A Baxters Style Lower Salt French Onion Soup
A homemade soup inspired by the Baxters ingredient list – rich onion flavour, much less salt.
Ingredients
- 250g brown or yellow onions, finely sliced
- 2g Marmite or another yeast extract
- 5g unsalted butter
- 1.5g table salt
- 10g sugar
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- 13.0g tomato puree
- Small pinch white pepper
- 14g cornflour
- Small pinch dried parsley
- 500ml water or unsalted vegetable stock
- Tiny pinch celery seed or celery powder (optional)
- 20ml cream sherry – caramelising stage
- 10–12ml cream sherry – finishing
- 0.5g MSG (optional, extra savoury depth without much extra sodium)
Method
How the salt is reduced without losing flavour
Use onion browning for depth. Proper caramelisation provides sweetness, savouriness and roasted flavour that otherwise gets masked by extra salt.
Keep a little yeast extract. A small amount of Marmite gives the familiar savoury character while contributing only a modest amount of salt.
Use sherry, tomato and white pepper. These add acidity, sweetness, aroma and warmth, making the soup taste more seasoned without simply adding sodium.
Optional MSG. A tiny amount boosts savoury intensity, so the soup can taste fuller even at a much lower overall salt level.
Tip: If the first taste seems slightly flat, add a little more sherry, white pepper, caramelised onion or the optional MSG before reaching for more salt.
