toast by piling on the vegan cheese shreds and put the oven safe bowl under the broiler until bubbling. I prefer giving the vegan cheese some help by melting it first in a non stick pan and then spooning it over the bread, then popping it under the broiler to brown and bubble. If you do not have an oven safe bowl then spoon the melted cheese onto the bread and place it onto a baking sheet before broiling. Float the toasted bread with melted cheese on top of your french onion soup and enjoy.
Alcohol Free option
While the sherry adds incredible flavor it is still possible to make a delicious onion soup without it. Sub the 3/4 cup of sherry with 2 Tbsp of Sherry Vinegar and add 1/2 cup more broth. NOTE: Sherry Vinegar does contain a very small amount of alcohol so people wanting to avoid it all together should go for red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar instead.
Vegan French Onion Soup – Recipe Card
Best Vegan French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 3.5 lbs 1588g Yellow Onions (any variety will work)
- 6 cups 1420ml No Beef Broth
- 3/4 cup 177ml Dry Sherry
- 3 Tbsp 45g Vegan Butter
- 2 Tbsp 30g Thyme chopped plus more for garnish
- 2 Tbsp 30g Flour
- 1 1/2 Tbsp 23g Miso Paste
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Bread & Cheese Topping
- French style Baguette - preferably day old
- 2 Tbsp 30ml Oil
- Salt & Pepper
- 7 oz 200g Vegan Mozzarella Shreds
Instructions
- Prepare the onions by chopping off the ends and peeling away the skin and the first layer of onion if papery. Cut the onions in half from end to end. Place the onion cut side down and cut the onion into thin slices (root to stem). Repeat until all onions have been sliced.
- Melt the vegan butter in a large but wide bottomed pot set on medium low heat. Add the onions and allow them to sweat or release their water. Stir occasionally and lower the heat if you notice any burning.
- Continue to cook the onions down stirring them every so often. Be patient this entire process will take about 45 minutes to an hour. The onions will release sugar and leave little bits on the bottom of the pan, this is good. If the onions become too dry you can add a tbsp of water to keep them going.
- As the onions cook they will become a beautiful dark brown color, reduce greatly and become jammy in consistency. Once this happens add in the flour and mix well. Cook for another minute or so before adding in the sherry. Use a wooden utensil to scrape up any of those oniony bits and mix them into the onions.
- Add in the miso paste and thyme and mix well. Allow everything to cook for another minute before adding in the broth. Stir well and cover the pot. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt & pepper if needed.
- Cut the baguette bread into slices (about 2 per bowl) and place on a baking sheet. Brush with a bit of oil and season with salt & pepper. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Allow them to cool slightly before rubbing with a garlic clove.
- Preferred method of melting the cheesy top. Heat a nonstick pan on medium low and add the dry vegan mozzarella shreds. Cover the pan and allow the shreds to melt completely. Lower the heat if the cheese starts to bubble.
- Build the bowls of soup. Pour a generous serving of soup into an oven safe bowl. Top with the garlic rubbed toast then spoon over with melted mozzarella. Place the bowls onto a baking sheet. Set them under the broiler at 425 for 5-7 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Garnish with a bit of fresh thyme and enjoy while hot!
Notes
- Alcohol Free option: While the sherry adds incredible flavor it is still possible to make a delicious onion soup without it. Sub the 3/4 cup of sherry with 2 Tbsp of Sherry Vinegar and add 1/2 cup more broth. NOTE: Sherry Vinegar does contain a very small amount of alcohol so people wanting to avoid it all together should go for red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar instead.
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Recipe, text, and photography by Devorah Bowen
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Can you make this without the alcohol, and what would you substitute for it? Looks delicious!
Great question! Here’s a reply from the recipe’s author Devorah: “While the sherry adds incredible flavor it is still possible to make a delicious onion soup without it. Sub the 3/4 cup of sherry with 2 Tbsp of Sherry Vinegar and add 1/2 cup more broth. BUT – Sherry Vinegar does contain a very small amount of alcohol so people wanting to avoid it all together should go for red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar instead.” Let us know if you try the recipe:)