Caramelized Onion, Mushroom, and Swiss Melt (2024)

FAQs

What cheese goes well with caramelized onions? ›

Gruyere is common on French Onion Soup so I think that'd be a natural match.

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: 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.

The first phase of the process is softening the onions so that they collapse into a tender mass while releasing a good deal of their liquid. 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.

Caramelized onions work beautifully when piled on patty melts, cheesesteaks, sausage heros, or even just a piece of crispy bread with goat cheese. They work well on cold cuts too. Ham, mayo, and caramelized onions on some country bread?

The key to making Caramelized Onions is cooking them low and slow. No more than medium heat and plan for it to take awhile.

You definitely want the flavor of butter in your onions—but butter has the tendency to burn. For insurance, use a combination of butter and oil, which has a higher smoking point. But how much do you use? Depending on the consistency you want your onions, you can use more or less fat.

You'll see some people add sugar to the recipe, which is done to speed it up. Doing this is caramelising the sugar, not the onion. The onions get plenty sweet enough on their own if you take your time with it. From a health perspective it's much better not to add extra sugar.

When you add baking soda during cooking it changes the pH which increases the Maillard reaction causing the onions to brown more quickly. The higher pH also causes the onions to soften more quickly, which we cover below when we discuss the texture.

The trick is to leave them alone enough to brown (if you stir them too often, they won't brown), but not so long so that they burn. After the first 20 to 30 minutes you may want to lower the stove temperature a little, and add a little more oil, if you find the onions are verging on burning.

What can I use instead of balsamic vinegar in caramelized onions? ›

When you add baking soda, the onions start to turn to mush as they caramelize. Delicious mush. But something closer to jam.

A skillet made of stainless steel or cast iron, or an enameled Dutch oven are ideal for caramelizing onions.

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.

Pair cheddar and caramel for a sweet twist on a classic cheese. It's excellent on a cracker with figs or your favorite fruit.

But what happens when you take that classic cheese platter and elevate it with the rich, sweet notes of caramel? The result is nothing short of a flavor explosion that will leave your taste buds dancing with delight.

Gjetost starts with whey, the leftover liquid from cheesemaking. Whey is rich with lactose, or milk sugar. To make Gjetost, that whey is boiled until the liquid reduces and the sugars caramelize, which is where the butterscotch flavor comes from.

While traditional cheeses do not naturally taste like onions, there are flavored cheeses that incorporate onions or onion-like flavors. These cheeses are often infused or blended with ingredients such as caramelized onions, chives, or onion powders to achieve an onion flavor profile.