Caramelized onions are one of those recipes that seem like they should be simple but, for whatever reason, are annoyingly easy to mess up. The last thing you want is to end up with a burnt, smelly onion mess that you won’t be able to use on your pizzas, cheesesteaks, or sandwiches like you planned.
But when they do turn out right, caramelized onions can really take nearly any dish up a notch, which means that it’s worth it to try to figure out what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it. So here is our best effort to help you figure out how to caramelize onions the right way.
- Use a lot of onions. More than you think. Once they cook, they’ll shrink down significantly.
- Use a big pan. Larger than you think. An overcrowded pan will not be your friend in this process.
- Use olive oil over medium heat. Not too hot, not too cold. Think Goldilocks for this one.
- Add salt to draw out the moisture that will help your onions caramelize.
- Be patient, grasshopper. Caramelizing onions can take ten to fifteen minutes, sometimes even more. This is a lot more time than most of us are used to cooking onions. Don’t worry. Trust the process.
- Give the pan a shake every once in a while, but don’t overdo the stirring.
- Don’t hesitate to deglaze the pan with some water, wine, or liquor to release the yummy brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Taste as you go. Only you can decide if the onions are caramelized to your preferences.
