This timeless, classic caramelized onions recipe is like an old friend - simple, tried, and true.
Caramelized Onions: A Flavour Bomb
This classic and easy caremalized onion recipe is the only one you'll ever need.
- Time-Tested Awesomeness: this recipe is a CLASSIC style caremalized onion.
- Easy Ingredients, Big Impact: made with simple, everyday ingredients (onions, oil, butter, wine)
- Endless Possibilities: instantly add a bomb of deep, rich savoury flavour to any dish by topping it with these classic caremalized onions.
Don't feel intimidated - it's not very technically challenging. The hardest part is being patient to cook the onions low and slow.
Jump to:
Other Savoury Recipes:
- Vietnamese Iced Tea (Tra Chanh Hanoi) - Low Sugar
- Soda Chanh Recipe (Vietnamese Lime Soda)
- Mango Pudding Recipe
- Mango Chia Pudding (Vegan)
- How to Cut a Mango with a Pit - SECRET HACKS
Recipe
Classic Caramelized Onions At Home
Equipment
- 1 large, steel pan
Ingredients
- 5 large onions any variety
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon unslted butter not margarine
- ¼ cup white wine dry
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Peel and evenly slice onions to be ~¼ inch thick. Set aside.
- Heat steel pan on medium heat until its hot. Add olive oil and butter, then onions immediatley after. Turn heat to low. Gently stir onions to evenly coat each slice with olive oil and butter.
- Let onions slowly cook on low for ~1 hr. Stir onions every ~5 minutes to prevent burning.
- At around the 40 minute mark, the onions will begin sticking to the bottom of the pan. Use wine to de-glaze as needed. You will need to de-glaze multiple times as the onions get closer to final caremalization state. Stir onions more often at this point to prevent burning.
- When onions are thick, sticky and golden-brown, add salt and sugar. Mix well. Remove from heat and top on dishes like grilled salmon, sandwiches, and pizza.
Can I Use Any Type of Onion?
I'll tell you a secret: it doesn't matter what kind you use! Maybe other recipes are particular about onion type. But I've tried this recipe with many onions depending on what I had on hand, and it doesn't make a meaningful difference in the end.
Yellow onions are traditionally used for their robust flavor. In my photos, I used white onions because that's the cheapest at the grocery store at the time. Sweet onions or red onions work well too. This caremalized onion recipe is forgiving, so use any onion type you like.
What ACTUALLY makes a difference is if you're using white wine to deglaze the pan (read below).
Must Do's For The Best Caramelized Onions
1) Use White Wine to De-Glaze The Pan
- Caramelization: the sugars in the wine help the caramelization process, boosting the flavour and imparts a pretty, golden hue
- Flavour Depth: the complex flavours of wine dances with the onion and caremalized sugar, making it so much more savoury
- Acid Balance: wine specifically brightens the flavour, playing off the fat of the butter and oil
You could even use non-alcoholic wine, since the alcohol constituent of the white wine isn't important.
Go for a dry wine. A cheap bottle of chardonnany or sauvigon blanc would work great. When it comes to cooking with wine, quality isn't important.
Note: de-glazing means pouring in a liquid (usually broth, wine, or water) and scrape off the sticky, golden bits stuck to the pan. These sticky bits are full of flavour, which is why we want to keep them.
2) Slice Onions Thicker Than You Expect
Cutting onions too thin is a sure way to make your onions burn before they're fully caremalized. Aim for the onion slices to be ~¼ - ½ inch thick.
In other words, when cutting onion slices you DON'T want to create onion-ring shapes - you want "shards", not circles.
How I do it is I cut the onion in half by slicing through the root (the hairy end). Then, cut that half into eight equally-sized pieces. You'll get it.
3) Embrace Slow Cooking
Finally, the most important factor is to give the onions time to cook. There's no short cuts to get a rich, deep flavour.
Low heat slowly breaks down sugars, creating sweet-savory flavors in caramelized onions. Rushing with high heat risks uneven caramelization and burning, affecting taste and texture. All in all, it just doesn't have the same soul to it. If you know, you know.
But hey -that's the joy of cooking! Embrace the slow dance of onions in the pan while you potter around the kitchen making the rest of dinner.
You'll Also Love...
Most Delicious Ways to Use Caremalized Onions
Use these classic caremalized onions in any savoury dish where you could use a gorgeously sweet and golden flavour bomb!
Below are the best ways to use them:
- Roasted butternut squash
- Burgers
- French Onion soup
- Homemade hummus
- Grilled salmon
- Sandwiches
- Pizza
