Red Onion Soup (20 Min, Vegan)
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This isn’t French, and it doesn’t take hours. Don’t get me wrong, a slow-cooked, caramelised onion soup is hard to beat – we even have one in our forthcoming cookbook.
But finding the time for such a beast isn’t always easy. So, here’s our 20 minute version. And it’s awesome.
We’ve mentioned before that Howie and I each test our recipes to make sure we’re both happy with the result.
Sometimes we add a little (or a lot) of something, change a cooking method, or even remove a part of the recipe altogether (if the ingredients are hard to get hold of, for example).
Our food tastes are quite similar although we both have our pet hates (mushrooms, slimy little bastards!) and Howie won’t eat an egg unless it’s camouflaged (check out this Eggy Bread for a good disguise).
Anyway, I digress – with the minimum of fuss we quickly concurred that this recipe was near perfect.
I like a few extra herbs thrown in, but that’s just me. See for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Health Benefits – Vegan Red Onion Soup
It just wouldn’t be right if we didn’t tell you that the delicious food you’re about to eat is actually good for you too.
It’s really high in vitamin B6, which is used within our brain and nervous system. Our neurotransmitters need it to function properly, and without it we’re in serious trouble.
It also helps to metabolise carbs and produce red blood cells, as well as detoxifying our livers. What a vitamin.
Other high sources of B6 are tuna, beef and chicken, so this an obvious great vegan alternative.
Ingredients
- 2 red onion
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 2.5 cups vegetable broth
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 2 slices wholegrain bread (whole wheat)
- 4 tbsp walnuts (4 tbsp = 50g)
- 2 tsp pesto (check out our version in the notes below)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Optional
- 1 tsp oregano, dried (or parsley, dried)
Instructions
- Cut the garlic into small pieces and add it to the pot.
- Cut the onions into thin rings and throw them in a pot. Add half the olive oil and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
- When the onions are transparent add the lemon juice and vegetable broth.
- Add some dried oregano or parsley (or both!) if you have them and let it all simmer for about 10 minutes
- In the meanwhile cut the bread into cubes. Then add them into a pan with the rest of the olive oil.
- Also add the walnuts to the pan. Fry for about 3 minutes until the bread cubes are nicely toasted.
- Add the soup into a bowl and add the croutons, walnuts and pesto.
- Quick and easy comfort soup – ready!
This soup sounds amazing!! And I love how quick is it! This is perfect for chilly winter nights 🙂
Hi Rachel, thanks for stopping by! Yees at the moment I’m quite happy with my photos, glad you like them too 🙂
Whoa, 2 other dude food bloggers! Sweet! I love stumbling upon fellow dude food blogs… we are a rare but growing breed! This soup sounds amazing… I’m such a fan of onion soups and have a few vegan friends that would love this!
Hi Chris, great that you found us! It’s always nice to see other male food bloggers. I just checked out your blog, the pics are awesome. I especially like the blue background!
Hi Howie and Dave,
Should the walnut be whole or chopped? Just making it tonight – ill let you know how it goes!
Hi Celina! I’d chop them a little, but not too much 🙂
Thanks fo trying out the recipe!
This sounds lovely. Going to give this a go. thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
You’re welcome – we hope you enjoy, let us know how it goes!
Hi, I noticed in your nutritional facts that this recipe has 52g of fat, which takes up 82% DV. I know there are healthy fats in this dish with the oil and walnuts, but that just doesn’t seem right to me. Can you clear this up? Am I being ignorant of something? Thanks!
Hi Kathryn! Nope you’re not being ignorant at all. Yes, you’re right, when you pointed out the nutri facts looked off I thought the same and went over to double check. It’s the 5 tbsp of olive oil that’s adding all the fat to it. 1 tbsp of olive oil is approx 120 kcal with 14g of fat. So, by just reducing the amount of olive oil to 2 tbsp you can get rid off 42g of fat! 🙂
Hi Howie,
You’re right, this recipe rocks! I could never imagine a bowl of onion soup tasting so delish.
Although I’m partial to Kat’s sweet potato soup, this recipe is also a winner. Thanks again for creating and sharing such healthy and yummy recipes. 🙂
Keep up the great work!
Hi Celia,
Sorry for the late reply! Niceee, glad to hear you liked the both soups!! We’re on a roll here, I’m sure there will be many more recipes soon 😀
Hi Howie Recipe sounds great …any other suggestions for walnut substitution.? I can eat nuts ..but not walnuts! Thanks Melissa
Hi Melissa, Dave here. If any other nuts are ok then I would suggest pecans or pine nuts. I also imagine pumpkin seeds would be great in the soup (I’m a little addicted to them at the moment 😀 ). I hope that helps!
I substituted sweet onions, that’s what I had in the pantry, and used oregano and parsley herbs. The toasted walnuts made were a tasty addition. Thank yotheu so much!
Yay, great Lisa Marie! The subs sound awesome, I bet the sweet onions were delicious. I fancy that myself now!
Just made this soup and i have to say it is wonderful. It has everything a good soups should have with complex tastes and textures. I’ll certainly be making it again and sharing the recipe with friends. Thank you
Ah, thank you Ian! Really glad you enjoyed it. Yes please do share, that makes me very happy. Thanks for writing – have a good one!
Delicious, next time I will triple it. I am a doula so I am going to add this to my postpartum recipes archive too!
Awesome Elle, really glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for writing and all the best to you 🙂
You forgot the part where you slow time down, to get the prepping done within 5 minutes. 🙂 Maybe it’s just because I don’t have fancy gadgets or a professional kitchen, but me and my average prep knife and a cutting board took a lot longer than 5 minutes to prepare/cut the whole onions, whole garlic, and bread slices.
This turned out well, but next time will cut down on the olive oil a bit, and chop the onion rings into sixths instead, as my soup spoon didn’t go very well with the rings constantly sliding back into the soup!
Note: I added a little diced ginger into Step 3.
Hi DG, thanks for the feedback! It’s been a while since I made soup, I’ll check out the prep time next time I make it. A very sharp and well-maintained knife is an absolute game-changer as well, very much worth the investment if it’s possible 🙂