A Thrift Store Discovery Led Me to My New Favorite Soup Recipe

I’m easily swayed by the latest food trends on TikTok. From crispy air-fried imitation crab bites to creamy lemon Boursin pasta, if TikTokers are raving about it, I’m eager to try it. But recently, I came across a TikTok creator who blended two of my passions: cooking and thrift store finds.

Victoria Scholes has immersed herself in a fun seven-part series called 'Buy and Try,' where she hunts for vintage dishes at thrift stores, each featuring a recipe printed on it, and then attempts to cook the dish at home. She’s made everything from crab meat quiche in a charming vintage baking dish to tomato soup in a retro soup bowl.

Vintage Dishware with Recipes Printed Right On

For years, I’d skipped over these beautiful vintage dishes with illustrated retro recipes, unsure of how I could use them. It wasn’t until I saw Scholes’ videos that the idea of actually trying the recipes printed on the dishes crossed my mind. That’s when I decided to visit my favorite thrift store with a plan: whatever vintage recipe dish I found first, I was going to cook it myself.

Although I’ve come across pie plates, soup bowls, and other vintage recipe dishes in local thrift stores before, it took me visiting four different shops before finally finding the perfect one. There, nestled on a Goodwill shelf, were two soup mugs zip-tied together—one featuring a recipe for onion soup, and the other for mushroom soup.

The Onion Soup Recipe Printed on the Side of the Mug

The onion soup recipe felt like fate when I instantly recognized the mug from one of Scholes’ TikToks. I decided to give it a try, and some quick research revealed that this was a recipe for creamy, caramelized onion soup—not the French onion soup I had expected.

The trick with cooking from a vintage dish is the lack of detailed instructions, but as an enthusiastic home cook, I was up for the challenge. I took stock of the ingredients listed and lined them up neatly on my kitchen counter.

Ingredients (as listed on the dish):

• 3 large onions
• 1 ounce butter
• 1 quart white stock
• 1 clove
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 blade mace
• 1 ounce flour
• salt and pepper

Although the bowl didn’t include step-by-step instructions, I was able to figure it out without much trouble. I began by halving and thinly slicing three large onions, then sautéing them in butter on low heat for about two hours, stirring occasionally, until they were soft, translucent, and beautifully caramelized. After that, I mixed in some flour and let it cook through.

The recipe called for 'white stock,' which I learned is essentially homemade bone broth made from chicken, veal, or fish bones. But for convenience, I opted to use store-bought chicken stock instead. After letting the onions and stock simmer for a bit, I added in the seasonings: mace, salt and pepper, a whole clove, and a bay leaf. Then, I poured in milk, splitting the pint the recipe called for between milk and heavy cream to make the soup extra rich.

Once everything was well-mixed, I let the soup simmer on the stovetop for about 30 minutes to let all the flavors meld together. The result was a creamy, flavorful soup that didn’t taste like traditional French onion soup but had a texture similar to cream of crab soup. It’s definitely a recipe I’d make again, especially on chilly days when comfort food is exactly what I’m craving.

The Final Thought

Overall, experimenting with a vintage dish recipe was a delightful way to blend my love for thrift store treasure hunts with my passion for cooking. I can definitely understand why Scholes has turned this idea into a whole series, and I’m already looking forward to trying the mushroom soup recipe that came with my other soup mug.

It’s a nostalgic experience, making the recipe and enjoying it from the vintage bowl—it felt like I was cooking alongside someone’s grandmother, learning to make one of her cherished family recipes.