French onion soup is a bistro classic. I’ve been a huge fan of this main course soup for years but rarely order it, since it’s usually very high in fat. My skinny version is so hearty and much lower in fat. Although it’s a crock-pot recipe, it takes a few minutes prep work before adding all the ingredients to the crock-pot. What results is a rich-tasting soup, chock full of melt-in-your-mouth onions. And, each bite includes some of the garlic toast. Each main course bowl, including the garlic toast, has 355 calories, 8 grams of fat and 9 Weight Watchers SmartPoints.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 7-8 hours on high heat and 4 hours on low heat
Ingredients for Soup:
4-5 large onions, sliced (15 cups total, sliced)
⅓ cup reduced-fat butter
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup water, if needed
2 teaspoons garlic cloves, minced
1 cup red wine, any kind
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Black pepper, to taste
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
8 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
6 teaspoons Parmesan cheese, grated, for topping
Ingredients for Garlic Toast:
6 slices of multigrain or whole wheat bread, I used Milton’s multi-grain
6 teaspoons reduced-fat butter
6 teaspoons Parmesan cheese, grated
3 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
1. Add onions to a large, microwave-safe bowl. Cook in microwave for 5-6 minutes, until soft.
2. In a large nonstick pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. Sauté over medium to med-high heat until caramelized and tender (about 8-10 minutes). If pan gets too dry add a little water. Stir often and continue to add a little water, if needed. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more.
3. Pour onions from pan into crock-pot. Stir in wine and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce. Add black pepper, bay leaves and thyme. Stir in beef broth. Mix well.
4. Cook on High heat for 4 hours or Low heat for 7-8 hours.
5. Just before serving, prepare the garlic toast. Toast each slice of bread. Spread each with 1 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese and ½ teaspoon garlic powder.
6. For each serving: Add 1¼ cups soup to each bowl. Sprinkle top of each with 1 teaspoon of Parmesan cheese. Place garlic toast on top and serve.
7. This soup freezes great! Make the garlic bread after it’s defrosted and heated.
Makes 6 servings. Each, 1¼ cups soup topped with 1 tsp Parmesan cheese and 1 slice garlic toast.
Food Facts
French onion soup is a type of soup usually based on meat stock and onions and often served with cheese bread on top.
Onions are part of the allium family of vegetables and herbs, which also includes chives, garlic, scallions and leeks. Allium vegetables have been cultivated for centuries for not only their characteristic, pungent flavors but also for their medicinal properties
Healthy Benefits
The possible health benefits of consuming onions include lowering the risk of several types of cancer, improving mood and maintaining the health of skin and hair.
Weight Watchers SmartPoints 9
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 8
Weight Watchers (old points) 7
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 bowl (1¼ cups) topped with 1 tsp Parmesan cheese and 1 garlic toast 355 cal, 8g fat, 5g sat. fat, 20mg chol,14g prot, 51g carbs, 8g fiber, 956mg sod, 7g sugar |
| FACTS: for SmartPoints 244 calories, 5g sat. fat, 7g sugar, 11g protein |
