Delicious French Onion Soup
This Level 3: Moderately Thick Delicious French Onion Soup is sure to be a family favorite! There’s nothing better than a ton of caramelized onions.
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Worth the tears
I really hate cutting onions. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love onions in every way, shape, and form. What I don’t love is how much onions make me cry!!
For anyone that doesn’t know, contact lenses act as a barrier to whatever onions release when they’re cut. I always try to put my contacts in before I have to chop an onion to save myself a lot of tears. If you don’t wear contacts, then I’m sorry about the excessive amount of tears you’ll cry while making this recipe.
Don’t let that scare you off! This recipe is hearty and delicious. I used homemade beef stock that I made by boiling soup bones, but I wrote this recipe using just regular beef broth you get from the store. Use whatever you have on hand!
Another thing you’ll need for this recipe is a dry, red wine. I used whatever was cheap at the store. When I’m cooking with wine instead of drinking it, I don’t really care about the brand. I just want something that will enhance the flavors of whatever I’m cooking. This is the wine I used myself.
It’s really important to get a good caramelization on the onions for this recipe. It is time consuming, but it isn’t a hard task for you. It’ll take between 45 minutes and an hour to caramelize them, but you only need to stir them every couple of minutes or so. If they start to brown too quickly, just reduce the heat. You’re looking for very soft, brown onions for your finished product.
The flour in this recipe helps to achieve a certain level of thickness. After I added all my liquid and blended it, this came out as an IDDSI level 3. If you didn’t add the flour, this recipe would likely come out thinner and just as delicious. You’ll just have to test and ensure that you achieved the right consistency. If you don’t’ know how to do that, you can find more information here or go to our get started page.
Level 3: Moderately Thick / Liquidized
Level 3: Moderately Thick / Liquidized is appropriate for individuals who have reduced control of their tongue or reduced ability to move food to the center of their mouth for swallowing. Foods are completely smooth and have no lumps, fibers, or particles. Moderately Thick foods do not hold their shape when poured and cannot be eaten with a fork.
Foods are tested using the Spoon Tilt Test, Fork Drip Test, and Flow Test at this level. Foods must pour easily from a spoon when tilted, and do not stick to the spoon. The food should drip slowly through the tines of a fork and a fork cannot leave a clear pattern if pressed into the food.
The IDDSI Flow Test is a standardized test for determining the level of a liquid sample. You must have a 10ml syringe for this test, and not all syringes are created equal. Hold a ruler up to your syringe and the distance from the very bottom line to the 10ml mark must measure 61.5 mm. We recommend watching IDDSI’s Youtube video of the Flow Test as well as this comparison between Levels 1-3 before you cook as well as during the testing of your final modified portion.
Always test your food before serving to ensure that it meets all the IDDSI testing guidelines.
Blend and test
Lastly, I want to touch on the fact that this recipe isn’t very calorically dense. Typically, french onion soup has bread and cheese on it, but I omitted that for this recipe. I do think melted cheese and bread would blend just fine, but it will throw off the texture of your recipe. If you want to get creative and try it yourself, I encourage you to do so. Again, just make sure you test the thickness when you’re done. This soup would be a great appetizer, or even a light lunch!
I used my nutribullet to blend this, but an immersion blender would definitely work. If you’re not confident that everything was blended, run it through a fine mesh sieve when you’re done.
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Level 3: Moderately Thick Delicious French Onion Soup
Equipment
- Nutribullet
Ingredients
- 3 large onions sliced thinly
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ¾ cup dry red wine
- 4 cup beef broth
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium-low heat. Add olive oil and then add in sliced onions. Season with salt, pepper, and dried thyme.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized, ~45 minutes. If the onions start to brown too quickly, reduce the heat.
- Add in garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Then add in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add in the dry red wine and cook until reduced by at least half. Then add in the beef broth and bring the soup to a simmer.
- Reduce heat and taste to adjust seasoning.
- Use an immersion blender, or transfer to a large blender. Blend until smooth.
- Serve warm and enjoy!