Caramelized Onions

I’m dedicating a specific post to caramelized onions because, well, I consider them to be essential to so many delicious dishes prepared in the kitchen. From eggs to quiches, burgers and grilled cheeses, chicken dishes and even a salad — caramelized onions can take the flavor profile of any dish and raise it to the next level. I promise.

The secret to jammy, thick and rich caramelized onions? Patience and high quality balsamic vinegar, a secret weapon that is used for deglazing the pan and can even speed up cooking time because the acid helps to break down the onions. Not to mention the added benefits of a rich, dark brown color and a depth of flavor that transforms the ordinary caramelized onion.

If you’re faint of heart and fear butter and olive oil, maybe you can’t handle this recipe, but I hope that you can. The combination of the two fats allows for rich flavor and creaminess which cannot be obtained if you use one without the other.

Go big or go home, always caramelize at least 2-3 - IF NOT 4 or more - onions at once. You will eat them, I promise!

Stop hesitating and saying “OOOF that looks like a lot of onions!” It’s really not. Believe me. Trust. I can guarantee you’ll be sad when you see how quickly 2-3 onions cooks down. And then how sad you will be when there is no more to eat.

See, I told you!

Ingredients
2-3 medium onions
2 tablespoons of salted butter
2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1-2 teaspoons of salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons - 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
Water *if you need more liquid to deglaze at the end or round out any acid from the balsamic vinegar

Instructions for caramelizing onions
—Heat a large skillet over a medium flame with 2 tablespoons of butter and 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
—Add onions, allowing them to cook and sweat, about 10 minutes
—Add 2 teaspoons of salt and continue to cook the onions, stirring and moving the onions about for another 20-25 minutes
—As the onions break down and become brown, you’ll notice beautiful browning and bits on the bottom of the skillet, at this point, add half of the balsamic vinegar to deglaze and continue to stir and cook
—Deglazing the pan with balsamic vinegar helps speed the caramelization process and creates really yummy, jammy caramelized onions with loaded depth of flavor
—Continue to cook and deglaze for up to 1 hour, if you’re that patient, adding water as needed, but you can pull them from the flame as soon as your desired caramelization is reached
—Taste to adjust salt, add freshly ground black pepper
—Put aside to cool
—Good news: you’ll probably have leftovers from the quiche to use for a burger, or on eggs or in a grilled cheese sandwich!
—Save a store in the refrigerator, in a glass container for up to a week, but they won’t last that long!