How To Caramelize Onions

Name: How To Caramelize Onions
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 3 lbs (1.4kg) yellow onions; 1 teaspoon salt

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5.0

3 reviews

Excellent

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
55 mins
Servings
1 1/2 cups
Calories
988 kcal
Course
Main Course
Cuisine
French

How To Caramelize Onions

Yael Holden

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Ingredients

Servings

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 lbs (1.4kg) yellow onions
1 teaspoon salt

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Instructions

Peel the onions, cut them in half, then into 1/4-inch (7mm) slices (you can also dice the onions).
Heat butter and olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. When hot, add the onions and 1 teaspoon of salt.
Cook the onions for about 45-50 minutes until caramelized – they will be soft and light brown/golden in color.
At the beginning you can stir the onions only from time to time but as they darken you will need to stir more often. While stirring make sure to scrape all the brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Be careful not to burn the onions – they will be bitter. Anytime the onions look like they are starting to burn on the bottom of the pot – stir them with a spatula or deglaze the pot with a small amount of water.
The heat will depend on the stovetop and it can vary. Start cooking the onions on medium or medium-high heat (to evaporate excess liquid from the onions), then reduce to medium/medium-low, then cook the onions on low at the end of the cooking time. Adjust the heat to lower if you see that the onions are browning too fast, and increase the heat if you see that the onions are cooking/browning too slow.

Notes

You can caramelize any type of onion.
You can use clarified butter or just olive oil to cook the onions. I don't recommend using just butter because it burns too quickly.
Caramelizing onions can not be speeded up (without sacrificing their flavor or texture) - they are not onions that have been cooked over high heat and browned. They really need time for natural sugars to caramelize and develop an amazing, deep flavor. On the other hand, you can not caramelize onions for too long – they will be bitter. The caramelization process takes at least 45 minutes for up to 60-70 minutes.
Calories = whole recipe. This is only an estimate!