Need a quick onion soup mix substitute without running to the store? This homemade onion soup mix comes together in minutes with pantry staples and works anywhere you’d use a packet of French onion soup mix.
From dip and meatloaf to pot roast, gravy, and soup, it’s one of the easiest pantry shortcuts to keep on hand. It’s savory, onion-y, customizable, and honestly tastes better than the boxed stuff. Just 3 tablespoons of a dry onion soup mix replaces 1 store bought packet.
What Is Onion Soup Mix?
Onion soup mix is a dry seasoning blend made with dried onion, bouillon, and spices. Even though it’s called “soup mix,” it’s commonly used to season pot roast, meatloaf, dips, gravies, roasted vegetables, and casseroles.
Why You’ll Love It
This seasoning secret will add a savory note to lots of dishes. Here are a few reasons why we love it:
- Ready in 3 minutes – Faster than a grocery run and made with pantry staples.
- Works like a packet – Use it anywhere a recipe calls for dry onion soup mix or French onion soup mix.
- Big savory flavor – Onion flakes, bouillon, and spices give it that classic cozy, beefy, onion-forward taste.
- Easy to customize – Make it lower sodium, vegetarian, smoother for dip, or extra onion-y.
Onion Soup Mix Recipe ingredients
The base for dry onion soup, sometimes called French Onion Soup Mix, is fairly basic. Made with simple ingredients found in your spice cabinet or easily at your local grocery store.
- Dry onion flakes – It wouldn’t be onion soup without some onion, right? The flakes are important to add texture.
- Powdered beef bouillon – Because this is a dry mix and we need it to be shelf stable, we need beef bouillon granules, not bouillon paste.
- Onion powder – A little more onion flavor can’t hurt! Granulated onion is less potent, but still important for the rich onion flavor.
- Garlic powder – It adds to the tasty broth flavor.
- Parsley flakes – Optional, but adds color and a little herb flavor.
- Celery salt – If you’d really like to step up the flavor, you can substitute this for celery seed instead. This ingredient is also salty which is why I warn about using too much salt in other areas.
- Smoked paprika – Adds subtle warmth and smoky depth; regular or smoked paprika works too.
- Salt and pepper – I prefer to use freshly ground black pepper and fine sea salt, but use sparingly!
I prefer mine to be extra onion-y (yep, I just made up that word), so I use more onion flakes than the store bought version and also add black pepper. Look for a very finely ground black pepper to make the smoothest mix. You can even go a step further and use garlic flakes instead of onion or use both!
Using Dry Onion Soup Mix
Homemade onion soup mix is one of the easiest ways to add savory flavor to weeknight meals. Here are some of my favorite ways to use it:
- Stir it into sour cream for an easy French onion dip.
- Sprinkle it over pot roast before slow cooking.
- Mix it into meatloaf so every bite has savory onion flavor. Here is my onion soup mix meatloaf recipe with an onion soup gravy too.
- Add it to burger patties for an easy flavor boost.
- Toss it with potatoes before roasting. Here is my favorite recipes for Lipton Onion Soup Mix Potatoes.
- Season vegetables like green beans, carrots, or Brussels sprouts.
- Whisk it into gravy for extra depth.
- Use it as a soup starter with broth and caramelized onions.
- Rub it onto pork chops or chicken before cooking. We love our onion soup grilled pork chop recipe.
- Mix it into mashed potatoes for a sneaky little flavor upgrade.
- Add it to casseroles when they need a little help in the flavor department.
Chef Tips
Use minced dried onion, not onion powder alone. You need both. The flakes bring that classic packet texture, while onion powder fills in the background flavor.
Pulse it for dip. If you want a smoother French onion dip, blitz the mix for a few seconds in a spice grinder so nobody gets a giant onion flake ambush.
Watch the salt. Bouillon brands vary wildly. Taste your mix before using it in meatloaf, gravy, or soup.
Bloom it in liquid. Let the mix sit in broth or sour cream for 5–10 minutes before serving so the dried onion softens and the flavor rounds out.
Double the batch for gift jars. Great as a hostess gift, print out fancy labels with the instructions to make soup and tie with pretty ribbon.
For true substitute performance, write your recipe by packet equivalent. Use 3 tablespoons for every 1 packet in a recipe.
How to Make it Into Soup
One of the most common questions is how to make soup from dry onion soup mix. The process couldn’t be simpler! If you want to make soup, add 4 cups of water or low-sodium beef broth in a large bowl and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Add caramelized onions, frozen veggies like green beans or even thinly sliced beef or chicken to make a whole meal. Top it with a piece of crusty bread, croutons and cheese to make it into a quick French onion soup.
How to Store French Onion Soup Mix
Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months for best flavor. It can last longer, but the seasonings start to lose potency over time.
Onion Soup Mix FAQs
There are about 3 tablespoons in a Lipton onion soup packet, give or take a smidge. In most recipes, you can eyeball the amount and use a little more or a little less without worry of ruining the recipe.
The only thing to be mindful of is salt content. If the recipe calls for additional salt, add the soup mix and then season with salt accordingly. Adding both could make it to too salty. Same goes for recipes using broth, opt for a low-sodium broth so you can control the saltiness.
Yes. Use chicken or vegetable bouillon instead. Vegetable bouillon is the best choice for a vegetarian onion soup mix substitute.
Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months for best flavor. It can last longer, but the seasonings start to lose potency over time.
Absolutely. Mix 3 tablespoons with 16 ounces sour cream, then chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Dry Onion Soup Mix Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dried onion flakes
- 3 tablespoons ground beef bouillon
- 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Combine the 1/2 cup dried onion flakes, 3 tablespoons ground beef bouillon , 1 tablespoon parsley flakes, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon celery salt, 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt in a small mixing bowl and combine.
- For a smoother soup, give it a few whirls in a spice grinder. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or ratings.
Video
Notes
- Yield: makes about X tablespoons / equals X packets
- Packet conversion: 3 tablespoons = 1 packet
- Dip conversion: 3 tablespoons + 16 oz sour cream
- Vegetarian note: swap beef bouillon for vegetable bouillon
- Low sodium note: reduce added salt and use low-sodium bouillon
Nutrition
I have made this twice in one week. Tried it as a dip for chips/veggies and also used it to make meatloaf. Company coming tomorrow so I just made another batch for dip
Woohoo! That is what we love to hear and thank YOU for coming back to let us know!
How long would this mixture last in air tight container? Like a canning jar?
Probably a really long time! The salt is a natural preservative, so a year or so with decent flavor. The thing I would be more worried about is the dried bits starting to lose their flavor.
This is beyond amazing! This has opened up our menu to nee possibilities since having to go GF due to Celiac! In my opinion, this is 10 times better than the boxed onion soup mix!! Thank you !!!!!
So glad you love it and thanks for coming back to let us know!
To send this recipe over the top dehydrate your own vegies, then mix, super good. Thanks for the recipe.
Great idea!
There have been so many times I wanted to make something that called for dry onion soup mix which I refuse to buy. Now I can try those recipes! Thanks for figuring it out.
Loved the recipe!
But to much salt. Bouillon has salt, then the celery salt and the sea salt.
I will be using this recipe. Just leaving out the salt and use celery seeds or dryed celery flake insted.
This makes about 2 single pkgs like in a box.
Great tasting recipe a keeper.
Thanks for the feedback~! Yep, all of those things have salt and differ in saltiness by brand. Always use a coarse kosher salt, not a fine or table salt.
Hi,
If I’m reading your reply correctly, replacing a 1/4 tsp of course kosher salt for fine sea salt will make the soup less salty?
Yes, kosher has a less salty flavor and since the grains are bigger, you’d actually use a tad more. But in a soup, just start with half if you want it less salty- you can always add more salt, but you can’t take it away. And everyone has different taste buds and dietary needs.
The recipe does not say how much of the mix you add to how much water??
2 tablespoons. Sorry- most folks just want the dry soup mix, not the whole soup. LOL.
Hi Jessica. We just found your recipe and we absolutely luv it. We’ve made different recipes trying to find a good one and yours is the best we’ve tried. We will keep this on hand to put in all of our different recipes from dip to meatloaf. Thank you so much for this one!
Thanks so much and thank you for taking the time to come back and let us know!
I love this soup mix. I made a quart jar of it and keep it on hand at all times. I put it in all kinds of recipes. I add it to my beans, roast, use for dip, etc. Will keep this on hand. Thanks for the recipe!!
Thanks for the feedback, Tami!
Is this for 1 pouch of soup mix?
Hi Kathy- each packet is about 3 tablespoons and this recipe makes a tiny bit less than 4 pouches.