Wonder what caramelizing is?
Well, all vegetables and fruits contain natural sugars.
When heated, these sugars brown and caramelize, becoming more intense in flavor.
Credit:Grant Webster
Onions are great candidates for caramelizing because they contain plenty of natural sugars.
Onions can be caramelized by cooking them slowly in oil.
Or they can be caramelized using a little sugar.
Credit: Blaine Moats
Read on to learn how to caramelize onions like a pro using our Test Kitchen’s step-by-step process.
From there, we’ll include tasty uses for caramelized onions.
Some popular sweet varieties include Maui, Vidalia, and Walla Walla onions.
Credit: Blaine Moats
Once you’ve got you’re onions, do these things to learn the best way to caramelize onions.
Use a sharp knife to cut the onions into thin slices or 34-inch chunks.
Our Test Kitchen likes to use butter when caramelizing onions, as it offers the richest flavor.
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
Add the onion slices.
It’s okay if they overlap a bit here because they’ll shrink as they cook down.
Low and slow is the key here.
Credit: Kelsey Hansen
The slow cooking step allows the onions to release their juices and become uniformly soft.
Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden.
Spoon the caramelized onions atopjuicy burgers, steaks, pork chops, or cooked veggies.
For appetizers, top awarmed wheel of Brie cheeseorbruschetta sliceswith caramelized onions.
They’ll also be a game-changing addition to family-favorite sides such asmashed potatoesormacaroni and cheese.
