While you’ve surely eaten them before (if you’ve had homemade Caramelized Onion Dip, you’ve tasted caramelized onions) you may not be familiar with exactly what caramelized onions are. Caramelized onions are yellow onions that have been cooked slowly over low heat to caramelize the sugars in the onion. As the name suggests, have a sweetness that’s totally unique—perfect caramelized onions are savory and rich. Even though their flavor is famously complex, making caramelized onions is extremely simple. It does take time—this is definitely a “low-and-slow” recipe—but time is just about all that this easy caramelized onion recipe requires of you. Whether you’re going to gobble them up with some goat cheese, or add them to a Patty Melt, let’s get started!
What You’ll Need
- Yellow onions: Regular yellow onions are the best for caramelized onions — they’re just a little sweet naturally — and we always have them on-hand. If you only have red or white onions, though, it’s OK to use those instead. Walla Walla sweet onions would also be amazing.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter, so that you can decide just how savory or sweet you want your finished onions to be.
- Extra virgin olive oil: For extra flavor and richness.
- A pinch of salt and / or sugar: You may choose to up the sweetness factor of your finished caramelized onions by adding a pinch of sugar, but it’s completely optional. We usually add a little salt, because it enhances all flavors. But it’s optional, too.
How To Make Caramelized Onions:
- Slice the onions into thin half-moons.
- Melt the butter in a pan and add the oil.
- Add the onions and stir them constantly over medium heat for the first 10 minutes to begin the cooking process.
- Turn the heat down, spread the onions out evenly in the skillet or pan, and let them caramelize for about an hour. Keep an eye on them (but don’t feel you need to stay at the stove for the full hour), and stir very occasionally.
- When the onions are deeply brown (but not burned!), jammy and meltingly soft, you’re done!
How To Store
The good news is that, although they take some time to make, caramelized onions keep really well. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge, and they’ll be just as sweet, rich and delicious as the day you made them for at least a few days, and easily up to a week.
How To Serve
Now, you feast! Caramelized onions can be used in just about a million ways to make anything and everything taste just a little better. Here are just a few ways we love to use caramelized onions:
- On burgers!! Melted cheddar and caramelized onions on top of a Classic Cheese Burger? Yes, please. They’re great on regular burgers, or of course, there’s the diner classic: Patty Melt.
- In dip! Like our over the top Caramelized Onion Dip!
- In the best Butternut Squash Quesadilla ever!
- Caramelized onions are the foundation for both French Onion Soup and our ultra-comforting French Onion Chicken.
- Speaking of melted cheese, caramelized onions turn a grilled cheese into a meal fit for company—seriously! Just add a green salad and prepare yourself for rave reviews.
- The best caramelized onion pairing just might be goat cheese. The grassy flavors of a really great slab of creamy chevré spread on a crusty piece of baguette topped with a heaping spoonful of caramelized onions is so, so good.
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