Confessions of an Onion Soup Mix User

[Pam R]

Once upon a time, many (perhaps the majority) of Jewish kitchens across North America had foil envelopes of Manischewitz onion soup mix stashed in their pantries and cupboards. I daresay it was a staple.

If you lived in Canada - we had a 'special Canadian formula' that was produced here. After corresponding with Manischwitz headquarters, it seems that this special formula is no longer being made (it's been a few years now) - and the people in the US can't tell me if there is an equivalent because they don't know what was in the Canadian stuff. But I digress.

I have a kosher specialty foods store (think grocery store ) and I get almost daily requests for the stuff. People don't seem to believe me when I tell them it's no longer being made.

But don't think we have to go without. There are plenty of options - I carry 4 different types of onion soup mix. With Rosh Hashana around the corner, it's flying off the shelves.

So I got to wondering.. what do people use it for?

I admit that I use it for brisket. The best brisket I've ever had. I know a lot of people use it for 'oven-baked fried rice' (no frying necessary!).

Nu?? What do you use it for?

[Marlene]

Mix with sour cream to make chip dip.

[srhcb]

Oven Roasted Spuds!

[hsm]

Mix it with low-fat yogurt to make (slightly less guilty for me) chip dip.

I use it on my brisket, too. And it's been known to join in the pile-on of ingredients in my turkey meatloaf.

[silentmeow]

I use it occasionally for pot roast. It gives the roast a nice flavor and the potatoes. It also thickens for a nice gravy! I really like the beefy mushroom flavor packets by Lipton. I always have a couple in the freezer!

[KatieLoeb]

The Manischewitz and/or Lipton's Onion soup mix is great stuff for:

The ubiquitous "Breath-'o-Death" Party chip dip.

Making brisket or pot roasts or any long slow cooked beef dish in the crockpot like stew.

Mixed with red wine as a London Broil marinade.

Mixing into meat loaf mixture or meatball mix.

Using to flavor pan drippings for gravy.

Sprinkle a little into some fresh lemon juice to baste a roasting chicken or turkey.

Pam - can you share the Oven Baked Fried Rice recipe? Sounds pretty good!

[rooftop1000]

Cheeseburgers...MMMmmmm and now that things with sour cream dont gross me out any more....Dip

tracey

Edited September 9, 2006 by rooftop1000 (log)

[Pam R]

Pam - can you share the Oven Baked Fried Rice recipe?  Sounds pretty good!

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I've seen it in about 5 of those Synagogue sisterhood books . I have those (plus a 'tweaked' version) at work - so I'll try to get it into recipeGullet tomorrow.

Of course dip! I haven't had that dip in years - that was the #1 snack on the deck of the cottage when I was kid (the chips had to be ruffles).

And hamburger/meatball mix. I've never thought of using it as a seasoning for roasting potatoes.

Excellent. What else?

[Jaymes]

For years, my special hamburger secret was to lightly toss one pound ground round with one beaten egg and 1/2 pkg onion soup mix.

Edited September 9, 2006 by Jaymes (log)

[FistFullaRoux]

Well, since it is a general foods topic and there isn't a kosher category, I almost hesitate to add that I like it mixed with mayo and slathered on a pork loin, then baked. I'd think the same thing could work for chicken as well.

It took a little to get used to the idea of baking with mayo, but when I realized it's really just oil and eggs, neither of which are out of place in savory baking, it's OK now. Now I use many spice/dip/mix recipes my mixing with mayo, then coating or battering something.

[Pam R]

Well, since it is a general foods topic and there isn't a kosher category, I almost hesitate to add that I like it mixed with mayo and slathered on a pork loin, then baked. I'd think the same thing could work for chicken as well.

Don't hesitate!! The kosher stuff is about my experiences (and it just happens that the best mix ever came from a kosher company) - I want to hear what other people do with it. And you qualify as an other person!

Chicken, pork, beef, sour cream - anything goes!

[purplewiz]

I use it to flavor bulgur - just add some to the water, cook the bulgur as usual, then throw in some sauteed mushrooms and green onions and you end up with instant bulgur pilaf.

The traditional onion dip is also killer on potato skins.

Marcia.

[Fat Guy]

This topic started with a mention of Manischewitz onion soup mix, however I imagine the overwhelming majority of users of this species of product are using the Lipton breed.

Probably the one use I never hear anybody mention for this product is "soup." Has anybody actually made soup from it?

In the case of the Lipton product they actually stopped calling it "Onion Soup Mix" some years ago, and now package it under the "Lipton Recipe Secrets" brand and have in very small print on the box "Recipe, Soup & Dip Mix." It's an interesting example of a product being used otherwise than for its intended purpose to such a great extent that they had to rebrand it.

I wonder how useful these products are, though. That is to say, why not just use a combination of dehydrated onions, salt and beef demi-glace, with maybe some celery salt? I'm sure it wouldn't take a ton of experimentation to come up with a homemade rub/seasoning mix/whatever that works better than the commercial, shelf-stable, preserved, overly salty, laden with MSG, packaged variety. Here are the Lipton ingredients:

Onions, Salt, Cornstarch, Onion Powder, Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids, Caramel Color, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Yeast Extract, Monosodium Glutamate, Natural Flavors, Disodium Inosinate And Disodium Guanylate.

[jackal10]

Onions, Salt, Cornstarch, Onion Powder, Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids, Caramel Color, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Yeast Extract, Monosodium Glutamate, Natural Flavors, Disodium Inosinate And Disodium Guanylate.

You mean you want to eat that?

Peggt Bracken's "I hate to cook book" championed onion soup mix.

That and Campbell's concentrated cream of mushroom soup as the basis of all savoury cream sauces, Sometimes both.

Disodium Inosinate And Disodium Guanylate are flavour enhancers.

Partial hydrogenation is now considered a potential health hazard.

Maybe time for a reformulation...

The soy is there for umani flavour, otherwise its sugar and salt and dried onion powder

[prasantrin]

Of course dip!  I haven't had that dip in years - that was the #1 snack on the deck of the cottage when I was kid (the chips had to be ruffles).

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Don't you mean Old Dutch Rip-L chips? Way better than Ruffles (which I think didn't exist in Manitoba till the early/mid '90).

I think my mother mentioned using Onion soup mix and cream of mushroom soup for pot roast. Apparently it gets raves in the Philippines...

[Soupcon]

My kids love to use it in chip dip (which they hide from me) and, I confess , I use it as a base in most of my meat loaves if I am short of time.

G'awd... reminds me of family... extended family..... gettogethers, many moons ago, where the this ubiquitous chip dip was horded by the kids and the grownups. There were two triple lots made for each for different areas of the house/cottage. Chips were not even necessary as some used to eat it with their fingers if they could get away with it while others howled in protest as to what a hog the offender was.

[Maison Rustique]

I'm sure it wouldn't take a ton of experimentation to come up with a homemade rub/seasoning mix/whatever that works better than the commercial, shelf-stable, preserved, overly salty, laden with MSG, packaged variety. Here are the Lipton ingredients:

Onions, Salt, Cornstarch, Onion Powder, Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids, Caramel Color, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Yeast Extract, Monosodium Glutamate, Natural Flavors, Disodium Inosinate And Disodium Guanylate.

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I haven't ever tried it, but somewhere I have a recipe for a homemade version. If I can find it easily enough I'll post it later.

[handmc]

I use Knorr onion soup mix for my burgers.

I use Knorr Leek soup mix with a can of minced clams a dlop of mayo and some sour cream to make a great dip

Edited September 10, 2006 by handmc (log)

[Fat Guy]

The soy is there for umani flavour

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There are a few ingredients in there that are in the MSG family: there's actual MSG, there's yeast extract and there's hydrolyzed soy protein.

The ingredients list here has a lot of overlap with that of bouillon cubes, where MSG, salt and sugar are used as poor substitutes for real meat flavor, complexity and freshness. I imagine the total flavor impact of one of these onion soup/dip mixes is mostly dependent on that trick. Whereas, I bet if you started with good-quality dehydrated onion flakes and onion powder, seasoned with salt, pepper and various dried herbs, and added some actual reduced beef stock to make it all into a paste, you'd have something really delicious.

I'll have to do some experiments. I think I have all the ingredients on hand to do this.

[BarbaraY]

About the only way I use it is to make one of those recipes from an early woman's magazine.

It is:

3 lbs. stew beef

1 package onion soup

1 can golden mushroom soup

1 cup red wine

1/4 cup Sherry

Stir it all together in a covered baking dish and cook in the oven for 3 hours.

The origiinal recipe called for adding a package of frozen carrots. Not a good idea to me. Mushrooms are good in it, though.

The dish is actually pretty good although rather salty. There are people who love it.

[Pam R]

Probably the one use I never hear anybody mention for this product is "soup." Has anybody actually made soup from it?

Why would we make soup with it?

I wonder how useful these products are, though. That is to say, why not just use a combination of dehydrated onions, salt and beef demi-glace, with maybe some celery salt? I'm sure it wouldn't take a ton of experimentation to come up with a homemade rub/seasoning mix/whatever that works better than the commercial, shelf-stable, preserved, overly salty, laden with MSG, packaged variety. Here are the Lipton ingredients:

Onions, Salt, Cornstarch, Onion Powder, Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids, Caramel Color, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Yeast Extract, Monosodium Glutamate, Natural Flavors, Disodium Inosinate And Disodium Guanylate.

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There are two reasons I see for using the mix versus making one yourself. The first is the time. This is one of those items that's there to help save time, isn't it? And I don't have any demi-glace in my freezer. The other is that even my Baba (grandmother) used the stuff! If I want her brisket, I'm going to use it. Would a homemade mixture be better? Probably. But I don't care, I just want her brisket.

Actually, I have a box of Lipton's here. This one is made in Israel and has slightly different ingredients than the ones you listed - but not enough to make a difference. But this box has recipes - on the back are the standard dip and roasted potatoes; and in bold - inside are more recipes for beef brisket! roasted chicken! meatloaf!

Don't you mean Old Dutch Rip-L chips?   

Woops! Of course that's what I meant! All we had when I was a kid were Old-Dutch and onion dip. Good times.

By the way, I've been using the Osem brand onion soup mix lately. Seems less salty.

[Marlene]

I make it as soup for my son., and he always asks for it when he's not feeling well. He prefers it over Campbells for some strange reason.

Edited September 10, 2006 by Marlene (log)

[GourmetLight$]

I originally found this "recipe" on one of those "copycat" web sites. Haven't tried it though:

Lipton's Onion

3/4 cup minced onion

1/3 cup beef bouillon

4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp crushed celery seed

1/4 tsp sugar

Combine all ingredients Store in tight fitting container About 5 Tbsp. of mix

are equal to 1 1.25 oz pkg. Use in making soup or onion dip (Mix 5 Tbsp. with

one pint of sour cream).

Cheers,

[andiesenji]

I use it when I make the "Sweep Steak" that did indeed appear in Peg Bracken's "I Hate To Cook Book", using a 7-bone or chuck roast the mix and wrapping the meat tightly in foil (doubled) and roasting in a 250 degree F. oven for 3 - 3 1/2 hours depending on size. It can be shredded or pulled apart with two forks so is perfect for sandwiches.

I also use it in one of my meatloaf recipes with the addition of some teriyaki sauce.

Ditto the chip mix.

I also add it to a 7-grain cereal mix to prepare it as a side dish instead of a breakfast cereal.

I dilute it with twice the amount of water called for in making "soup" and cook homemade fresh tortelloni or ravioli in it for people who do not like tomato-based gravy or sauce.

And then, there is this cookbook!

Edited September 10, 2006 by andiesenji (log)

[andiesenji]

I should add that I prever the Mrs. Grass Onion Soup Mix, lower sodium.

Mrs. Grass soup mixes

I have tried the Knorr and Maggi as well as Lipton and I like this one much better.

Smart & Final has had one in a larger container that is quite good but I can't recall the brand. It isn't Lipton.

Edited September 10, 2006 by andiesenji (log)