French Onion Soup | Weight Watchers

This tasty French Onion Soup is 3 SmartPoints on all of the new myWW plans and the old Weight Watchers Freestyle plan.

Whether you are following the myWW plans (Blue, Green or Purple) or you are still on the Freestyle plan, this French Onion Soup is 3 SmartPoints per generous portion.

Serve with a cheesy crouton for an extra couple of points.

Use the blue button in the recipe card to discover how many WW Personal Points this recipe is for YOU!

Ok, so I love proper authentic French Onion Soup. It's deep, rich and flavourful.

But it can also be pretty high in SmartPoints ... for a soup that seems to be basically just onion & stock!!

That's because most French Onion Soups are made with a stack load of butter and oil. Some recipes also include white wine and brandy or sherry.

To caramelize onions, you need oil & butter or both!

There is no getting round it, you really can't omit it ... and most recipes use a lot.

This recipe uses 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a third of the oil that is suggested in one of my favourite (non WW) cook books .

Now, I'm not going to lie. This is not an easy, quick French Onion Soup recipe.

It takes time and patience and a lot of stirring to caramelize the onions properly.

But whilst standing doing all that stirring, you could always make the most of it and do some lunges, squats, hula hooping etc to get those fit point in 😀

Well, it's a thought!

Tips for Making French Onion Soup

• Prepare all the ingredients prior to starting the soup. Measure out the stock, mince the garlic and chop the onions (picture 1).
• I tend to chop the onions in half and then slice the halves. However, it works just as well with finer chopped onions if that's what you prefer.
• Place the sliced onions in a large saucepan or stockpot and drizzle over the oil (picture 2).
• Toss the onions in the oil before you place the pan on the heat.
• Caramelizing the onions will take time - around 30 - 40 minutes.
• Cook the onions over a medium heat turning them every 3 to 5 minutes.
• You do not want the onions to stick to the bottom of the pan and to burn, but you do want them to start to colour.
• After 30 - 40 minutes the onions will have changed colour from a pale green/white colour (picture 3) to a golden brown colour (picture 4).
• Towards the end of the cooking time you may want to turn the onions every minute or so to prevent them burning.
• If anything does start to stick to the base of the saucepan, add a tablespoon or so of water and use a wooden spoon to scrape it off to prevent it burning.
• At the end of caramelization, add the white wine vinegar to de-glaze the pan.

How many SmartPoints in French Onion Soup?

As I am sure you know, Weight Watchers changed their program at the end of 2019.

It now includes 3 individual plans, giving anyone following the WW program lots of choice about how they use their SmartPoint allocation.

Using the official WW recipe builder I have worked out the SmartPoints for this French Onion Soup for each of the plans.

• Freestyle plan - 3 SmartPoints per portion (+2SP with crouton)
• myWW Blue plan - 3 SmartPoints per portion (+2SP with crouton)
• myWW Purple plan - 3 SmartPoints per portion (+2SP with crouton)
• myWW Green plan - 3 SmartPoints per portion (+3SP with crouton)

What Stock can I use?

You can use a good quality beef, chicken or vegetable stock in this recipe.

I prefer to use beef stock as this gives a more authentic taste but obviously if you are vegetarian a good quality vegetable stock works really well.

The SmartPoints for the French Onion Soup was worked out using 6 cups (1400ml) of fresh beef stock. The stock came to 2 SmartPoints for the whole recipe.

If you use a bouillon or stock cube to make the stock (instead of using fresh) you may need to readjust the SmartPoints.

Serving suggestions

French Onion Soup is often (but not always!) served with a cheese topped crouton.

You can make these simply by grilling/broiling a piece of baguette / french stick and topping it with a little cheese.

The cheese topped bread can then be placed in the soup and put back under the grill / broiler until the cheese is nice and bubbly and golden brown.

Instructions on how to do this can be found in the recipe card below.

If you decide to serve your soup with a cheesy crouton you will need to add an additional 2 SmartPoints if you are following the Blue or Purple plan or 3 SmartPoints if you are following the Green plan.

Storing, Freezing & Reheating!

The soup will keep covered in the fridge (without the croutons!!) for 3 - 4 days.

The soup will also freeze well (again, without the croutons 😀 ).

To freeze, let the soup cool to room temperature and then freeze in a suitable container for up to 3 months.

To use after freezing, remove from the freezer and allow to defrost overnight.

The soup can then be re-heated by placing it in a saucepan and gently cooking till it is hot through.

More WW Soup recipes

If you are looking for more Weight Watchers soup recipes, take a look at these popular recipes!

• Carrot & Coriander Soup
• Curried Pumpkin Soup
• Pea Soup
• Tomato Soup

French Onion Soup | Weight Watchers

Marianne

This rich and tasty French Onion Soup is low in Points on the Weight Watchers plans. An authentic tasting French Onion Soup with fewer Points!

4.34 from 30 votes

Print Recipe Add to WW App Add to WW App (UK)

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Soups

Cuisine French

Servings 5

Calories 172 kcal

Equipment

• Kitchen Craft Living Nostalgia Enamel Serving Bowl with Handles, 18 cm (7")

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 6 large onions thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp flour
• 6 cups stock - beef, chicken or vegetable (1400ml)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 - 3 sprigs of thyme Optional
• 1 pinch Salt and pepper as required
• Water
• Baguette Optional
• Grated reduced fat mature cheese Optional

Instructions

 

• Place the sliced onions in a large saucepan / stockpot and drizzle over the olive oil.
• Toss the onions about so that they are covered in oil.
• Cook the onions over a medium heat for about 30 - 40 minutes stirring every 3 to 5 minutes. You are wanting the onions to brown and caramelize but you do not want them to stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
• Towards the end of the cooking time you may need to stir them every minute or so to stop them sticking and you can turn the heat down a little.
• If you find that bits start to stick to the bottom of the pan, add a couple of tablespoons of water to the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bits off the bottom.
• Once the onions are nice and caramelized, add the garlic and cook for one or two minutes before adding the white wine vinegar.
• Scrape off anything that has stuck to the bottom of the pan (deglazing). This adds to the flavour.
• Add the flour and stir.
• Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce and sprigs of thyme, if using.
• Stir.
• Bring the soup to a simmer and then cover and turn down the heat so that it gently simmers for about 10 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and carefully fish out the sprigs of thyme.
• Taste and add salt and pepper if required.

For the cheesy croutons (additional SmartPoints*)

• Slice 5 x 1 inch pieces from a crusty baguette.
• Place the slices of bread on a baking sheet place under the grill/broiler until they start to toast. Turn and toast the other side.
• Remove the slices of bread from under the grill / broiler.
• Place one piece of the grilled bread into each of bowls of soup.
• Carefully pile about 10g of cheese on the top of each slice of bread and place the bowl of soup under the grill / broiler until the cheese starts to melt and bubble.
  

Notes

* The addition of a cheesy crouton increases the SmartPoints by 2 SmartPoints if you are following the Blue, Purple or Freestyle plan or 3 SmartPoints if you are following the Green plan.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

French Onion Soup | Weight Watchers

Serving Size

 

1

Amount per Serving

Calories

172

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

6

g

9

%

Saturated Fat

 

1

g

6

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

4

g

Sodium

 

620

mg

27

%

Potassium

 

840

mg

24

%

Carbohydrates

 

23

g

8

%

Fiber

 

3

g

13

%

Sugar

 

10

g

11

%

Protein

 

8

g

16

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword french onion soup, low calorie soup recipe, weight watchers soup

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