Vegetarian French Onion Soup Recipe

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

This vegetarian French Onion Soup is rich, flavorful, and the ultimate comfort food. It's one of the most luscious soups. And it's so easy to prepare! You only need SIX ingredients for this easy french onion soup.

And when do you want to make it even more decadent? Top it with slices of bread with melty cheese.

French soup is one of the most famous recipes; beef stock is usually added to this soup. That gives a lot of flavors.
To ensure this soup gets that great flavor, the first step is to bake the onion and garlic in butter. The brown bits, which we scrape from the bottom, will enhance the flavor of this soup. You don't even miss the traditional beef broth.

And do you prefer a traditional French onion soup (with beef stock)? You can find here a good recipe for a classic French onion soup with cheesy toast.

What do you need for this Quick French Onion Soup?

To prepare this vegetarian French Onion soup, you need the following ingredients. You can find the correct amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog:

• Butter - For adding a bit of creamy touch to the soup
• Garlic - Adds extra flavor. 
• Onions - Traditionally, a Yellow onion is used for French onion soup. This onion is mild and becomes sweet when caramelized. The white onion is a bit milder compared to the yellow ones. Shallots are tangy and give a bit of spice. Red onions give a deeper flavor but, when baked, are still sweet. I opted for the yellow onions, but you can use an onion mixture to get the best of everyone.
• Worcestershire sauce (vegan) - Worcestershire sauce contains fish. Vegan Worcestershire sauce doesn't, so use it for a genuinely vegetarian recipe. Of course, you could make your substitute, and here you can find an easy recipe. 
• Vegetable stock - Use homemade vegetable stock or mushroom broth, or prepare it from store-bought cubes (and add 4 cups water). This will add a lot of flavor to the soup. However, every vegetable broth is different. So make sure to taste the soup just before serving and add black pepper and a pinch of salt when necessary.
• Baguette - The baguette is topped with grated cheese and put in the onion soup bowl. This way, it will absorb all the great flavors of the onion soup with a crispy gratin topping. The surprising touch of an authentic onion soup.
• Thyme - Use dried thyme to add lots of flavor to the soup.
• Gruyère cheese - This Swiss cheese is a bit sweet and salty. And this gooey cheese is ideal for melting and using for a gratin. 

How to prepare Vegetarian Onion Soup

You can find a printable recipe with a step-by-step description at the bottom of this blog.

1. Cut the onions into rings and chop the garlic finely. Melt the butter over low heat in a large saucepan and add the sliced onions. Cook for 3 minutes until the onions are translucent. Then add the garlic, stir it well, and fry for 30 seconds. Frying the onions and garlic gives them more flavor.
2. Next, pour the veggie broth and Worcestershire sauce with the onions. Stir with a wooden spoon, so the browned bits will come loose from the bottom (this will give a deep flavor and golden brown color). Also, add the dried thyme (or thyme sprigs). Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. 
3. Meanwhile, cut the baguette into thick slices and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Finally, cut the baguette diagonally so that the slices look even better. 
4. Ladle soup into bowls. Place a single layer of slices of crusty bread with cheese on top of the soup and slide it under the grill for 3 minutes to get that gooey melted cheese. Serve immediately, and beware, it is burning hot! Make sure you use oven-safe bowls. Put them on a baking tray so that drippings will be caught on the tray.

Garnish with fresh parsley.

Even more flavor - Add four tablespoons of dry white wine when adding the stock.

Serve the soup when very hot. TIP: Toast extra baguette slices. When using a baguette, toast some additional baguette in the oven. You should only put two to three baguette slices in each cup, but I find them so delicious that three is not enough. So I bake some more and serve them as a side, to dip in the onion soup.