Caramelized onions; they’re sweet, delicious, and their versatility allows for you to use them in many dishes. Whether they’re on top of a dish, or added in amongst the ingredients, caramelized onions will never let you down.
With that being said, good things come to those who wait! This recipe is delicious and fairly simple to make, but you’ve got to have a little patience for this process. And for someone like me who loves doing a million things at once, having to stir and watch onions for a half hour, can be hard for me (hey, I’m just being honest!). But trust me when I say, they are totally worth it, and it’s exciting to watch the process come together. Plus, why not give yourself a much needed break? Grab a glass of wine, put on your favorite music, and caramelize some onions.
What you need to make Caramelized Onions
- Yellow onions
- Butter
- Salt
- Beef broth*
- Brown sugar
- Red wine (optional)
*You can sub water instead of beef broth, if you’d like to keep this recipe vegetarian
How to make Caramelized Onions
Let’s start with slicing your onions: cut onion in half, and place cut side down. Begin making angular cuts, slicing the onion to your desired level of thickness. Here’s a picture to help explain:
Once your onion is beautifully cut, heat butter in a large sauté pan, on medium-high heat. Once butter has melted, spread onions evenly in your pan.
Let onions cook, stirring occasionally *Depending on your stovetop, you may have to turn down the heat to a medium or medium low to prevent the onions from burning.
After around 10 minutes of cook time, your onions will start browning.
Sprinkle in some salt (a pinch – or more to your liking) and 1/2 Tbs of brown sugar. Now, let those beauties cook for 25 – 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. The trick is, you don’t want to over stir the onions, or else they wont brown. But you don’t want to not stir them either, or else they’ll burn to the pan. You have to find that happy medium, which means, monitoring the onions is crucial for a successful recipe. Hey, patience is key to perfection!
If you see the onions sticking to the pan or beginning to dry out, add in a little beef broth to keep them moist. You can continue repeating this process, until the onions are done. Now, for those of you who would like to add in some red wine: just before you’re about to take your onions off the stove, deglaze your pan with 1/4 cup of red wine. It’ll loosen all the little bits from the pan, and really bring the flavors together, while also adding a deep rich color. If you’re interested in the wine I used, you can find it here: Campo Viejo.
Enjoy!
Want more delicious recipes? Check out these below:
Caramelized Onions
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
Please keep in mind, that the quantity of this recipe will vary depending on how many onions you use. For this recipe, I used 2 raw onions, and it yielded 1 cup of caramelized onions. If you’d like more than one cup, assume each cup of caramelized onions requires 2 large raw onions.
Ingredients
- 2 large yellow onions, sliced
- 2 Tbs of butter
- Salt
- 1/2 cup of beef broth*
- 1/2 Tbs of brown sugar
- Red wine (optional)
*You can sub water instead of beef broth if you’d like to keep this recipe vegetarian
Instructions
- Slicing your onions: cut onion in half, and place cut side down. Begin making angular cuts, slicing the onion to your desired level of thickness (reference photo above to show how I sliced the onions!)
- Heat butter in a large sauté pan, on medium-high heat. Once butter has melted, spread onions evenly in the pan and let cook, stirring occasionally *Depending on your stovetop, you may have to turn down the heat to a medium or medium low to prevent the onions from burning.
- After 7-10 minutes of cook time, sprinkle in some salt (a pinch – or more to your liking) and 1/2 Tbs of brown sugar
- Let onions cook for 25 – 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes (don’t let the onions burn!)
- If you begin to see the onions sticking to the pan or drying out, add in a little beef broth to keep them moist. You can continue repeating this process, until the onions are done.
- Red wine optional: Just before you’re about to take your onions off the stove, you can deglaze your pan with 1/4 cup of red wine. It really bring the flavors together, while also adding a deep rich color.
- Category: Bites
Keywords: caramelized onions
