This is the secret ingredient for the most delicious onion soup
If there’s one dish I’d want to eat for the rest of my life, it would be soup. I could genuinely eat it every single day without ever getting tired of it. And the great thing about soup: you can take it in so many directions. And if I had to choose one favorite out of all soups… it would be onion soup (I especially love this slow-cooker version).
Onion soup can also be a bit of a hit or miss: one recipe is incredible, while sometimes you’re served one that tastes subpar. The onions aren’t seasoned properly, the soup is too watery, and so on. Good news: I have the secret ingredient for you, so your onion soup will always be a hit.
Don’t skip this step for the most delicious onion soup
Before I get to the ingredient to add for a perfect onion soup, let’s talk about the following. It’s genuinely important — many people often skip this step out of laziness — to caramelize your onions for at least (!) 45 minutes. This way, you can be sure the onions are properly seasoned. It gives your onion soup a truly more intense and layered flavor. A good onion soup takes time, starting with at least 45 minutes of caramelizing the onions.
The key ingredient for your onion soup
The ingredient that subsequently provides a deeper flavor is fish sauce. Or, if you’re going for a vegetarian/vegan version: apple cider vinegar. Whichever of the two options you choose, you only need very little. The acidity of these ingredients creates a lovely balance with the sweetness of the onion (which you’ve just caramelized for at least 45 minutes) and gives the whole dish a somewhat more complex, deeper flavor. 5 ml per liter of onion soup is enough!
And if you happen to have sherry at home, you can also use that instead of the two ingredients mentioned earlier.
Your tips: Madeira and cognac
It’s always nice to receive additional tips from readers. Shadé suggests adding a little Madeira wine. Kitty adds a splash of red wine to her onion soup, while Vivian uses vermouth and cognac. Linda suggests: ‘Once you’ve fried them for 45 minutes, try adding a dark beer to the onions and then the stock. Also very delicious!’ Sonja leaves out the alcohol, but does use thyme, mace, pepper, bay leaves and salted butter.
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