French onion soup is a tough soup to alter. Making it vegetarian is hard, and making it vegan is even tougher. The traditional soup uses lots of butter and beef stock, creating a depth that is hard to recreate for those diets. Luckily, the world has coffee! Using one of my favorite brands (
Philz Coffee, located here in San Francisco), their Dark French blend (that was not planned by the way) brings a smoky and charcoal-like flavor to this meat-free version. Want to eat it vegan? Just leave off the cheese topping.