Melted Onions Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

How to caramelize onions without burning? ›

If your heat is too high, the onions will burn. Heat your pan over medium-low, then add your onions. Keep it on that temp for the whole process. No cheating!

Melt the butter in the stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the sliced onions. Keep your eye on the onions and stir often at the beginning to allow all the slices to have contact with the bottom of the pot so they start to release their liquid. In about 45 minutes they should have released a good amount of liquid.

Once the water is boiling or close to it, put a lid on the pan so the onions can steam. This essentially massively speeds up the process of wilting the onions, which can be the first 15-20 minutes of the sautéing process.

The key to achieving perfectly caramelized onions is to use a large saucepan. The wide base gives your onions plenty of room to cook so the water released as they soften can evaporate. This prevents the onions from steaming rather than caramelizing and speeds up the cooking process.

You can use either oil or butter to caramelize onions — but ideally, you use a combination of both! I like to use olive oil, and this cooking fat tolerates heat particularly well. Meanwhile, butter adds a distinctly rich flavor to the caramelized onions.

Caramelizing the onions slowly in butter until they're rich golden-brown (but not so dark as to taste bitter) produces the sweetest, most flavorful results. The best results are obtained by being patient, attentive, and ready to deglaze with water toward the end of cooking.

Simply put, caramelized onions aren't quick. It takes at least 45 minutes (and often over an hour) over low heat for the natural sugars in the onions to caramelize. Still, the time is totally worth it. Packed with irresistible umami flavor, caramelized onions add complexity to all sorts of savory dishes.

Not cooking the onions long enough.

→ Follow this tip: Cook times will vary depending on the number of onions you're cooking and the type of onion (its sugar content and age), but plan to cook caramelized onions for 40 to 50 minutes (at least) until they have a dark-brown, rich color.

Why do you add sugar to caramelize onions? ›

If you need to caramelize onions quickly, adding sugar or a pinch of baking soda (to raise the pH level and help them brown quicker) can help to speed up the caramelization process but truly they aren't a dish that cooks up quickly. If using baking soda I'd suggest about 1/4 tsp per pound of raw onions.

Yes, you should cover the onions when caramelizing them. Covering the onions helps to trap the steam and heat, which aids in the caramelization process by softening the onions and allowing them to release their natural sugars. This results in a sweet and flavorful caramelized onion.

The key to making Caramelized Onions is cooking them low and slow. No more than medium heat and plan for it to take awhile. I always make a large batch for 2 reasons. One: they cook down to a much smaller amount than the raw onions.

2) Make 'em sweat – use salt and a cold pan

Adding the chopped onions to the pan while it is still heating up and sprinkling with some salt helps draw out water contained in the onions so they sweat and soften instead of browning.

Melt butter in a small pan and add sliced onion. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring. Add sugar and stir through for a further 15 minutes until very dark brown in colour. This recipe is excellent mixed with Red Wine Jus Gravy!

Instead of spending 15 minutes trying to soften onions in a pan (only to scorch them!), try this microwave method. Pop chopped or sliced onions in a bowl, add a spoonful of water, cover with a plate and microwave on high for 3-4min. Carefully remove (the bowl will be very hot) and uncover.

Okay, it's counter intuitive, but you need to add water. Cook on high with the pan covered. The additional water generates steam, that in turn transfers much more heat to the onions than otherwise. That's why the onion breaks down faster.