Tuscan Onion Soup with Poached Egg
This Tuscan onion soup with poached egg is inexpensive, easy to prepare, and deliciously nostalgic. Made with basic ingredients, this soup tastes even better the longer it sits and is best eaten with toasted cheesy bread for dunking!
Recipe Mood: Inexpensive Comfort
Indulgence Level: Low
Effort Level: Easy
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our affiliate disclosure.
Long before I ever heard of Tuscan onion soup with poached egg, my mother introduced me to a simple onion soup her grandmother had made years ago. Served with a poached egg on top, it was a no-frills meal, much like the eggs and mozzarella of my mom’s childhood.
I discovered Tuscan onion soup only when I decided to recreate my great-grandmother’s Italian onion soup for this blog and did some research. I noticed the definite similarities when I saw that Tuscan soup is made with lots of onions and sometimes served with a poached egg on top.
One key difference is that Tuscan onion soup traditionally uses red onions, whereas my family’s recipe uses yellow onions. Another difference is that the Tuscan version sometimes calls for ground almonds and cinnamon, while my great-grandmother’s doesn’t. My great-grandmother also used water, not stock or broth, as the base.
Thanks to ancestry.com, my mother found that some of our family members originated from the Tuscany region. It’s possible this soup made its way to my Neapolitan family, where it may have been even more simplified due to the relatively modest Naples region. All I know is that no one in my family called it Tuscan onion soup.
Also known as carabaccia, this soup tastes even better leftover, and the onions get more plump and tender when sitting in all that liquid. The beef stock elevates the flavors in this soup, and topping it with an egg and some grated Pecorino Romano really takes it home.
Did you know?
This was reportedly Leonardo da Vinci’s favorite soup. Guess it’s been around for a while!
Why You’ll Love This Tuscan Onion Soup with Poached Egg
Inexpensive: This is an inexpensive soup to make, thanks to its basic ingredients, most of which you’re likely to already have on hand.
Filling: Despite its humble nature, this soup is extra filling thanks to the poached egg. And a side of cheesy bread for dunking makes it extra hearty.
Sweet and savory: The sweet red onions and the savory beef stock give this simple soup a more complex flavor.
Key Ingredients
- Red Onions: This recipe is traditionally made with red onions.
- Beef Stock: For this simple soup, beef stock is more flavorful than chicken or vegetable stock.
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address to get a link to this post in your inbox!
See the recipe card below for more information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make This Recipe
- Heat: Warm olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat.
- Add onions: Stir in sliced onions, salt, pepper, and bay leaf.
- Soften onions: Cook the onions, stirring often, until they begin to soften, then stir in vinegar.
- Cover: Partially cover the pot and cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until fully soft but not brown, about 30 minutes.
- Add stock: Discard the bay leaf, then pour in the stock and remaining salt. Bring to a low simmer and heat for 5 minutes.
- Poach eggs: Gently crack eggs into the stock, season them with a pinch of salt and pepper, and simmer until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Serve: Ladle soup into bowls, top each with an egg, and garnish with Pecorino, parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil, if desired. Serve with crusty or toasted cheesy bread.
Pro Tips
Use a spatula to remove the eggs: A spatula’s large, flat surface will scoop them out easily and reduce the risk of breaking them.
Variations & Substitutions
-Use vegetable stock to make this soup vegetarian, or chicken stock if you want something lighter.
-Float a slice of toasted baguette topped with melted mozzarella in each bowl, à la French onion soup.
-Omit the egg altogether and add just the toasted baguette.
-Use balsamic vinegar if you don’t have red wine vinegar.
Recipe FAQs
No, this is one of those soups that retains plenty of liquid even after sitting in the refrigerator for a couple of days. That’s because the soup contains mostly onions, which have a high water content, so you don’t have to add extra liquid when reheating it.
Ensure the heat is high enough to cook them properly but not so high that they sear. Also, the many onions will crowd the pot and make it difficult to brown them anyway. Just watch them more carefully when they’re about fully cooked because they’ll have more surface area then.
Storage
Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Freezer: Freeze for up to 2 months.
Reheat: Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave. If taking from the freezer, defrost in the refrigerator first.
More Italian Soup Recipes
If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, please take a moment to leave a five-star review below. You could also tag me on Instagram (@forcarbssake) with a picture of your finished dish!
Tuscan Onion Soup with Poached Egg
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 large red onions peeled and cut into ¼" slices
- 1 and ½ teaspoons kosher salt divided (1 teaspoon + ½ teaspoon)
- Ground black pepper
- 1 large bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 4 cups low-sodium beef stock (Note 1)
- 4 to 6 large eggs (Note 2)
- Grated Pecorino Romano cheese (optional)
- Italian flat-leaf parsley minced (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-low. Add the onions, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and bay leaf and cook the onions, stirring frequently. Once they begin to soften, stir in the vinegar.
- Partially cover the pot with a lid, and cook the onions until completely soft, about 30 minutes. Stir every few minutes, and ensure the heat isn't too high—you don't want to brown the onions; you only want to sweat them down.
- Remove the bay leaf and pour in the beef stock with the ½ teaspoon remaining salt. Bring to a low simmer and heat the stock for 5 minutes. Gently crack the eggs into the soup, spaced apart, and add a pinch of salt and pepper to each. Simmer the eggs gently until they turn white but the yolk is stil runny, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and top each one with an egg. Garnish each bowl of soup with grated Pecorino and minced fresh parsley, if desired. You can also drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top. Serve with crusty or cheesy toasted bread to sop up the egg yolk and stock.
This soup is perfect for when you want something easy and cheap to make. And I love the poached egg on top!