a simple real food recipe :: french onion soup

This is a favorite lunch recipe of mine.

Why?

1.  It is full of delicious, nourishing beef stock.

2.  I get to put a big hunk of raw cheese on top.

3.  The recipe possibilities outside of just eating it plain are endless.

4.  You get to cook with red wine – so that means since it’s open, we can have a couple sips whilst we cook, right?!

5.  It’s not from a can so there are no preservatives, BPA, or nutrient-less broth.

6.  It’s E.A.S.Y. 🙂

You’ll need:

5 medium onions, sliced thin

4 TB friendly fat to cook in (butter, coconut oil, tallow, lard)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 quarts beef stock (preferably homemade)

1 ½ cups red wine (I’m not a brand snob but don’t cook with anything you wouldn’t drink out of a glass 😉 )

Sea salt/pepper to taste

1. Melt the friendly fat in a large soup pot.
2. Add the onions and a few pinches of sea salt, and cook on low for about 2- 2 ½ hours, stirring occasionally. (I typically pass by the stove every 15-20 minutes and give it a quick stir).
3. Add the garlic, raise the heat up a little bit, and cook for a minute or two to slightly caramelize the onions.
4. Add stock and wine and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes.
6. Top with freshly grated raw cheese or sour cream. If you are dairy free you could try goat cheese.

Kitchen Tips:

1. If I’m planning on this for lunch, sometimes I will chop the onions the night before.  Then the next day I just have to put them on to cook about 9 or 10am, and it will be done by lunch.
2. Of course if you aren’t home during the day, you can make this on the weekend or in the evening and have it the next day. It freezes up fantastic so batch it up! This was one of my favorite soups to bring in a thermos for workdays!
3. This batch makes up a good 4 quarts of soup.
4. Don’t forget the kids – my oldest literally drools over this soup 🙂 Pack it up in their thermos for school with a piece of raw cheese.
5. My list of what I have used this soup for includes: pouring over a beef roast to roast in the oven, adding to beef stew for flavor/stock base, adding roasted root veggies to the soup and puree for a great veggie soup flavor base…etc!
6. If you are out of red wine (what a shame!) or can’t have it for some reason, try apple cider vinegar – I have done this when I forgot I was out of the wine and it tasted great!
7. You can play around with how many onions you want to use – if you like a lot of onion in your soup, this recipe is perfect – if you prefer more stock to onion, maybe just use 3 or 4 onions.
8. French onion soup is sometimes served with croutons or crusty bread – we do this on occasion – just stick with sprouted breads or sourdough. I make my own croutons with week old bread into the oven to toast and keep in the fridge – it is usually how I use up the “ends” of the bread.
9. Onions are great for kicking a cold virus to the curb!  Don’t hesitate to get the wee ones in on eating this up for lunch too!  Besides, what kid wouldn’t love stringy, melted cheese to play with during lunch?!

YOUR TURN!

What is your favorite lunch soup? Let me know how you like the soup if you try it!

This post was shared at Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday, Too Many Jars In My Kitchen’s Fill Those Jars Friday, Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday, and Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter!