How To Caramelize Onion Recipes

SIMPLE CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Steps:

• Put the onions in the bowl with the fat or butter. Cover the bowl and microwave for 10 minutes on high.
• Take off the cover, and stir the onions--there should be good bit of liquid in the bowl. Microwave (uncovered) for approximately 10 more minutes, but keep an eye on it. It should get brown around the edges, so stir it periodically.
• Eventually it'll be a brown mass of onions. If you like them crispy, microwave them a bit longer but, again, keep an eye on them--it's a real short moment between crispy and burnt.
• You can do this in a conventional oven too, but it takes longer; say around 20 minutes at 350°F with the cover on and another 20 min with the cover off, stirring periodically. Once again, keep an eye on it.

CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Steps:

• In an 8-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, melt butter over medium-high. Add onions and salt. Cook, stirring often, until softened and just beginning to brown, 35 minutes.
• Reduce heat to medium. Add sugar and cook, stirring often to scrape up any browned bits stuck to bottom of pot, 35 to 40 minutes (lower heat, if bottom of pot begins to scorch).
• When done, onions should be deep golden brown and have a jam-like consistency. Remove from heat; season with salt. Let cool completely.

CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Steps:

• Halve both onions through root end. Using the tip of your knife, cut a V-shaped notch around root to remove it (this will ensure that all slices separate when you cut the onion).
• Place 1 onion half on your cutting board so root end is facing you, then thinly slice onion lengthwise, starting at one side and working all the way to the other (so your knife runs through the root halfway through, not starting or ending at the root end). You're going for slices that are 1/4"-1/8" thick.
• Repeat same slicing procedure for remaining onion halves. It's a lot of onion! But it will cook down quite a bit, so it's best to start with a large quantity.
• Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in a large saucepan over medium until melted and sizzling. You can use a skillet to cook the onions, but a pan with high sides will keep the onions from flipping out onto your stove. Using a pan that also has a wide base gives water room to evaporate, allowing the onions to caramelize rather than steam.
• Instead of dumping in all of the onions at once, which would fill the pot and make it hard to stir (which would then cause the ones on the bottom to cook faster), start by adding just a couple of large handfuls to the pot. Cook, stirring, until onions are soft and starting to turn translucent, 1-2 minutes. Stir in a few more handfuls of onion and repeat cooking and stirring process until you've added all the onions. Season with a pinch of salt.
• Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook onions, stirring every few minutes to prevent them from sticking and coloring too much in any one place, until blonde-colored, 15-20 minutes. This is the point of doneness for French onion soup! If you feel like onions are getting too brown around the edges or they're sticking, reduce your heat a bit.
• If you're going for onions that are both softer and more caramelized (say for a patty melt or onion dip), keep cooking, stirring on the regular, until onions are unmistakably golden brown, another 15-20 minutes. Because most of the water has cooked off at this point, there might be some bare spots where the pot could start to burn. If this happens, stir in a splash of broth or water. The liquid will dissolve the cooked-on bits, which the onions will re-absorb.
• For extra-dark onions, the kind that make a great burger topping, cook until they start to almost blacken around the edges and go slightly crisp, another 10-15 minutes. This requires constant attention so they don't burn. No one said caramelized onions were quick!
• Let onions cool in the saucepan, then use or transfer to an airtight container and chill. They will keep up to 1 week.

CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Steps:

• Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and toss to coat with butter. Cover and slowly cook onions, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until a golden Color is reached. Turn heat up to medium high and begin to brown the onions, stirring constantly about 10 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.