French Onion Noodles
Caramelized onions dehydrated at home, rehydrated into a beef broth dinner with cheese and croutons on top.
- calories
- 690
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 153
- protein
- 24 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 500 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Car camping
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dehydrated caramelized onions | 1/2 cup | about one large white onion once dried |
|---|---|---|
| Beef bouillon | 2 tsp | low sodium if you can find it |
| Egg noodles | 1.5 oz | the thin ones, they cook fast |
| Dried thyme | 1/4 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/4 tsp | |
| Worcestershire powder | 1/2 tsp | or a few drops from a dropper bottle |
| Butter powder | 1 tbsp | ghee also works and packs denser |
| Gruyere | 1.5 oz | vacuum-sealed, it holds a week out of a fridge |
| Grated parmesan | 1 tbsp | the shelf-stable shaker kind |
| Sourdough croutons | 1/2 cup | dried hard in a low oven |
| Crushed red pepper | a pinch | optional |
Method
- Boil 500 ml of water. Add the onions, bouillon, thyme, garlic powder, and Worcestershire powder.
- Simmer five minutes. The onions need that long to come back; skip it and they stay leathery.
- Add the noodles and cook another four minutes, stirring so they don't weld to the bottom.
- Cut the heat. Stir in the butter powder.
- Slice the gruyere thin and lay it over the surface. Lid on, two minutes, and it melts on its own heat.
- Scatter the croutons and parmesan over the top. Red pepper if you want it. Eat before the croutons go soft.
The original is a slow cooker dish: onions cooked down in butter and sugar, then eight hours in beef broth, then a bowl broiled under cheese. None of that survives contact with a trail. What does survive is the caramelization, and that is the only part that actually takes time. Do it at home in a pan, spread the onions on dehydrator trays, and dry them hard. A large onion cooks down to almost nothing and weighs almost nothing.
Everything after that is a ten-minute pot. Bouillon replaces the stock, Worcestershire powder replaces the bottle, and dried thyme was already the source’s choice. The bread and cheese are the point of French onion soup, so they stay: sourdough dried into croutons instead of a broiled slice, and real gruyere laid on the surface under a lid. Noodles turn it from soup into dinner, because soup does not carry enough calories to justify the fuel.
Packing
Onions, bouillon, noodles, and the dry seasonings all go in one bag. Butter powder, parmesan, and croutons ride in a second bag so the croutons stay crisp. Cheese separate.
Variations
- Skip the noodles and stir in instant mashed potato flakes instead for something thicker and gluten-free.
- A splash of sherry from a small bottle at the end gets you closer to the original, if you want to carry it.
- Vegetable bouillon and no cheese makes it vegan, though it loses most of what makes it worth the effort.
https://mealswithmaria.site/slow-cooker-french-onion-soup