This gluten free Irish stout onion soup is made with buttery toasted thyme croutons and topped with plenty of Irish cheddar.

French onion soup has been on my bucket list to make for quite some time.

I kept putting it off because I don’t own (and probably never will) those brown crocks it always gets served in.

I’m not really down with brown serving-ware and refuse to buy more bowls especially when they’d only have one specific use.

Then I remembered I had these white ramekins on the top shelf of a corner cabinet hiding in the back when I spent this whole past weekend organizing (read: going through cabinets like a lunatic) my kitchen.

So much food was either thrown out or donated, boxes set aside for cute glass mason jars, hundreds of dollars spent at Bed Bath & Beyond on stupid tray organizer things all because I finally successfully convinced Ulysses to remove the dumb wire racks the builder had installed in the pantry and replace them with solid wood shelves.

So what was supposed to be a fun weekend with friends partying at the casino in Connecticut to celebrate someone’s 30th, turned into a head cold which forced me to stay home and go batshit on my kitchen/pantry organization instead.

Bright side is, this Irish stout onion soup came out of the whole ordeal.

If I see French onion soup on a menu, chances are I’m ordering it. So, I’ve tasted quite a few in my years.

Here’s what a good onion soup comes down to in my opinion:

-a soup so flavorful it could be eaten alone without the cheesy, buttery bread topping and still be kickass. This means a deep savory flavor profile (just like in this wild mushroom soup) and usually a thicker consistency. No watery soup allowed.

-The cheese to soup ratio is also important. No pathetic cheese sprinkling will do. It should be a thick, melted over the edges kind of coating.

-And one last thing, the full slice of bread that then needs to be broken up with your spoon…why? Just, why? Cut that bread into cubes and make it easy!

All these things were taken into consideration when making this Irish stout onion soup.

The broth is deep and flavorful thanks to the oatmeal stout used with the beef broth.

The top is buttery, cheesy and full of sharp cheddar and thyme flavor.

The best part though?

The whole thing is gluten free thanks to Udi’s rye style bread and a gluten free oatmeal cream stout.

I’ve never much been into St. Patrick’s Day (there isn’t a drop of Irish blood in me, the food seems to generally suck and artificially green dyed things are gross) but if I had to choose a way to celebrate, it’d be with a big bowl of this stout onion soup (or this Reuben soup – it’s a toss up!) in my face and some Baileys ice cream afterwards!

Love this Irish Stout Onion Soup?

Try more hearty soup recipes like Italian Tomato Pasta Soup, Spiced Pork, Squash and White Bean Soup or, Hot and Sour Egg Drop Soup.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Udi’s Gluten Free. The opinions and text are all mine.