Breton Vegetarian French Onion Soup

Vegetarian French Onion Soup for an Anglo-Breton Wedding


A year and and a half ago I was asked to help caterer in a small way for my brother's wedding.  His wife is from Brittany and she wanted French Onion soup to serve in the evening of the wedding party, as it is traditional to serve it early in the morning at French weddings which tend to run on through the night.

This soup recipe below is a special one from the bride as she is vegetarian so the usual beef stock is not added here.

I have to admit I would add beef stock and brandy when I usually make French onion soup and that when I have made again it as per the recipe below that I have added marmite to the mixture to get it a little darker. However the recipe above does make very nice soup! I would also serve it slightly differently at home by placing slices of toasted baguette with melted gruyere cheese perched like a lid on the bowl of soup.

In the end my Mum, sister and I made litres and litres of this soup which proved to be a really delicious thing to have later on in the evening at the wedding - tasty and filling but not heavy.  We are travelling to celebrate the non-religious Christening of my niece in Brittany soon, I wonder if there will be any Breton Vegetarian French Onion Soup to enjoy at this celebration?

Breton Bride's Soupe à l’oignon recipe (with my notes in red) 

This recipe serves 4 BIG portions, but being the end of the celebrations, after dinner, cake, etc I guess it would easily serve 6+.  If doubling/tripling the batch each stage will need a longer cooking time as indicated below in the variable cooking times give.

The secret of good onion soup is patience, the first 20 minutes are time consuming but crucial and so worth it!

- 1kg onions (not strong onions if possible, I use the normal loose onions, or when she can she uses “Roscoff onions” but they’re not around all year).

- 50g SALTED butter

- 2 tbs olive oil

- 100ml red wine (any red wine… whatever bottle you fancy drinking afterwards!)

- 2 litres of water

- + 4 “Knorr VEGETABLE stock pots” these are the Bride's favorite but similar vegetable OXO/Just Boullion etc would do. (if you are not a vegetarian you can use beef stock here for a more traditional approach)

1) Peel the onions and slice finely into half moons.

2) Melt the butter with the olive oil in a heavy pan over a medium heat, add the onions and cook for 20- 40 minutes (depending on whether you are doubling the batch and I would say possibly even longer) , stirring almost CONSTANTLY, until the onions are slightly brown and very creamy.

3) Add the red wine and stir for another 5 minutes.

4) Add the 2 litres of VEGETABLE stock and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hr, uncovered, over a low to medium heat, stirring occasionally.

5) No need to add salt as butter is salted and so is the stock.

It freezes well, so you can make it in batches.

We will serve it with garlic croutons, grated cheese and bread.

I have to admit I would add beef stock and brandy when I usually make French onion soup and that when I have made again it as per the recipe below that I have added marmite to the mixture to get it a little darker. However the recipe above does make very nice soup! I would also serve it slightly differently at home by placing slices of toasted baguette with melted gruyere cheese perched like a lid on the bowl of soup.

In the end my Mum, sister and I made litres and litres of this soup which proved to be a really delicious thing to have later on in the evening at the wedding - tasty and filling but not heavy.  We are travelling to celebrate the non-religious Christening of my niece in Britanny soon, I wonder if there will be any Breton Vegetarian French Onion Soup to enjoy at this celebration?