Lentil French Onion Soup: Cozy $9 Autumn Meal
It’s getting awfully close to autumn (my favorite season of the year!), which means it’s just about time to dig in to some cozy recipes for the season.
I love both lentil and french onion soup, and today’s recipe is a bit of a combination of the two. And, it will feed 4 to 6 people for under $10.
Let me show you how to make it!
The Haul
So we bought 5 items for this recipe, totaling just under $10. The most expensive component of this recipe is the vegan cheese. I would argue that it’s rather necessary, but it can be left out if all you have is $5 for dinner.
I chose red lentils as they were cheaper than some of the other options. I included them so that there would be a protein component to this dish. They really go well in it!
The Prep
The first element of this recipe is to slice our onion. You want to slice it as thinly as possible (using a mandolin slicer is an option, but not necessary).
At this point, you can also rinse one and a half cups of the lentils, and set them aside for now.
We want to add a tablespoon or so of oil (or water) to our soup pot, and then begin caramelizing our onions.
Cook the onions on medium-low for about 30-45 minutes, enough time to caramelize them without burning them.
The caramelization process will take a while, but it is worth it in the end. Low and slow is the way to go.
While the onions are cooking, mix both of your onion soup pouches with a total of 8 cups of water. You’ll want to have this at the ready before the next part of the process.
Next, you’ll add the lentils and onion broth to your pot with the onions. Bring this mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Cover your pot and allow to simmer for 30 minutes, until the lentils are soft. You can then add salt and pepper to taste.
Finally, when you’re just about ready to serve, add one (or two) slices of bread to a baking tray per serving of soup (I was just serving me and my dad this day).
The bag of Violife shreds will have enough for a hefty 1/4 cup per person if you’re serving six people.
Top the bread with the cheese, then broil for 2-6 minutes (keep an eye on it!) until the cheese is melty and the bread gets toasty.
The Final Meal
What you end up with is a warm, savory broth topped with melty, bready goodness. This is the perfect soup for a brisk fall day!
All together, this came up with 6 good-sized servings (it will serve 4 if you’d like bigger servings) for a total of $9.64, about $1.61 a serving.
You will also have leftover bread and lentils for another dish, or another round of soup!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as me and my family did! May it find you and yours doing well.
From my kitchen to yours, have a wonderful weekend!
Until next time, peace 🙂