Melted Onions Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

How do you melt onions? ›

Melt the butter in the stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the sliced onions. Keep your eye on the onions and stir often at the beginning to allow all the slices to have contact with the bottom of the pot so they start to release their liquid. In about 45 minutes they should have released a good amount of liquid.

Add them to pizza, pastas, plant-based burgers, soups, dips, and more! I could grab a fork and eat these sweet caramelized onions right from the pan!

Onions lose their bite and melt in your mouth when they're sliced and roasted with butter and fresh herbs and then tenderized further by braising in broth. Serve alongside roasted chicken or cook them in vegetable broth for an easy, elegant vegetarian side dish.

You can use either oil or butter to caramelize onions — but ideally, you use a combination of both! I like to use olive oil, and this cooking fat tolerates heat particularly well. Meanwhile, butter adds a distinctly rich flavor to the caramelized onions.

Browning is a quicker method and is best for dishes that need a rich, umami quality without much sweetness. On the other hand, caramelizing onions is a slow process where, though the onions brown, the natural sugars break down over low heat, resulting in a sweet, rich flavor profile.

Color Change: One of the most noticeable signs of cooked onions is a change in color. Raw onions are usually white or light-colored, while cooked onions become translucent or golden brown, depending on how long they're cooked. Transparency: As onions cook, they become translucent, meaning you can see through them.

Cook, covered, for 13 to 15 minutes or until the onions are tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover the skillet; cook and stir over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes more or until onions are golden.

Submerge Them in Cold Water

Soak them for at least 15 minutes (longer is even more beneficial), properly drain, and eat away! Submerging them in cold water takes away that intense, sharp bite from the raw onion. The cold water helps the enzyme that causes onions to have their pungent flavor to leach out.

What is the best pan to caramelize onions? ›

I love non-stick pans for making pancakes and eggs, but they're not the best pick for caramelized onions. Instead, I recommend using a cast-iron skillet. As the onions cook, a delicious fond will develop on the bottom of the pan. If you scrape it up and stir it into the onions, it will make their flavor even richer.

Sweet Onions – Walla Walla and Vidalia are the most common kinds of sweet onions. These onions lack the sharp, astringent taste of other onions and really do taste sweet.

When onions caramelize, one of the main things that happens is the sucrose, or natural sugar hidden within their cells, is transformed into other, simpler forms of sugar, including glucose and fructose. Those sugars taste sweeter than sucrose, which accounts for the increase in sweetness as the onions caramelize.

To soften the taste of raw onions, slice them thinly or cut them into larger chunks and soak them in very cold water for about 15 minutes. This will soften the taste, making them ideally suited for a salad.

Instead of spending 15 minutes trying to soften onions in a pan (only to scorch them!), try this microwave method. Pop chopped or sliced onions in a bowl, add a spoonful of water, cover with a plate and microwave on high for 3-4min. Carefully remove (the bowl will be very hot) and uncover.

Yes, you can cook onions in the microwave without any oil or butter. Onions naturally contain a high water content, so they will steam and cook in their own moisture. This method is a healthier option and can still yield deliciously cooked onions.

Keep the heat low to medium and give the onion its gentle 7-10 minutes for the best results. If you'd rather not stand and stir for all that time, here are 3 less hands-on methods: Add water or stock and simmer the onions to cook them*. Use butter instead of oil, keep the heat low and put a lid on the pan.