Incredible Vegan French Onion Soup

Before I went vegan, French onion soup was my favorite soup. I mean honestly, who doesn’t love bread and cheese in their soup? This vegan french onion soup has all the comfort and goodness without any dairy or animal products!

Blog post & pictures have been updated September 2024.

I first shared this recipe in 2018 and in all honesty the recipe is almost exactly the same, but this blog post definitely needed a little facelift. Plus, it is always fun to reshoot pictures for recipes. I also love this recipe so much that I put it in my cookbook Plantiful. So, if you had tried my vegan French onion soup in the past have no fear because the recipe hasn’t change and if you are new to it then you are in for a treat!

the ingredients

• Vidalia Onions: I do prefer Vidalia onions for this because they are naturally sweeter. However, if you can’t find them feel free to either use any sweet onion or a white onion.
• Vegan Butter: this adds richness and helps to cook the onions down nicely.
• Olive Oil: this will also help to cook the onions down and add richness.
• Balsamic Vinegar: instead of using wine in the soup (which is more traditional) I like to do balsamic vinegar as it still adds a similar effect.
• Bread: you can really use any bread you like. When using fresh bread just toast it in the oven beforehand. Ideally, you do want to use older stale bread.
• Better Than Bouillon (or any vegetable broth): I love BTB because it adds so much flavor but you can of course just use any vegetable broth you like.
• Vegan Mozzarella: this is added on top of the vegan French onion soup to make that delicious cheesy layer on top. I like Follow Your Heart, Violife, Good Planet or Whole Foods 365. Traditionally, Gruyere cheese is used but the vegan mozzarella works really well here.
• Salt & Pepper: added in to your preference to flavor.
• Organic Sugar: this is to add extra sweetness, it is optional.
• Thyme & Bay Leaves: adds flavor and dimension to the soup broth.
• Vegan Parmesan Cheese: a little sprinkled on top adds a nice bit of flavor. I like the grated one in a shaker from Follow Your Heart.

preparing the onions

The first part of making an amazing vegan French onion soup is getting your onions prepped correctly. The onion choice is rather important. You need to use either Vidalia onion, yellow onion or a sweet onion. If you have to use a white onion you can but I feel they are less sweet so I would incorporate a bit more sugar. Remove all the skin and any thicker outer layers. I like to slice them thinly, the thinner the better because they will cook faster. Be prepared for your eyes to tear, but it is well worth it in my opinion!

cooking the onions

When it comes to cooking the onions you need to have patience. It will take at least 45 minutes to cook them (you can even cook them for longer). You want to cook them low and slow as this will promote caramelization and the sweetness to come out. I find the best way to cook them is to add all the sliced onions into the pot with the vegan butter and olive oil. Then, I cover the pot with a lid and put the stove on a medium to medium high temperature depending on how warm your stove runs. Let the onions cook for about 10 to 15 minutes untouched. If you start to smell any burning of course go check on them. I will then give them a first mix around but they should already be softening and turning more translucent. Then, I will cover them again and continue to let them cook for another 30 minutes. At this point the onions should be darker in color and reduced down in size greatly. You can continue to let these cook longer if you like however, I find 45 minutes of cooking time is enough. When the onions are down cooking and before adding the broth I will add in balsamic vinegar and sugar and let the onions cook for another 1 to 2 minutes to absorb them.

making the soup

Once you have the onions cooked it is time to make the soup. This is very easy to do. You will need between 6 to 8 cups of vegetable broth depending on how much soup you want to make. I like to use 2 teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon in 6 cups of water to make a delicious broth. Better Than Bouillon has many different vegan friendly flavors. I use the vegan chicken broth base but they also have a vegan beef broth base which would work even better. You can also use their vegetable base which is also delicious. If you don’t want to use Better Than Bouillon you can use any vegetable stock or broth you like. So, just add in the broth, bay leaves, and fresh thyme and let the soup cook for about 25 minutes. You can use dried thyme if you like instead. Remove the bay leaves and fresh thyme when the soup is done, if you are using dried thyme no need to remove it. Give it a taste and add in any salt, pepper or sugar to preference.

broiling the soup

Once the onion soup is all done you have to put the final and iconic touches on of the bread and vegan cheese. Of course you can enjoy the onion soup all by itself it is so delicious. So, you will need some bread, stale bread works better here but you can use fresh bread. When using fresh bread just toast it beforehand because as the soup gets soaked in the bread it will get very soft. Then top it with some vegan mozzarella and I like to do a little vegan parmesan as well to add nice golden crispy bits. Broil on high for 3 to 5 minutes checking constantly to ensure nothing burns. I find it best to serve these in a crock but you can use any oven safe bowl. Garnish with a sprig of thyme if desired and black pepper.

freezing and meal prepping the soup

While making the vegan French onion soup it occurred to me how great this soup is for making ahead or meal prep. All you need to do is make the onion soup without doing the final step of vegan cheese and bread in the broiler. So once you just have the soup prepared by itself you can then let it cool and place it in the fridge for several days or in the freezer. I love having a stocked freezer for those days when I don’t feel like cooking and I am excited to have my vegan French onion soup cubes on hand for those cold winter days ahead. I found these great large freezer molds that I have been loving for freezing sauces and soups in.

more soup recipes

vegan french soup faq

• Is this recipe gluten free? Yes, as long as you use gluten free bread.
• Is this recipe nut free? Yes.
• Is this recipe soy free? Just don’t use Better Than Bouillon and it will be.
• Why don’t you use wine? I personally don’t drink that much so I don’t normally have wine in my house. As a result I don’t feel the need to use it in my cooking however, if you like the flavor and richness it adds you can definitely incorporate it.
• How long will leftovers last? Once you have added the bread and vegan cheese onto the vegan French onion soup you may not want to save that. So, I find the best way to save the soup in the fridge is to keep the soup separate and just prepare each serving as you want. The onion soup will last in the fridge for up to 4 days or you can freeze them. Please refer to the freezing section in the blog post.
• How do I reheat the soup? You can just microwave the onion soup on its own and then you will follow the steps for adding the bread, vegan cheese, and broiling. It is very easy.

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Looking for more delicious vegan comfort recipes? Order my cookbook Plantiful: Over 75 Vibrant Vegan Comfort Foods! Filled with all types of recipe from bites, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, desserts and more! Available on Barnes and Noble, Amazon, IndieBound, Walmart, also available in stores.

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