Onions are naturally sweet; and as caramel comes from the simple cooking of sugar when you slowly cook onions over an extended period of time, the natural sugars in the onions caramelize, making the result intensely and wonderfully flavorful.
How to Use Caramelized Onions
You can use onions prepared this way on top of steak, or for onion soup, tarts, pizza, or onion dip. Or you can do what I did with this batch, eat it straight up. What are your favorite dishes to make that use caramelized onions? Please let us know in the comments. By the way, I put together a time-lapse video of the caramelization process, to show how the onions cook down and caramelize over the course of an hour. Enjoy!
Chicken or vegetable stockBourbonMarsala winePort wineLight beer (dark beer might add too much flavor)Apple juiceCider
How to Store Caramelized Onions
Refrigerate caramelized onions in a tightly covered container for up to 1 week. Freeze caramelized onions in a freezer safe zip top bag or a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. Suggestion: Freeze portions of caramelized onions in ice cube trays. When they’re frozen, pop the portions out and quickly put them in a freezer safe zip top bag and back in the freezer. They won’t stick together, and you’ll be able to grab as much as you need when you need it.
5 Ways to Use Caramelized Onions
Focaccia with Caramelized Onions, Cranberries, and Brie Caramelized Onion Dip Scalloped Potatoes With Caramelized Onions Broccoli Rabe With Caramelized Onions Caramelized Onion English Muffin Pizzas
Lay the onions cut side down and make angled cuts into each onion, aimed at the center, cutting almost all the way, but not completely through the root end. Make the cuts to your desired level of thickness. The root end will help hold the onion together as you cut it, making it easier to cut. Then cut a V in the root end to cut out the tough root holding the slices together. Depending on how strong your stovetop burner is you may need to reduce the heat to medium or medium low to prevent the onions from burning or drying out. After 10 minutes, sprinkle some salt over the onions, and if you want, you can add some sugar to help with the caramelization process. (I add only about a teaspoon of sugar for 5 onions, you can add more.) One trick to keeping the onions from drying out as they cook is to add a little water to the pan. The trick is to leave them alone enough to brown (if you stir them too often, they won’t brown), but not so long so that they burn. After the first 20 to 30 minutes you may want to lower the stove temperature a little, and add a little more oil, if you find the onions are verging on burning. A metal spatula will help you scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan as the caramelization proceeds. As the onions cook down, you may find you need to scrape the pan every minute, instead of every few minutes. Continue to cook and scrape, cook and scrape, until the onions are a rich, browned color. At the end of the cooking process you might want to add a little balsamic vinegar or wine to help deglaze the pan and bring some additional flavor to the onions. Store refrigerated for several days in an air-tight container.
