Caramelized Onion Jam | Tasty Yummies Paleo Jam Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to caramelize onions without fat? ›

A few pointers before we get started:

Brown/yellow onions will give you the best caramelised onions. You'll get beautiful sweet caramelised onions, even without sugar. Slice the onions in half, root to top. Remove the skin and the first layer, to get to the freshest layer.

You can caramelize any kind of onion, but yellow or Spanish onions tend to offer the most balanced-sweet-savory flavor profile and are the most versatile for different dishes. Sweet onions, such as Vidalia or Walla Walla work too, but keep in mind that their flavor will become even sweeter once caramelized.

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.

Baking soda makes the onions more alkaline, which speeds up the browning reactions necessary for properly caramelized onions. But it also weakens the pectin that holds the onion's cells together, turning what should be soft but distinct pieces of browned onion into a nauseating stew of pea-green mush.

You can caramelize your onion in a little bit of olive oil or plant butter, whatever rocks your taste buds but olive oil is better! It's very important not to burn them, so I start with just a little olive oil and add little splashes of water in between to help the slow cooking method along without burning.

Onions: Use yellow onions or sweeter varieties when caramelizing. Butter + Olive Oil: Using butter (in addition to oil) adds a beautiful richness to the flavor. Seasoning: You don't necessarily need seasoning but I like to add salt and pepper plus fresh thyme leaves to enhance the savoriness.

Not cooking the onions long enough.

→ Follow this tip: Cook times will vary depending on the number of onions you're cooking and the type of onion (its sugar content and age), but plan to cook caramelized onions for 40 to 50 minutes (at least) until they have a dark-brown, rich color.

Brown sugar is simply cane sugar with molasses added to it. Therefore, you are adding even MORE sugar, and more brown color, to your onions. Thus the caramelization is so much better and faster! If you don't have brown sugar, feel free to use regular cane sugar or even panela when caramelising onions.

Do you caramelize onions diced or sliced? ›

Usually caramelized onions start with thinly sliced onions, but you can also work with diced or chopped onions. To caramelize, just place a heavy pan over medium low heat and heat up some butter or olive oil.

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.

If you don't manage to eat all of your caramelized onions, you can store them easily. They'll keep in the fridge for up to four days. You can also freeze them for up to three months. Caramelized onions are so versatile that we're sure you can find lots of excuses to use them during that time.

If you cover the pan, you'll trap steam, which will speed up their softening, heat them more quickly, and help release their liquid more quickly. Lift the lid a few times during this stage to give them a stir and make sure nothing is browning yet.

Salting caramelized onions is like the icing on the cake. They must have salt but don't make the mistake of salting the onions too early. Instead, salt them at the very end of the recipe. Salt makes the onions release moisture which can slow down the caramelization.