Caramelized onions make a great add-in to your favorite recipe. I use them to jazz up in lo-mein, pasta dishes and in roasted vegetable recipes. The added flavor is superb and makes the dish really pop.
Left: Just coated with the olive oil/butter. Center: After 10 minutes of cooking. Right: After 20 minutes of cooking.
Caramelized Onions
Caramelized onions make a great add-in to your favorite recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion (sliced)
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- pinch of salt (optional)
- ~1-2 tsp. granulated sugar (optional, but makes them caramelize better and taste even more delicious)
- splash of balsamic vinegar (optional, to help with caramelizing if needed)
Instructions
- Slice the onion (see photo on left above for size).
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a sautee pan on medium heat until shimmering.
- Add the onion slices and stir to coat them with the olive oil/butter.
- Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook, stirring occasionally (every few minutes).
- Depending on how intense your burner is, you may need to reduce the heat to medium low to prevent the onions from burning or drying out.
- After 10 minutes of cooking, sprinkle salt and sugar, if desired (sugar can help with the caramelization process).
- Let the onions cook for 30-45 minutes or more, continuing to stir every few minutes. Let them stick a little and brown, but stir them before they burn (stirring them too often will prevent them from browning, but you need them to brown for the caramelization process).
- After the first 20-30 minutes you may want to lower the stove temperature a bit and/or add a little more oil, if the onions seem to be on the verge of burning.
- At the end of the cooking process, if desired add a little balsamic vinegar to help de-glaze the pan and add some additional flavor to the onions.
- Use in your favorite recipe or store for several days in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
**NOTE: This recipe is NOT Low FODMAP and is NOT approved for IBS, GERD/Acid Reflux/Heartburn**
*Ingredient quantities depend on how many caramelized onions you wish to end up with. When making lo mein, I use 1 large red onion. The ingredients here are shown for that quantity. Simply multiply times the number of onions you wish to cook if you choose to do more than 1.*