Caramelized Onion Pudding Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to caramelizing onions? ›

Cooking instructions

Caramelize the onions: Heat about 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the onions and stir to coat. Let cook, stirring every 5-10 minutes, until deeply caramelized, about 1 ½ - 2 hours.

A large cast iron or steel pan is essential for creating the best caramelized onions. A heavy pan is ideal because it evenly distributes heat and will cook the onions evenly. Even cooking = the best caramelized onions. Nonstick pans don't work quite as well and prolong the process.

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.

Tip: use apple cider vinegar for white and yellow onions and balsamic vinegar for red onions. Tip: the vinegar serves to deglaze the pan, adds acidity, and brings this recipe together by boosting the tangy and savory flavors of the caramelized onions. If the onions stick to the pan, that's fine.

If you need to caramelize onions quickly, adding sugar or a pinch of baking soda (to raise the pH level and help them brown quicker) can help to speed up the caramelization process but truly they aren't a dish that cooks up quickly. If using baking soda I'd suggest about 1/4 tsp per pound of raw onions.

Stirring the onions and scraping down the sides of the pan often to ensure no strand darkens faster than another is key. A heatproof rubber spatula is the tool for this job; it's stiff enough to scrape the bottom of the pan and flexible enough to clean the sides.

Sautéing vs caramelizing

Sautéing is about softening and lightly flavoring the onions, while caramelizing is about developing a rich, sweet complexity. Unfortunately, you can't swap one out for the other without changing the flavor profile of your dish.

It's possible that you aren't adding enough fat to the pan at first, and that your onions are sticking. That could be a problem, too. If you're way overly cautious and the flame is very, very low, it could also take a lot longer than 90 minutes, though the flavor will probably also be terrific.

Lay the onions cut side down and make angled cuts into each onion, aimed at the center, cutting almost all the way, but not completely through the root end. Make the cuts to your desired level of thickness. The root end will help hold the onion together as you cut it, making it easier to cut.

What is the best liquid to deglaze caramelized onions? ›

Take full advantage of the brown bits and deglaze with stock, wine, beer, vinegar, or even water—whichever liquid matches the dish you're going to be adding your onions to. Stir to incorporate with the onions, and they'll absorb all that flavorful liquid, making them EVEN BETTER.

It also frees up my hands (and my stove) for other tasks, like simmering pasta or rice, which makes multitasking possible. Hands, as usual, are the best tool for even tossing. To caramelize onions in the oven, heat the oven to 400° and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Onions are a rich source of fiber and prebiotics, which are necessary for optimal gut health. Prebiotics are nondigestible types of fiber that are broken down by beneficial gut bacteria. Gut bacteria feed on prebiotics and create short-chain fatty acids, which may help : strengthen gut health.

Around 30 Minutes: Onions should be light blonde in color and starting to become jammy. More fond is starting to build up, but it should still be fairly easy to scrape it up with the evaporating liquid from the onions. Around 40 Minutes: Onions are golden and starting to smell very caramelized.

Once you cook the onions with the lid on for about 20 minutes, take the lid off. That allows the water to cook off.

For most of the cooking process, the heat should be low or medium-low to prevent the onions from burning before they have a chance to soften and caramelize.

After 10 minutes, sprinkle some salt over the onions, and if you want, you can add some sugar to help with the caramelization process. (I add only about a teaspoon of sugar for 5 onions, you can add more.) One trick to keeping the onions from drying out as they cook is to add a little water to the pan.