Looking for the perfect, tasty addition to your meals? Give your dishes a whole new flavor by caramelizing onions.
Delicious caramelized onions are an easy, vegetarian dish that is the perfect addition to a variety of dishes. If you have never made them before, don’t worry, just follow our tips and try the different tasty ways to enjoy this delicacy.
Caramelize onions: So easy and delicious
Onions are naturally sweet and cooking them for a long period of time releases the natural sugars and caramelizes them. This makes them deliciously sweet and tasty. Their sweetness is so irresistible that even the children will love them. You only need a few ingredients to make them easy and add amazing flavor to your dishes.
How do you caramelize onions?
Caramelizing onions turns them into something really special. Enjoy this simple, delicious dish as a main course or use it as a complement to your favorite savory dishes. You can use any type of onion for this, as sweeter varieties give better flavor.
Ingredients for Caramelized Onions:
3 large red or brown onions 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp butter 2 tbsp brown sugar 1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 pinch of salt 3 small sprigs of fresh thyme
Easy to prepare:
First, peel the onions and cut them into thin strips. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onions and stir until well coated with the butter and olive oil. Cover the pan and let it cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season them with the salt to remove the moisture. Do not increase the heat to avoid burning the onions. They should be prepared very slowly. When the onions are soft and golden, add the sugar and fresh thyme. Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes. Stir the onions every few minutes, but not too often. Add the balsamic in the last 10 minutes to flavor the onions. Once the onions are sticky and caramelized, remove the pan from the heat and remove the thyme. Serve immediately or allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
Tips:
Sugar is used to add additional sweetness. However, you can also use 2 tablespoons of honey, maple syrup or agave syrup instead. If you don’t have time to cook the onions slowly, add a pinch of baking soda to the sliced onions in the pan to speed up the process. You can store the caramelized onions in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months. To freeze, use a freezer bag or ice cube trays for convenient individual portions.
What dishes do caramelized onions go with?
Caramelized onions make a wonderful accompaniment to sausages, burgers, hot dogs and terrines and make an excellent base for savory cakes.
If you already know how to caramelize them easily, here are some tasty suggestions to prepare with them.
Caramelized onions are the basic ingredient of the classic French soup. But also remember that you can also add this unique flavor to other soups such as chicken noodle soup or pumpkin soup and various stews. The sweet, caramelized taste is also perfect for breakfast. Simply add the onions to the scrambled eggs to really enjoy the harmony with the creamy taste of the eggs. If you have prepared caramelized onions in advance, you can easily and quickly make the popular onion cake yourself with shortcrust or puff pastry.
Finely chop some fresh chives and caramelized onions and mix them with Greek yogurt or sour cream. Make this dip in advance and let it sit overnight to make it taste even better. Simply mix the caramelized onions with a little mayo and enjoy the delicious spread with freshly baked bread. Mashed potatoes or potato dumplings garnished with caramelized onions are a real treat that you should definitely try.