A delicious meal-in-a-bowl, this wonderful creamy onion soup is thickened with tasty grains and topped with melted cheese for an indulgent winter treat.
Regular readers will know that DH is not a big soup eater. In fact, he considers soup to be a waste of time and vegetables. I disagree, vehemently, but for the sake of domestic harmony I tend not to make too much in the way of soup. So when he’s away for a week, as happens from time to time, soup-making is GO!
Student days
This creamy onion soup was inspired by something I used to make when I was a student. I was living in a freezing basement flat, and having a pan of delicious soup burbling away on the stove for hours was one way to heat the place up a bit! Of course it also had the benefit of a delicious dinner at the end.
Slow cooked onion soup
My student soup was essentially slow-cooked onions and barley in stock, occasionally with mushrooms added. The longer it cooked, the more delicious it got, as the flavour deepened and intensified with every additional hour on the stove.
It was also perfect student food as the main ingredients – onions and pearl barley – are cheap to buy and create a warm and filling meal. Win win!
Updated and improved
Now that I’m a grown up and have a little more money to spend, I decided to update the onion soup with a 5-grain mix, instead of plain barley. Ooooh!
The extra grains added more texture and a lovely depth of flavour, too. The mix I used contained barley, wheat, spelt, rice and oats, but I’m sure you could use other mixes, or just use pearl barley if that’s what you have to hand.
Creamy onion soup – ingredients
There really aren’t many ingredients in this tasty onion soup. Your stove does the hard work, and the long slow cooking brings out the rich flavour and creamy texture.
To make the soup, you will need:
- Onions – of course!
- Mixed grains or pearl barley
- Olive oil
- Vegetable stock
- A bay leaf and seasoning to taste
- Grated cheese – to melt on the top. Optional, but really too good to miss!
Cheesy options
The finished onion soup is thick and satisfying and extremely yummy. To transform it into a meal, I added a handful of grated cheese to the top of each bowl and zapped it with a blowtorch to create a gooey, melty, crusty cheesy topping that was amazing once you stirred it into the rest of the soup.
This gorgeous onion soup didn’t even need bread with it – it was thick, filling, and incredibly tasty. (Although some bread to dunk isn’t a bad idea, I hasten to add!)
Of course you could just flash the bowls under a hot grill, but I quite enjoyed the theatricality of the blow-torch, and my daughter Kipper was pretty excited about it too – usually we only use our kitchen blowtorch to light the barbecue!
The cheese is optional, of course. If you’re vegan, or otherwise dairy-avoiding, you can certainly do without it, or substitute a non-dairy alternative.
Onion soup – A meal in a bowl
Kipper and I ate this thick onion soup for dinner, and I had a huge bowlful the next day to finish it off. I’d say this made 4 starter-size servings, 2-3 main-course size servings.
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Creamy onion soup with grains and melty cheese topping
Ingredients
- 700-750 g onions (approx. 4-5 medium/large onions)
- 4-5 tablespoon olive oil
- 125 g mixed grains or pearl barley
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and pepper, to taste
To serve
- 1-2 handfuls grated cheese
Instructions
- Peel the onions and slice finely. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat, and cook the onions, covered, for around 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- When the onions are very soft and starting to caramelise, add the pearl barley or mixed grains and stir well to coat in the oil. Pour in the stock, and add the bay leaf. Simmer, covered, for at least 1 hour, and ideally longer, on a very low heat.
- Once the grains are thoroughly cooked and everything is very soft, remove from the heat. Remove the bay leaf and discard. Transfer half the soup to a large bowl and liquidise using a stick blender, then return to the pan and combine with the unblended soup.
- Heat through, and serve piping hot. If the soup is too thick, add a little hot water or stock to reach the desired consistency.
To serve
- Pour the soup into serving bowls and add a generous layer of grated cheese on the top. Melt and scorch with a blowtorch, or flash under a hot grill until melted, brown and bubbling. Serve at once.
Notes
Nutrition
More delicious soup recipes
Other delicious filling soups to try include chunky mushroom soup with freekeh, creamy vegan parsnip and pea soup with fennel seeds, comforting sweet and sour cabbage and tomato soup with rice, and delicious roasted butternut squash soup with lentils.
You can also find my list of the best meal-in-a-bowl soups here.
Since this soup can happily cook away for hours I’m entering it into the Slow Cooked Challenge, hosted by Farmersgirl Kitchen.
Jacqueline Meldrum
Oh my goodness Helen, what are you doing to me here. Just lush!
Helen
LOL – thanks Jacqueline!
Claudia Lamascolo
We love barley this is a wonderful recipe and use for it so flavorful!!
Helen
Thanks Claudia! I love barley too, so happy you enjoyed this soup.
Tavo
The soup was delicious and hearty. Thanks for the recipe.
Helen
Thanks Tavo. So glad to hear that you enjoyed it.
Beth Sachs
I love onion soup with cheese. It’s so comforting in winter.
Helen
Thanks Beth – I know! So warming and delicious.
Gina
This is such a unique recipe I had to give it a try. kind of like french onion meets a grain soup and I love the combo! Incredibly easy and delicious!
Helen
Thanks Gina! That’s a great description 🙂 It is like a grainy french onion soup!
Carol Fox
Just about every other week I do a very easy barley and mushroom soup..Yum.
Helen
Sounds delicious! I love anything with barley in it 🙂
Laura
I think if I were to have dinner at your house every night I would be a very happy, and very full, person. I have pinned so many meals from your site and those that I have tried have been lovely =)
FFF
Aw, thanks Laura. That has made me smile a lot 😀
Janice (@FarmersgirlCook)
I agree, there is nothing more comforting than a pan of soup bubbling away. This is a really simple recipe but full of good things and the five grain mix sounds like a really interesting way of upgrading student soup! Thanks so much for joining me for the Slow Cooked Challenge.
FFF
Thanks Janice, and thanks for hosting the Slow Cooked Challenge. Long, slow cooking is definitely the thing now the winter is really here!
Sonia
This looks lovely! I’ve never made soup before I really must start x
FFF
Never made soup?! Goodness me!
Careful though – once you start you won’t be able to stop 🙂
efwalt
Oh I remember those chilly student days well! This recipe would have been ideal. With snow still on the ground I think this could be a contender for tonight’s dinner! Thanks for sharing 🙂
FFF
It certainly warms you up from the inside! I hope you enjoy it.
suzanne3childrenandit
Ooh I love french onion soup and this seems to be a slight variation of it. Looks so delicious – I can almost smell it!
FFF
Yes, it’s very similar but with the addition of grains, which really turn it into a meal. Yum!
dillydrops Bek
I do like a good soup and this looks tasty. Very filling with the grains I bet. Yum!
FFF
Yes, it’s a real meal-in-a-bowl!