FitttZee » Condiments & Snacks » Caramelized Onion Recipe

Caramelized Onion Recipe

Looking for a way to make caramelized onions? The original sugar free method requires little effort and even less ingredients for a tasty condiment!

There are many misunderstood dishes out in the wild, abused by the ignorance and laziness of human kind but probably none is suffering that much that the caramelized onion. A simple condiment that needs so few ingredients to prepare that we can wonder where it all went wrong.

If we need to point fingers then surely, we should start at the laziness by which it is so much easier to pick up a jar of caramelized onion from the shop’s shelf than making it at home. When something gets into a jar to sold at shops, it needs something else to keep it edible long enough to serve it at our tables. If that can be years then so much the better.

The only drawback of this blessed longevity is taste. Preservatives generally has some foul taste that could ruin our dining experience so to mask that manufacturers add a bit of sugar in it which tends to hide anything unpleasant in our food.

As everything that we buy at the shops have preservatives, everything must have a bit of sugar as well, it seems even those ones that supposed to be sweet on their own.

It doesn’t help much that certain quality of restaurants aren’t preparing their own basic ingredients but buying the same low-quality stuff (or sometimes even worse), we choose to buy at the shops.

When we are accustomed to certain things because it seems normal, judging by universal agreement our social circles deem normal, it’s hard to do things otherwise.

So even when we try to do things from scratch and make our own for various reason be it health or tradition due to the lack of our basic culinary culture, we essentially fail. It’s a bit like wearing coconut headphones which may look very much like the real ones for an outsider but distinct from the original in many ways.

Probably, this is why sugar is added in so many traditional recipes and various myths are surrounding the need of sugar as a preservative in condiments but most of the time sugar is only added to mask the unpleasant taste of added chemicals.

Caramelized onion is such an unfortunate child itself. It really doesn’t need anything only oil, salt and some heat to reduce its water content and slowly burn its remaining naturally occurring sugars.

Even some in the catering industry can’t resist the temptation to throw a handful of sugar over a pan of sizzling onions, ruining a completely natural and healthy condiment. True enough no-one complains when their dish is a bit sweeter than expected and even less notice it.

Luckily, in the coziness of our kitchen, we can make caramelized onion with the ingredients we trust and know with little to no effort. Save only a couple of tears and smelly clothes.

It can keep for a fairly long time in the fridge or even in the cupboard if proper canning practices were followed. If not canned properly just make sure that all the onions are under an oil layer and not one bit is poking out.

As long as the oil can keep the oxygen from getting onto our onions, we can keep our caramelized onions in the fridge for weeks or even months. Honestly though if it comes to that we aren’t worthy for such delicacy.Caramelized-onion-recipe-1-SunCakeMom

 

Ingredient:

  • 4 Onions (sliced)
  • 1 cup / 250ml Oil (not extra virgin olive oil)
  • 1 teaspoon Salt

How to make caramelized onion:

  1. Slice the onions up.Sliced-onion-gp-SunCakeMom
  2. Heat oil in a frying pan on high heat. When the oil is hot add the sliced onions and salt.Caramelized-onion-Process-1-SunCakeMom
  3. Saute the onion on high heat until it gets a glassy / translucent look for about 3 – 6 minutes.Caramelized-onion-Process-2-SunCakeMom
  4. Reduce the heat to medium and while stirring infrequently to avoid uneven burning, reduce the water content of the onions. This is a tiring toil so be prepared to shed a tear or two until. It shouldn’t take long though. When the first big batch of steam from the onion subsidies in about another 3 – 6 minutes we may hear the onion sizzling in the oil.Caramelized-onion-Process-3-SunCakeMom
  5. Reduce the heat to minimum and stirring every now and then, let it gently cook for about 15 – 20 minutes until it gets the brown caramelized color we wish to achieve. Use it immediately or can it for later use. Caramelized-onion-Process-4-SunCakeMom

Enjoy!

Caramelized-onion-recipe-3-SunCakeMom

Caramelized onion is tasty but we can do so much more with a bit of warmth and love:

Print

Star this recipe!

Caramelized Onion Recipe

Looking for a way to make caramelized onions? The original sugar free method requires little effort and even less ingredients for a tasty condiment!
Course Condiments
Cuisine Dairy free, Gluten free, Keto, Low carb recipe, Paleo, Sugar free recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 Onions sliced
  • 1 cup / 250ml Oil not extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon Salt

Instructions

  • Slice the onions up.
  • Heat oil in a frying pan on high heat. When the oil is hot add the sliced onions and salt.
  • Saute the onion on high heat until it gets a glassy / translucent look for about 3 - 6 minutes.
  • Reduce the heat to medium and while stirring infrequently to avoid uneven burning, reduce the water content of the onions. This is a tiring toil so be prepared to shed a tear or two until. It shouldn't take long though. When the first big batch of steam from the onion subsidies in about another 3 - 6 minutes we may hear the onion sizzling in the oil.
  • Reduce the heat to minimum and stirring every now and then, let it gently cook for about 15 - 20 minutes until it gets the brown caramelized color we wish to achieve. Use it immediately or can it for later use.

Notes

Enjoy!

Pin now, Enjoy later!

Caramelized-onion-recipe-Pinterest-SunCakeMom

 

5 thoughts on “Caramelized Onion Recipe”

  1. 5 stars
    Thank you for the writeup, really cleared a lot of myths. I want to make these into a relish as gifts but not sure who to preserve these so would appreciate some advice please.
    You had indicated the possibility of bottling ie keeping the onions submerged in oil but would not this make for a greasy onions.
    Regards

    1. 5 stars
      Onions will not soak up the oil like bread does so in that sense it will not be greasy onions. It will be inevitably dripping oil all over around when removed from the jar though but that many oil or even more is always necessary for the cooking process where caramelized onion is used.

      Not sure how long it will keep on the shelf as never really tried it, but in the fridge -when the onion is not poking out under the oil- it can be kept for weeks without problems.

  2. 5 stars
    Yellow onions seem to be recommended for this but I am in the UK and I don’t see yellow onion in the market. What is the equivalent please?
    Thanks

    1. 5 stars
      Yellow onions are just regular onions. Sometimes they are called brown or in some European countries red but It doesn’t really matter what kind of onion you use. With enough patience you can caramelize all of them.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Starring is caring, Star this recipe!