I have a new favorite comfort food. I love french onion soup, but haven’t tried to make it before namely because the rich flavor comes from beef broth. This is super easy just takes some cutting and stirring mainly.

This is the recipe for 2 servings and these are the classic smaller servings, salad makes a great addition.

2 tablespoons butter – I have used both smart balance and earth balance and both have held up well.
2 large onions diced – Man my eyes teared up like never before cutting these, but it pays off
Salt and Pepper – I added more pepper and used just a bit of natural salt
2 cups water and a splash if needed
Garlic – I know I know, but I used a smidge of garlic paste – Since I cook for one person I don’t keep a lot of garlic around and it’s easier to keep the paste instead.
1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar – I just eyeballed it
1 tablespoon of molasses – Same, just eyeball it
2 slices of baguette – I actually used brown rice bread and thought it did really well – better if toasted first
2oz or slices of melting cheese. I used swiss last time and it turned out well. I wasn’t able to find traditional gruyere in my local grocery store.

For just the two servings I actually just used fry pan. I have a small kitchen and I am the dishwasher so using a big pot isn’t often practical. But if you double it you will want to use a stock pot.

Melt butter on medium high, just melted – not browned. Add in onions and salt and pepper. Stir well and saute until golden – about 12-15 minutes. Cover pot and reduce to medium low heat. Cook covered until onions are soft – stirring occasionally about 20 minutes.
During this time is a good time to prep your bread and cheese, ready to pop into the broiler. I turn on the broiler right as I start the next bit so it’s nice and warm for the bread.

Remove lid and raise heat back up to medium high. Scrap up any browned bits at the bottom. Slowly add in water, garlic, sherry vinegar and molasses. Bring up to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes more.

While this is simmering you can do one of two things. usually this soup is dished into oven proof bowls and then topped with bread, cover the bread with cheese and broil until melted and lightly browned. If you don’t have oven proof bowls, which I discovered the first time I made this… just broil the bread with the cheese and add it to the top of bowls as it’s dished into the bowls.