French onion soup is rich, hearty, and comforting. The contrast between creamy soup, thick cheese, and crusty bread is always a winner! It’s the perfect dish for cold nights indoors, but you can dress it up and serve it to others at an event.
French onion soup may be delicious, but unfortunately, it’s often packed with fat, salt, and calories. This isn’t a problem for enjoying occasionally, but what if you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle?
The good news is that there are many healthier French onion soup versions to make at home. You’ll find 9 of these healthy French onion soup recipes below.
Whether you’re after a low-fat, vegan, or low-carb dish, you’ll find a recipe that suits your tastes in this post.
Keep reading to find some tasty, filling, and healthy French onion soup recipes!
Vegan French Onion Soup
French onion soup is normally made with beef broth and butter, but this recipe omits these ingredients to keep the soup vegan-friendly. This lowers the fat content considerably.
French onion soup can have as much as 39 grams of fat in each serving, but this recipe lowers that to 10.5 grams!
The trick here is that the onions are gradually caramelized for longer. This takes a while, but the onions release lots of strong, rich flavors into the soup.
You’ll also be swapping the regular Gruyére topping for vegan cheese. This has a nutty, slightly earthy taste and a satisfying creamy consistency. This cheese goes well with the soup’s savory ingredients, particularly when enjoyed with toasted bread slices – just delicious!
Low-Calorie French Onion Soup
If you thought you couldn’t make French onion soup low-calorie, think again. This recipe keeps the soup’s traditional savory flavors and lowers the calorie count to 216 calories per serving.
Make sure you have olive oil spray before making this recipe. Using the spray helps avoid the need for pools of oil, even when browning the onions. This simple ingredient swap helps dramatically reduce the calories, without taking too much flavor away from the soup.
You’ll also get to enjoy double the amount of food, as one serving is two cups. This is great for keeping you full and satisfied, particularly for anyone that’s on a diet!
Low-Fat French Onion Soup Recipe
You’ll only need an hour to make this low-fat French onion soup recipe.
It uses classic ingredients, like butter, onions, and cheese. The only difference is that you’ll be using a lot less butter, just half a teaspoon! This is enough butter to give the soup a little richness, without making it too fatty and unhealthy.
Chicken stock, thyme, and garlic paste keep the soup full of savory flavors, particularly when you add some salt and pepper. Remember to serve with a slice of whole wheat bread and cheese, as this gives the dish its classic feel.
Lightened-Up French Onion Soup
This recipe is much lighter than your usual French onion soup, but it’s still full of gorgeous, delectable flavors.
You’ll need to use a light butter product for this soup, as this helps reduce the fat and calories. The flour helps keep the soup thick and creamy, while a touch of sugar adds a sweet contrast to emphasize the savory ingredients, like onions, dry white wine, and beef broth.
You’ll also need to use light Swiss cheese instead of the regular version, just remember to buy the shredded version. This makes sprinkling the cheese over the bread and soup slices a lot easier!
Low-Carb Keto French Onion Soup Recipe
French onion soup may not seem like a low-carb-friendly dish, but that’s where this version comes in!
This recipe keeps the soup’s traditional flavors with white wine, bone broth, and onions. There’s no flour or sugar involved with this recipe, but as onions are higher in carbs, make sure that you don’t use too many in this recipe.
You’ll also be swapping regular bread for a low-carb-friendly version. This recipe involves making quick keto bread beforehand, but you can substitute this for any low-carb bread that you prefer.
Healthy French Onion Soup
With lots of filling, tasty, and nutritious ingredients, this recipe is a lot healthier than your usual French onion soup!
Some notable ingredients include grass-fed butter, low-sodium beef broth, and chickpea flour. The low-sodium broth lowers the soup’s salt content, grass-fed butter contains healthy fats, and chickpea flour is lower in carbs and calories compared to regular flour.
You’ll also be swapping Gruyere cheese for Provolone, as this contains fewer calories than the former. Avoid adding too much cheese, as you’ll only need a small amount to give the soup its classic flavor.
Lower GI French Onion Soup
If you’re watching your blood sugar, or are trying to avoid high-GI foods, give this recipe a go!
This soup recipe is high in fiber, low in calories, and relatively high in protein. As it’s low on the GI scale, it won’t spike your blood sugar, allowing anyone watching their blood glucose to enjoy this indulgent French onion soup.
You’ll be adding pearl barley to thicken the soup. The barley is high in fiber, so it won’t raise blood sugar as much as regular flour.
Another key step in this recipe is making cheese croutons. These are made with low-fat mozzarella, which keeps the calories low, and parmesan, which adds a nice, sharp tang. Both kinds of cheese melt well, giving a creamy consistency that goes well with the crisp, toasted bread.
Remember to keep an eye on the soup as the cheese browns on top, as it’s easy to overdo it.
Crockpot French Onion Soup
This recipe is very easy to make, thanks to your secret weapon – a crockpot! The soup itself looks like a traditional French onion soup recipe, but you can customize it in any way you want.
All you have to do is add the ingredients to the pot, then let it cook away. You’ll only need 15 minutes of preparation time for this recipe, which gives you lots of time to focus on other tasks as the crockpot does its job.
It’s full of nutritious ingredients, like red and white onions, olive oil, garlic, and black pepper. You’ll also be using arrowroot flour to thicken the soup, which is a lot higher in fiber compared to regular flour or cornstarch.
The bread and cheese are optional, so you can leave them out to keep the soup light, or use them for a richer, classic feel. Top with some red pepper flakes for extra spice, or use some thyme and black pepper for an earthier finish.
Awesome Diabetic-Friendly Gooey French Onion Soup
French onion soup isn’t normally suitable for diabetics, as flour, butter, and high-carb bread can all spike blood sugar. Fortunately, this recipe omits certain ingredients to make a diabetes-friendly version.
You’ll be leaving out the bread and substituting it for three kinds of cheese. As the cheese melts, it forms a creamy, slightly crisp topping. This works well in place of bread, as you can enjoy the contrast of textures without the bread’s starches and carbs.
Each type of cheese has a slightly different flavor too. Provolone is earthy, swiss cheese is nutty, and parmesan has a slightly fruity taste. These different notes complement the savory flavors coming from the beef broth, onions, and garlic powder.
Make sure that you use provolone and Swiss cheese slices instead of the shredded form, as this makes it easier to layer on top of each bowl.
Final Thoughts
Those were 9 healthy French onion soup recipes you can try and make at home!
Whether you’re vegan, low-carb, or looking for a lighter option, the French onion soup recipes above all taste great and are a lot better for you!
We hope you enjoy making some of these tasty soup recipes!
Frequently Asked Questions
The traditional French onion soup recipe is full of saturated fat and calories from butter and cheese, so it isn’t the healthiest meal option. French onion soup cans from the store may also contain lots of preservatives, which have adverse effects on well-being.
There are ways to make French onion soup lighter at home, but if you prefer the original recipe, it’s best to enjoy it in moderation.
French onion soup recipes involve caramelizing onions, but this can take a lot of time. Using a bit of baking soda in the recipe helps the onions caramelize at a faster rate.
The baking soda raises the onion’s pH level, which helps the vegetables turn brown. This means that you can make the soup quicker, instead of spending hours over the stove.
French onion soup recipes do contain some nutritious ingredients, but they are also made with high-fat items that increase the dish’s calorie count. These include olive oil, butter, and grated cheese.
If you’re serving the soup with bread slices, these can also rack up the calories, particularly if you enjoy them with butter and a glass of wine.
But there are a few tricks to lower the calories in your French Onion Soup.
I decided to start TodayInDietzville because I wanted to share all of the tips, tricks and information that I’ve learned over the years as a nutritionist.
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