French Onion Soup

Recipe:

French Onion soup with tofu ‘cheese’ top

PLANT-BASED

Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 2

Part of our Comfort Series, this bowl is a cosy take on a winter classic. Built on a base of miso, fresh herbs, garlic, balsamic and stock, it’s everything we crave this time of year. Rich, full of flavour and deeply warming. Layered with tender shredded tofu and slices of crisped baguette, it delivers all the nostalgia of the original, but with a lighter, dairy-free twist.

---

INGREDIENTS

For the soup:

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil

• 4 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced

• ½ tsp brown sugar

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 4 sprigs fresh thyme

• 1 tbsp miso paste

• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• 1 mushroom stock cube

• 500ml hot water

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• Salt and pepper to taste

For the topping:

• 1 baguette, sliced and toasted

• 1 block firm tofu, pressed dry

• 1–2 tbsp nutritional yeast (to taste)

• ½ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp pepper

• 1 tbsp olive oil or vegan butter

• 1 pinch turmeric

• ¼ tsp onion powder

• ¼ tsp garlic powder

METHOD

To make the soup:

• Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add sliced onions and brown sugar, cook slowly until deeply caramelised.

• Stir in miso paste, garlic, and thyme, cook 1–2 min.

• Add balsamic vinegar, scrape browned bits, simmer 1–2 min.

• Sprinkle in flour, stir 1 min on low heat.

• Pour in 5 cups hot water, add vegetable & mushroom stock cubes, bay leaves, salt, and pepper; simmer 10–15 min. Remove bay leaves.

To make the tofu cheese topping:

• Grate tofu and mix with nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, turmeric, onion & garlic powder, and olive oil; pan-fry until golden.

• Ladle soup halfway into oven-safe bowls, add 1–2 toasted baguette slices, top with more soup, then spoon tofu “cheese” over the bread.

• Broil 2–4 min until golden and slightly crisp.