When I texted a food-loving friend to say I was working on an onion soup recipe, she replied, “Oh, I love French onion soup!”

I also love French onion soup, with its deeply caramelized onions in a rich broth, stale slices of bread to soak up that broth and lots of hot, bubbly cheese on top. But this is not that onion soup. This soup is inspired by my favorite dip: French onion, and the potato chips it’s generally served alongside.

Instead of watching a pan of onions on your stovetop for an hour, you throw sliced sweet onions on a sheet pan and let them roast until they start to caramelize. They won’t get as deeply browned as you generally want them for French onion soup, but this is a creamy onion soup, that benefits from the firmer cooked — not fully caramelized — onions.

That said, there are a few tricks to getting the onions to partially brown in under an hour: First, use sweet onions, such as Vidalia or Walla Walla. Then, slice them, coat them in olive oil and toss them with salt, sugar and onion powder. The salt gets them to sweat, the sugar encourages caramelization and the onion powder amps up their oniony flavor.

I like to roast a head of garlic on the same sheet tray. Then, I’ll squeeze out the cloves and puree them in a blender with the onions and broth. Since there aren’t many ingredients in the base, you’ll need a rich beef, chicken or mushroom broth to ensure every spoonful of this soup is full of flavor. If you use a carton or can of store-bought, pale stock, the resulting soup may be bland.

After blending the onions, garlic and broth into a smooth puree, taste it, and add additional salt or freshly cracked pepper to taste. For a thinner soup, add more broth. Rewarm the soup in a pot on the stove over gentle heat while you get out the sour cream and potato chips, and finely chop a few chives. All that’s left to do is ladle the soup into bowls, add a dollop of sour cream, a handful of potato chips and a sprinkling of chives. It’s dip for dinner — in soup form.

Onion Soup With Sour Cream and Potato Chips

This onion soup is inspired by French onion dip with potato chips. Start by roasting sweet onions and garlic until they get soft and brown, then blend them with richly flavored broth, ideally beef broth, dark chicken broth or mushroom broth. Top each bowl with a dollop of sour cream, handful of potato chips and sprinkling of chopped chives.

2 servings (makes 3 to 4 cups of soup)

Active time: 20 minutes. Total time: 1 hour

Notes: Sweet onions will caramelize more quickly while roasting. If you use yellow onions instead, you may need to roast them longer.

Substitutions: Instead of sour cream, use plain Greek-style yogurt, labneh or a nondairy substitute.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 head garlic (unpeeled and left whole)

3 medium sweet onions, such as Vidalia or Walla Walla (1-1/2 pounds total), halved and sliced (see Notes)

1/2 teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2 to 3 cups beef, chicken or mushroom broth

Freshly cracked black pepper

1/4 cup sour cream, for serving

1/2 cup loosely packed potato chips, preferably plain, for serving

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives, for serving

Directions

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with foil or parchment paper.

Pour the oil on the prepared pan. With a sharp knife, cut off the very top of the head of garlic, exposing each of its cloves. Use the head, cut side down, to spread the oil around the pan, then wrap the garlic in a small piece of foil and set it in one corner of the pan.

Spread the onions evenly over the rest of the pan. Sprinkle evenly with the salt, sugar and onion powder, and use your hands or tongs to toss the onions so they are evenly seasoned. Roast for 20 minutes. Using tongs, toss the onions, moving any browned onion slices toward the center and undercooked onions to the sides. Return to the oven and continue roasting for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until all of the onions are at least lightly browned and very soft.

Transfer the onions to a blender. Unwrap the head of garlic and squeeze the roasted cloves into the blender. Add 2 cups of the broth. Remove the center ring from the lid, hold a kitchen towel over the lid and blend until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. For a thinner soup, add more broth. Taste, and season with additional salt and/or pepper as needed.

Transfer the soup to a medium saucepan, set over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer.

To serve, divide the soup between two bowls, and top each with a dollop of sour cream, some potato chips and chives.

Nutritional information per serving (1-1/2 cups soup, 2 tablespoons sour cream, 1/4 cup potato chips): 425 calories, 29g fat, 6g saturated fat, 38g carbohydrates, 716mg sodium, 15mg cholesterol, 7g protein, 4g fiber, 20g sugar.

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s advice.

From staff writer G. Daniela Galarza.