French Onion Soup has always been one of my favorite dishes…who doesn’t love the idea of toasted bread and gooey cheese, melted all over a hot and flavorful onion soup?
But the traditional French Onion Soup recipe is not low calorie or Weight Watchers friendly. I’ve tried a few pre-made, low calorie versions that I’ve found in grocery stores but the taste is either blah or the portion is super small. So I set out on a journey to make my own but also decided to make it as a casserole, just because I was hungry and wanted a meal that had some substance.
It was so easy to make and the finished product was delicious! All the flavors that I love but for fewer Points. And making it into a casserole was really easy. It just basically the soup with more onions and less broth. If you want to make this dish as a soup, just use more broth when making it. So simple, yet so perfect.
And each very large serving is just 5 Points. This low calorie French Onion Soup Casserole Recipe is perfect for warming up on a cold day.
Enjoy!
French Onion Soup Casserole Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Dutch Oven
- 1 Oven
Ingredients
- 5 medium onions - thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp light butter
- 1 cup fat free beef broth
- ½ cup red wine
- 3 garlic cloves
- ⅓ loaf French baguette
- 4 slices light Swiss cheese - I used Jarlsberg
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Set a large pot or Dutch oven medium high heat, melt butter and add in onions, garlic and salt.
- Cook, stirring frequently until onions become caramelized, about 30-40 minutes.
- If onions start to stick to pan, just stir a tbsp or two of the broth as needed.
- Once onions are caramelized, add in the broth, wine, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, pepper and thyme. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Turn heat to low and add in vinegar and season with additional salt and pepper if desired. Cover and keep over low heat to stay hot while you prepare the bread.
- Preheat oven broiler. Slice 1/3 of a loaf of French baguette into about 12 slices.
- Spray a baking sheet with nonfat cooking spray, and arrange baguette slices evenly on sheet. Lightly mist again with an olive oil mister or the nonfat cooking spray and then place in oven for 3 minutes on each side, or until bread is well toasted on both sides.
- Remove bread from oven and set it to bake on 375 degrees.
- Pour onion mixture into an 8X8 casserole dish. Top evenly with bread slices and then cover evenly with Swiss cheese slices.
- Place casserole dish into oven and let bake until cheese is melted and bubbly and beginning to brown, about 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately.
20 Comments
Followed exact directions. No problem with extra soup. This is Great! Thanks.
Two thumbs up! Perfect! Followed all cooking times and it turned out great!
About to assemble – but my onions seem like they’re too “soupy”. How much liquid should be in the onion mixture?
How does this make 4 servings of 1-1/2 cups each with only 1-1/2 cups total liquid?
Got very excited coming across this recipe only to find out it’s not actually vegetarian. I’m sure that vegetable broth would not make this taste the same.
I just wanted you to know that I made this for my husband and myself this week and we both loved it. Thank you so much for the tip about using some broth to keep the onions from sticking to the pot, that was a real issue for me.
Considering I cook for 1… how well do you think this would keep/reheat??
I made this tonight and it was very tasty. I wouldn’t call it a casserole it was too soupy, We ate it as a soup… I followed the directions exactly,
this sounds great. do you think you could make the soup mixture ahead of time and refrigerate then just heat up with bread, cheese, etc later?
Sounds like a good idea! I think it should work fine….
This casserole should not be classified as vegetarian because it is made with beef broth and Worcestershire sauce which contains anchovies..
Easily remedied by subbing beef flavored veggie broth and anchovy free worcestershire …….but the last bottle of Worcestershire I picked up – no longer listed anchovies in the ingredients.
Caramelize onions for 30-40 minutes?
Yes.
they are wonderful.
That is what makes it so yummy!!!!!. I always cook them slow on low heat, but this is the best recipie I have found. I dont have the individual crocks and it still taste the same!
Sounds delish, but to clarify, you’d have to use veg broth for this to be vegetarian.
Perfect for winter comfort food for those of us up in the northeast blue states.
making it this weekend!!!
This is pure genius! If it wasn’t 8 AM I’d run and make it now…it may be on tonights dinner menu, though. Looks delish.