Balsamic Caramelized Onions | The Best Caramelized Onions Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to caramelize onions? ›

While you can start the cooking process at medium heat, low and slow is the name of the game when it comes to caramelizing onions. Once your onions begin to soften and take on a golden hue, you'll want to reduce the heat from medium to medium-low or even low for the remainder of the cooking process.

Our Test Kitchen likes to use butter when caramelizing onions, as it offers the richest flavor. If you avoid dairy or don't have butter, you can caramelize onions in other fat such as margarine or olive oil. Add the onion slices. It's okay if they overlap a bit here because they'll shrink as they cook down.

Once you've finished cooking the onions to desired doneness, deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of water (for extra flavor, you can also use vegetable or chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, red, white or Madeira wine, beer or brandy).

Tip: the vinegar serves to deglaze the pan, adds acidity, and brings this recipe together by boosting the tangy and savory flavors of the caramelized onions. If the onions stick to the pan, that's fine.

Adding baking soda makes the onions more alkaline, increasing the speed of the Maillard reaction so they brown more quickly. But it also imparts a chemical-like bitterness to the end result.

Brown sugar is simply cane sugar with molasses added to it. Therefore, you are adding even MORE sugar, and more brown color, to your onions. Thus the caramelization is so much better and faster! If you don't have brown sugar, feel free to use regular cane sugar or even panela when caramelising onions.

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.

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.

You definitely want the flavor of butter in your onions—but butter has the tendency to burn. For insurance, use a combination of butter and oil, which has a higher smoking point. But how much do you use? Depending on the consistency you want your onions, you can use more or less fat.

Unlike mushrooms, which shouldn't be salted until after they've browned, you should always salt onions before you start cooking them. Onions won't begin to caramelize until all the water in them has evaporated, and using salt will speed up that process, Caicedo explains.

How often should I stir caramelized onions? ›

Fold onions with a spatula, scraping bottom of pan to ensure they don't stick or scorch. Cook, stirring every 5 to 6 minutes and reducing heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, until liquid has evaporated, about 35 minutes.

Usually caramelized onions start with thinly sliced onions, but you can also work with diced or chopped onions. To caramelize, just place a heavy pan over medium low heat and heat up some butter or olive oil.

If the onions aren't deeply brown after 50 minutes and you'd like to speed things up, you can turn the heat higher to get more caramelization. Stir continuously to prevent burning.

You don't want to slice them too thin or they'll cook too fast which could cause them to burn. You'll also want to start out with fat. I choose oil and butter. Butter gives it a good flavor and helps with the caramelization and the oil helps the butter not to brown too fast.

For even cooking, and to prevent burning, it's essential to check and stir the onions every five to 10 minutes. And if you don't feel like you're quite up to the task, you can also try making caramelized onions in the slow cooker.

Unlike mushrooms, which shouldn't be salted until after they've browned, you should always salt onions before you start cooking them. Onions won't begin to caramelize until all the water in them has evaporated, and using salt will speed up that process, Caicedo explains.

You don't want to slice them too thin or they'll cook too fast which could cause them to burn. You'll also want to start out with fat. I choose oil and butter. Butter gives it a good flavor and helps with the caramelization and the oil helps the butter not to brown too fast.

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!