Cheat’s Fat Free French Onion Soup is made in a fraction of the time a real French Onion Soup would take to make. But you don’t need to tell anyone, do you?

It’s October so we’re well into Autumn and heading on our way to Halloween.
I do love this time of year, the rustle of leaves, the golden colours, pumpkins, it’s all so warming.
Yesterday I made this Cheat’s Fat Free French Onion Soup which only uses 3 ingredients!
I had no intention of posting this and can’t actually take credit for it as it was my hubby’s idea!
It tasted so good I took a couple of snaps for Instagram but then thought if we enjoyed it then I’m sure you would and it’s so ridiculously easy too.
I’d bought a tub of reduced red onions for 1p so needing to use them up and wanting something warming for lunch this soup came about.
No fuss, barely any mess as I used our soup maker and so tasty from just some red onions and 2 different types of stock.
We’ll be having this again as my son who is a huge fan of French Onion Soup also loved it when he tried it later!

More Quick & Easy Soup Recipes
Once you’ve made my Cheat’s Fat Free French Onion Soup you should check out the following soup recipes too!
- 5 Minute Vegan Tomato Soup
- Cream of Asparagus & Celery Soup
- Quick Spinach Soup
- Simple Fat Free Spinach Soup (vegan)
- Quick Tom Yum Soup with Poached Egg
- Lettuce Soup
Leave a comment and rating below when you’ve made this recipe; I love getting your feedback! You can also share your pictures by tagging @FabFood4All over on Instagram.
Cheat’s Fat Free French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 320 g red onion sliced or dicedj (I used a tub)
- 500 ml beef stock I used a stock pot
- 400 ml french onion stock I used a Kallo stock cube
Instructions
- If using a soup maker place all the ingredients into it adding stock up to the maximum level and set to chunky soup setting.
- If using the hob, place all the ingredients into a pan, bring to the boil and then simmer under a lid for 20 minutes.
- Blend, leaving a bit of texture and serve with crusty bread.
Sadhna Grover
Hi Camilla,
Thanks for hosting the party. i have linked two recipes, in both of them I have used pressure cooker. One is Halloween recipe of pumpkin halwa. Happy Halloween.
Camilla
Great Sadhna, thank you for entering:-)
Margot @ Coffee & Vanilla
The onion soup looks amazing Camilla!! I haven’t had one in a very long time… I really like idea of using red onions here, they are much milder and sweeter than classic white onions.
Camilla
Thanks Margot, yes the red onions allow this to be quick soup:-)
Heather Haigh
Your soup looks delicious, perfect for this chilly weather.
Alida
Hello Camilla!
I have tried several times but I cannot enter my recipe. Please can you enter it for me in the Credit Crunch Munch Linky.
Halloween Spider Pizza
Thank you!
Alida
Camilla
Hi Alida, Have had problems myself with linkies lately but they have gone through even though an error occurred. Have entered this now but when it came to adding a photo only 2 came up, I’m not sure if your file sizes are the isssue? Camilla x
Elizabeth
I’m feeling rather poorly today. I think this sort of soup would be just the thing I need! Yum!
Camilla
Oh no Elizabeth, yes good to keep your fluids up when you not well, get better soon!
Charlie @ The Kitchen Shed
I once followed a recipe for french onion soup and it took forever to make, I had to cook the onions for what felt like a lifetime and it had lots of other fussy ingredients. Needless to say, I never made french onion soup again. This looks like my kind of cooking though! I shall definitely have to give this a go.
Camilla
Exactly Charlie, sometimes you want some good and fast and this fits the bill:-)
ema
Love this recipe – so quick and easy and delicious. Love French onion soup and make it in the slow cooker a lot – but this is a fab short cut
Camilla
Thanks Ema – yes it’s surprisingly good:-)
Sarah James
What a bargain Camilla. Love the recipe and the idea of using red onion, perfect for this time of year.
Camilla
Thanks Sarah, yes the red onions are perfect here:-)
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy
I love onion soup. It is what my mum used to make me when I was ill, so it has always been a favourite of mine.
Camilla
Aah thanks Dannii, love food memories:-)
Sus @ roughmeasures.com
Ah, it’s such perfect soup weather at the moment. This sounds lovely!
Camilla
Thanks Sus, it’s definitely soup weather:-)
May
Love a cheat recipe!
Camilla
Same here May:-)
Paul Wilson
I always like to sweat the onions down as slow as possible for onion soup – seems to make them sweeter and adds a depth of flavour.
Camilla
Yes Paul that’s how we used to do it when I worked in catering but this Cheat’s version worked because of the red onions as they are far sweeter so you can get away with it here:-)
Ickle Pickle
Ooh I love soup in the winter – this looks delicious, I must try it. Kaz x
Camilla
Thanks Kaz, I’m sure you’ll love it:-)
Lynne Powell
How many calories s portion of this soup, thank you
Camilla
Hi Lynne, sorry for the delay. Once serving has approximately 41 calories. I have now added this to the recipe card:-)
Fiona K
It would be handy if you indicated whether a recipe is vegetarian or vegan or not in the recipe page header. Then we don’t need to scroll down to see the ingredients. Obviously, not necessary if recipe has a meaty name, but for some dishes it is not obvious from the title, for example a vegetable soup that uses a meat stock.
Camilla
Hi Fiona, I have tags at the top of all my recipes so if you don’t see the tag vegetarian or vegan then it won’t be either of these things – hope that helps.
Sabina Sher
I love the sound of this! With some nice buttered bread I bet it would go down a treat!
Camilla
Thanks Sabina:-)
Louise @ Birds and Lilies
This looks really lovely, and I can’t believe it is so simple to make! I’ll have to try it x
Camilla
Glad you like it Louise do let me know what you think:-)
Sarah Bailey
I have to admit I have quite a love for soup – this sounds delicious.x
Camilla
Thanks Sarah, I’m sure you’d love this one too:-)
Serena
Not really keen on onion soup, but looks like a fairly simple recipe.
Camilla
I wasn’t either, try it, you might surprise yourself like I did:-)
Jenni - Odd Socks and Lollipops
This looks great.- I love soup – it’s such a lovely lunch for the autumn/winter.
Camilla
Thanks Jenni:-)
Kacie
This looks delicious. My housemate has been on about doing a French onion soup so I will share this with him as a hint, hehe x
Camilla
Great Kacie, I’m sure he’ll love it:-)
charlotte
I have never been a fan of French onion soup. It is too wish washy for me. My husband loves it though.
Camilla
I was the same as you Charlotte but never found it wishy washy just too beefy and intense but this was just really nice, I think the red onions made a big difference.
Catstello
I hate onion but this soup sure does look good!
Camilla
That’s a shame, I can’t imagine cutting onion of of my diet!
Alison Johnson
Love French Onion soup so will really need to try this fat free version. The one I usually make is defintely NOT fat free! This looks just as tasty.
Camilla
Thanks Alison, do let me know what you think!
Rachel
I do love French Onion Soup, this sounds delightful x
Camilla
Thanks Rachel:-)
Anna
Gosh your spam checker! made me think for a moment! Onion soups sounds like a lovely idea in cold evening!
Camilla
Thanks:-) It makes me do maths sometimes to log in myself – darn cheek LOL!
Tori Gabriel
Don’t you love soup at this time of year? It’s such an Autumny meal. I love pumpkin soup particularly.
Camilla
Yes, really need soup now the nights are getting chilly. I love pumpkin soup too and have a nice curried one on the blog:-)
Emma T
Onion soup isn’t one I’d usually choose, but it’s so simple to make, it’s a bit of a nobrainer really.
Camilla
Me neither, I’ve never like it but hubby’s idea has turned me:-)
You Baby Me Mummy
This looks so tasty and fat free is a bonus too x
Camilla
Thank you, it really was so tasty:-)
Rosana @ Hot&CHilli Food and Travel Blog
I love French Onion soup – so comforting! Your recipe is not only credit crunch but also very light. R
Camilla
Thanks Rosana – I hope you give it a try:-)
Kim Carberry
This looks perfect for this time of year….It sounds so simple to make too. Yum x
Camilla
Yes, so easy and tasty:-)
Claire
This looks absolutely delicious, real comfort food. I think I’ll be cooking this in the coming winter months x
Camilla
Great, thanks Claire:-)
Jessica McDonnell
This looks really good, I need to make this for my hubby 🙂
Camilla
Thanks, yes I’m sure he’d love it as it was my hubby who invented this recipe;-)
Kavey
Lovely to have some inspiration for fat free lunch options, looks delicious.
Camilla
Thanks Kavey, yes I could do with a few more fat free recipes after all the fudge I’ve eaten!
Diana
wow a bag of red onions for 1p that’s amazing!! And I love this recipe so easy and sounds delicious! I’m thinking maybe adding croutons and cheese on top would be nice too?
Camilla
Yes that would be nice if you want to get away from the fat free vibe;-) Mmm imagining melted cheese on those croutons now…
Roz
my favourite soup of all time! will try this version, sounds so great and simple!
Camilla
Thanks Roz. Funnily enough I’ve never been into it and do remember making it when I worked briefly in catering and it was a very long winded affair from memory!
Choclette
You are amazing with your bargains Camilla, I don’t know how you do it. We tend to use miso instead of stock in our soup which always gives a good flavour.
Camilla
Thanks Choclette. I’ve never had miso and wouldn’t even know where to look for it in the supermarket?
kellie@foodtoglow
I find those Kallo stock cubes tremendously helpful – love the mushroom one. This is a super 3-ingredient, easy peasy soup for these cooler shorter days. At least they are still sunny for now!
Camilla
Yes it’s definitely starting to be soup weather and the Kallo cubes are great:-)
Paul Wilson
Looks warm and tasty.
Camilla
It really was Paul and I was not expecting to like this but hubby knew best:-)