Caramelized Onions
Submitted by happyhousewomen
Five pounds of onions slow-cooked for 3 to 4 hours into a deep, reddish-brown onion marmalade. Just onions, oil, and salt. Three ingredients, zero shortcuts, incredible depth of flavor.
YIELD
10 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
3½ hrsREADY
4 hrsReal caramelized onions take time, and this recipe doesn’t pretend otherwise.
Five pounds of brown onions get sliced thin, tossed with oil and salt, and cooked low and slow for 3 to 4 hours until they melt down into a dark, jammy, deeply sweet onion marmalade.
No sugar added. No balsamic vinegar shortcuts. Just patience and heat transforming humble onions into something extraordinary.
You’ll start with a full pot and end up with a fraction of the volume, but every spoonful carries the concentrated flavor of all those onions.
Kitchen Tips
- Use a heavy-bottomed pot, ideally cast iron. It distributes heat evenly and prevents hot spots that burn the onions.
- Stir every 10 to 15 minutes for the first hour, then more frequently as the onions darken. The last hour needs almost constant attention.
- Don’t crank up the heat to speed things along. High heat creates burnt edges and bitter flavors instead of even, deep caramelization.
- These freeze beautifully in small portions. Make the full batch, freeze in ice cube trays, and pop out a cube whenever you need instant flavor for soups, burgers, pizzas, or grilled cheese.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut off the stem and root ends of the onions, then halve them lengthwise and peel away the dried brown skin.
Cut the onions lengthwise into one-fourth-inch-thick slices.
As you finish, gather the onions in a large, heavy-bottomed pot (preferably cast iron). A 7-quart pot will work just about perfectly.
When all the onions have been sliced, pour over the vegetable oil and the salt and stir to combine.
Set over medium heat and cover.
Cook until the onions begin to wilt, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes to keep from sticking.
As the onions soften, they will reduce in size quite dramatically.
After about 25 minutes, the onions will be quite soft and will begin to stick to the bottom.
Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking with the pot covered, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes to keep from sticking.
After about 50 minutes, the onions will be silky and will be swimming in moisture.
Remove the lid and increase the heat back to medium.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the moisture has mostly evaporated and the onions have begun to turn golden, about 30 more minutes.
Once again, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions really begin to brown more deeply, about 2 more hours (this will make 2½ to 3 hours total).
At this point, you’ll need to watch the onions very carefully, stirring every couple of minutes or so.
Cook until the onions have been reduced to a deep, reddish-brown marmalade, watching that they do not dry out, about 1 more hour, 3 to 4 hours total.
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