I remember my mom cooking potatoes by mixing them with Lipton’s dehydrated French onion soup mix with some oil and then oven roasting them. It was simple and it was delicious.
Over the past few years, our family has examined our eating habits and found that it had some room for improvement. We don’t always eat in a healthy manner and sometimes a kick-start in eating discipline is something we find helpful. To that end, every so often, we will make use of the concepts placed forward by the Whole30 folks. Doing so, we restrict our diet from some things which may not be bad but could cause inflammation as well as some items which may just not be good for us. We focus on eating real food as opposed to highly processed, manufactured food. In doing this, we tend to develop a little bit of “plate loading self-discipline” too.
What Whole30 has done for us is help us to recognize some food groups which may cause us some digestive challenges, sometimes some inflammation of joints, or in my case some overindulgence. The plan restricts, for 30 days, that which we eat and our shopping is limited to basically the perimeter of the grocery store. We skip grains, dairy, alcohol, soy, sugar, and legumes. Meat, eggs, and most fruits and vegetables are fine and that includes some frozen and canned as long as there is no added sugar, MSG, or as I describe them, “words I can’t pronounce”.
When our diets are limited, one of the things that seems to be missed the most are “Comfort Foods”. Mom’s Lipton Onion-Roasted Potatoes are comfort food.
I have several good friends who have adapted a style of eating that is sometimes more challenging than what we do on occasion; they’ve chosen to go Gluten free, vegetarian, or purely plant-based. When I fix food for groups, I like to make sure that there’s something that everyone can eat. So, I wanted to figure out a way to make this oven roasted potato accessible to a wider group.
How can French onion soup, oil and potatoes not fit a plant-based, vegetarian or Gluten free diet, or even Whole30 for that matter?
It’s all in the fine print. I found, when I started reading labels to make sure that I was eating properly, that there were all kinds of ingredients I did not expect to see. When I saw that Lipton’s Onion Soup ingredients contain cornstarch, I knew it wasn’t allowed on Whole30. As I continued to read the label, I saw that it included sugar, soy, wheat, corn syrup, and then some really long words, (it even may contain milk), so that completely knocks it out of the Gluten free or Whole30 Realm. At this point, I enlisted Google and began looking at recipes to make my own French onion soup.
Most folks may know this, but it was news to me, that a major component of the recipes for French onion soup is beef bouillon and that wipes out the plant-based and vegan crowd. My search did give me a number of ideas of how to make a French onion soup, some of which included a non-meat version. All of the recipes I found that interested me contained onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and dried onions so I threw together a mix of spices and put it to the test. Here’s what I used in place of the soup mix:
Vegan French Onion Soup = 4 packets Lipton’s Dry Mix
1C Onion Flakes, 3t Onion Powder, 2t Garlic Powder, 2t Salt, 2t Paprika, 2t Parsley Flakes, 1t Pepper, 1t Celery Seed… … For a Non-Vegan route, go ahead and add ⅓ – ½ C beef bouillon powder. (I didn’t and we liked it as a vegan mix.)
I chose to make this for a recent DOG, (Dutch Oven Gathering), so I threw together the spice mix, chopped potatoes, and grabbed the olive oil. I decided to add onions and carrots too. Instead of the brown, crisp edged, single layered, oven roast, I went for a big, deep, pot of full flavored goodness.
The recipe on the soup box is perfect for a single batch in a 12” Dutch oven and with plenty of coals on the lid, one will get those crispy edges. I made more. Instead of a single batch I tripled the seasoning and the potatoes and then added in the carrots and onions. With the larger quantity, I went with a deep 14” Camp Oven.
The food was a hit and the planned leftovers were great the next week too!
Vegan French Onion Soup Blend
1C Onion Flakes
3t Onion Powder
2t Garlic Powder
2t Kosher Salt
2t Paprika
2t Parsley Flakes
1t Pepper
1t Celery Seed
Mix all ingredients except for the onion flakes. Divide mixed spices into 4 zip-top snack bags. Add 1/4C onion flakes to each bag. This blend gives you a Vegan substitute for Onion soup mix.
Not concerned about Vegan or Vegetarian fare? Prior to dividing the blended spices, mix in ⅓C- ½C beef bouillon powder/granules.
Each snack bag of seasoning = 1 packet of Lipton’s Onion Soup mix for flavoring food.
Dutch Oven Onion Roasted Root Veggies
2lbs Potatoes (Red, White, or Yukon Gold work best)
1lb Carrots
1 Medium Size Sweet Yellow Onion
1/2C Olive Oil
1 packet Onion Soup Mix (or 1 zip-top bag of Vegan recipe above)
Cut potatoes and carrots into uniform bite-sized pieces. Chop onion in large pieces, (1/2″ – 1″ squares).
In 12″ Camp Dutch Oven, add cut vegetables, Olive Oil, and Onion Soup mix. Stir well until all pieces are seasoned and coated with oil.
Roast in a hot oven (425°), for 30-40 minutes, stirring a couple of times during the cooking to brown evenly.
