This Vegan French Onion Soup recipe is inspired by the original French classic. It’s complete with a rich, umami-packed broth topped with crusty bread and hot, gooey “cheese.” It’s the perfect cozy comfort food made completely vegan!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Vegan butter: Used to caramelize the onions and adds savory richness to the soup. If you don’t have any vegan butter on hand, olive oil is a great substitute.
- Onions: You’ll need 3 pounds of yellow onions (about 5-6 onions). When slowly caramelized, the onions create a sweet, rich, savory soup broth that is iconic to French onion soup.
- Sugar: A pinch of sugar helps to quicken the caramelization process and brings out the onions’ natural sweetness.
- Dry white wine: Used to deglaze the pan while caramelizing the onions. We recommend sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, or a dry riesling for their crisp acidity and light, neutral flavor.
- Flour: All-purpose flour helps to thicken the soup broth and give it a velvety mouthfeel.
- Broth: Traditional French onion soup is typically made with beef broth. To mimic that same deep, umami flavor, we made our French onion soup with vegan beef broth, but vegetable broth also works well.
- Thyme: The fresh, aromatic notes of the thyme sprigs balance the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the richness of the broth.
- Bay leaves: Similar to the fresh thyme, bay leaves add an earthy layer to the soup, contributing to the deep flavor profile.
- Dry sherry: While optional, a splash of dry sherry balances the soup’s richness by adding a tangy brightness.
- French baguette: Day-old, crusty French bread works perfectly in this soup recipe.
- Vegan mozzarella: Classic French onion soup is famously topped with gruyere cheese, but that is hard to come by in a dairy-free version. Our recipe testing found that vegan mozzarella was the next best thing. Feel free to opt for store-bought shreds as we did, or try our Homemade Vegan Mozzarella Cheese slices!
How to Make Vegan French Onion Soup
- Caramelize the onions. Add the vegan butter to a large Dutch oven or pot of choice and melt over medium-low heat. Once melted, add the sliced onions, salt, and sugar. Cook until the onions are deeply caramelized, occasionally stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape the fond at the bottom of the pan. This should take 30-45 minutes. In the beginning, you’ll only need to stir the onions occasionally, but once they begin to brown, you’ll need to stir more frequently to prevent burning. If the onions begin to burn or stick to the pan, deglaze with water.
- Add wine. Once the onions are a deep golden brown and jammy, add the wine to deglaze the pan and raise the heat to medium. Cook, stirring constantly, until the wine is cooked off, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the flour. Sprinkle the flour over the caramelized onions and stir to coat. Cook for an additional minute to allow the flour to hydrate.
- Add the broth ingredients. Add in the broth, sprigs of fresh thyme, and bay leaves. Stir together and bring the soup broth to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Prepare the crouton. While the soup simmers, preheat the oven to 400F. Place the baguette slices on a sheet pan with a drizzle of olive oil and bake for 5-8 minutes or until lightly crispy. Remove from the oven and set aside. If using regular bowls, top the crispy baguette slices with vegan mozzarella cheese and return to the oven for another 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
- Finish the soup. After the soup broth has simmered for 30 minutes, remove the soup from the heat. Add the dry sherry, if using, and black pepper to taste. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
- Ladle into oven-safe bowls. Ladle the savory broth into oven-safe bowls and top with 1-2 slices of the crispy bread. Pile vegan mozzarella shreds on the bread, about 1/4 cup per bowl.
- Bake until cheesy. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. If using regular bowls, serve the soup and top with the prepared cheesy baguette slices.
- Enjoy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. Enjoy!
Find the full printable recipe here: Vegan French Onion Soup
