Caramelized Onions in a Slow Cooker

I am a cooked onion fan. Not so much the raw kind-that can be meh except for very specific recipes. I find that when they are caramelized properly, browned and luscious and sweet, you can literally add them to almost anything, maybe not cornflakes 😉 but I’m still debating it, heh.

When the kids had a chef come to have us cook dinner under his tutelage for my 60th, he had my son Yehuda, poor lad, caramelize onions for the onion soup. Yehuda stood there for nearly 40 minutes, sauteeing like a madman till he felt like his arm was breaking. Not for me!

So, since I often find myself needing just a tablespoon or two of chopped fried/sauteed/caramelized onions, I decided to try the slow cooker method of caramelizing the onions which is possibly the easiest thing ever and one of the great things about it is, you needn’t stand over the onions, most of the work is done whilst you sleep safe in your bed.

Also, these keep amazingly well, for about a week in the fridge with a thin coating of oil and for months in the freezer. The best idea is to store them in freezer cube trays that you spray first with oil spray to ease popping them out after being frozen.

This will ease your Shabbat and holiday prep and remember Pesach is coming and it’s amazing how many things you will need cooked onions for. Once you have your onions prepared they can go into myriad dishes, soups, stews, chopped liver, chopped egg, omelettes, shakshuka, over chicken and meat and homemade barbecue sauce. And this is just a few items!

So, the whole deal is taking a few pounds of onions – it’s worth using at least 3 pounds, about 6 nice medium onions, halving them

and cutting into half moons.

Take a generous 1/3 cup of oil (I prefer using a mild vegetable oil, then you can use them in just about anything) a scant tablespoon of salt, a pinch of sugar and you just toss the whole lot till the onions are separated and coated with oil, right in the crock of your slow cooker.

Turn to low (do NOT add any liquid) and cook about 14 hours for deep, rich, caramelized onions.

If you want a lighter colored but decently cooked batch, after 9 hours they looked like this:

The darker version of the longer hours produces a somewhat jammy onion that practically melts into whatever you stir it into. Personally, I prefer the darker version since it’s what I consider properly caramelized. If you just want the flavor and not bigger pieces, you can chop it with a knife or spoon the whole lot in a food processor and whirl but since they are so very soft, it’s just as easy with a knife.

There will be a small amount of liquid on the bottom of the crock. I tried different ways to cook it down but ultimately, it’s not worth doing since it it super flavorful and can be used in soups or nearly anything and it’s a pity not to use it.

I have an automatic ice maker so I didn’t have an ice cube tray immediately to hand and, necessity being the mother of invention, just took a bunch of paper cups and spooned about 2 tablespoons worth into each cup with a small sandwich bag pushed in and stacked them and tucked them in a spot in the freezer. When they are fully frozen, you can pop them out of the cups into their plastic bags to save some room in the fridge.

They defrost within about 10 minutes and hey presto, there you go! Cook away!

Update! I’ve realized that I use chopped onion far more than the half moon version but was a bit nervous that it would burn. I’m happy to say that only one or two tiny bits get very dark but the rest caramelize wonderfully. Another added trick, cook on high 2-4 hours before going to bed and continue on low overnight and your onions will be fully done in the morning.

Caramelized Slow Cooker Onions

3 pounds firm onions, about 6 medium, peeled and cut in half

1 scant tablespoon salt

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/3 cup mild vegetable oil

Directions:

Take the peeled, halved onions and cut each half into half moons (see pic above). Place into the crock of a slow cooker and sprinkle with the salt and sugar. Toss lightly. Pour over the oil and again toss, this time thoroughly and the onions should separate nicely (see pic above).

Turn crockpot or slow cooker on low and cook overnight for minimum of 10 hours preferably 12-14 hours till nicely, richly browned.

These keep in fridge, covered with a thin layer of oil for at least a week, in freezer for a few months, frozen into ice cube trays sprayed with oil and then spooned in and covered with plastic wrap. Or in a pinch, I used paper cups, spooned in about 2 tablespoons per cup, tucked a sandwich bag in it and stacked them and put them standing up in the freezer. After firmly frozen, you can pop them into their individual baggies and tie and save space in your freezer. To defrost it takes about 10 minutes. Then use for any fried onion, sauteed onion carmelized onion and you will be well ahead of the game and don’t need to stop your prep to fry some onions. Yay!