This flavor packed onion and ale soup is the perfect cold-weather soup. Full of sweet onions and just a touch of Irish stout beer.
You know those nights where you don’t feel like cooking, don’t want fast food and don’t really want diner food? Well when those nights hit our household we usually head down to our local pub. It’s a comfortable place where we can drink beer and have delicious food. The only issue I have is that I always order the same thing. I know, it’s my problem. But I’m one of “those” people. You know the ones. The people who always order the same thing at the restaurant for fear the new thing they order may not be as delicious as the meal they always order. Is there anyone else out there that has this problem? It’s ok. You can admit it 🙂
So as I waited for my chili (which is what I always order) I noticed they had something delicious sounding on the menu. Onion and Ale soup. “Yum” I thought to myself. I took a look at the description and immediately knew that I could make this soup at home. So guess what? I did 🙂 Now I’m sharing this delicious soup with all of you. It’s chock full of onions, Irish beer and delicious beef flavor. It’s similar to French Onion but the Irish beer adds a whole different flavor. I also used this soup as an opportunity to use the Bavarian beer vinegar my Dad picked up for me. It worked lovely. It added a nice beer flavor to the already stout packed soup. So if you like onions and beer I would say this soup is for you! 🙂
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 medium-sized yellow onions sliced thin
- 3 medium-sized red onions sliced thin
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 16 ounce can Irish stout beer
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 6 cups beef stock
- 1 cup Irish cheddar shredded
Instructions
- Add olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and cook for 30 minutes. If you keep your heat low you can cook for longer to extract more an even more sweet flavor from the onions. You do not want to brown your onions.
- Add the beer and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the thyme and vinegar and gently simmer for 10-15 minutes. Until the mixture is reduced by half.
- Add the beef stock and simmer until warm and all the flavors have combined – approximately 10 minutes.
- Preheat the broiler.
- Put soup in an ovenproof bowl and top with cheese. Broil until cheese melts and starts to brown.