Freezer Friendly Caramelized Onions
Caramelized Onions are one of the best ingredients you can add to a dish and these Freezer Friendly Onions make it QUICK & EASY!
Caramelized Onions are easily, one of the best things you can add to just about any dish. Obviously they are great on burgers as evidenced by my French Onion Burger, Patty Melt and Double Double.
But they are also great in soups like French Onion Soup!
Or a Dip, like my Onion Dip!
Now we all know, the only problem with Caramelized Onions is they take a while to make. I know there are lots of hacks out there to speed the process up. I’ve tried a few and for me they either didn’t make that much difference, or the results weren’t as good.
For my money (and time) the old fashioned low and slow method seems to be the best. But since I don’t want to wait an hour every time I want some Caramelized Onions, I figured that freezing them would be a great option.
Now of course, I didn’t invent this, there are plenty of recipes for freezer friendly onions! But I wanted to make this recipe for my blog and hopefully you’ll dig freezing your own onions!
ingredients for Caramelized Onions
- Onions – I prefer using Yellow / Brown Onions, but feel free to use any onion that you like! I’ve never tried Red Onions, but I know some folks do that.
- Vegan Butter & Oil – I like to do a mixture of Vegan Butter and Olive Oil to add some needed fat and to cook them down!
- Salt – This will not only help season the onions, but will speed up the cooking process by drawing out their water.
- Sugar – I don’t typically add sugar, but you can towards the end to help sweeten them a bit more.
- Vegan Beef Broth – This is optional, but I like to finish off with a little Vegan Beef Broth to infuse some more flavor.
- Balsamic Vinegar – This is also totally optional, but I do think it gives the onions I nice sweet and acidic kick.
How to make Caramelized Onions
Although these take some time, they are very easy to make! First, slice your onions in half, and then julienne them, between 1/8 – 1/4 inch. Make sure you slice them pole to pole.
If you are unfamiliar with this, if the onion was the Earth, slice it as if you were slicing from the North Pole to South Pole. Don’t slice them along the equator. This will help the onions from becoming mushy.
Melt some vegan butter and heat up some oil in a large dutch oven or wide skillet. You can also use two separate pots or pans if you have the stovetop space. This will speed things up, or you can do even more onions.
Add the onions, stir to coat them in the butter and oil. Add a few pinches of salt, stir again. And now, we wait.
At first, you can crank the heat to medium high, this will speed up the process. Just stir the onions every minute or so.
After about 15 – 20 minutes, you should see some browning, and some fond sticking to the pan. This is a good time to lower the heat to medium or medium low.
Then simply cook them until they are golden brown, keeping an eye on the heat and adjusting as needed.
This is what mine look like after about an hour. I like to finish off with 1/4 cup Vegan Beef Broth and 1 tsp of Balsamic Vinegar.
I was cooking more in another pot, and added them all together.
How to Freeze CarAmelized Onions
There’s a few ways you can freeze the onions. You can portion them into an ice cube tray.
Or you can do a muffin pan. If you go that route, make sure you line the muffin pan with something like plastic wrap so the onions don’t stick.
I prefer using some Silicone Muffin Liners as they don’t take up as much space in the freezer and the onions will pop right out.
No matter what you use, you want to flash freeze the onions for about 2 hours. After that, pop them out, and add them to a freezer safe bag or container.
Now you have Caramelized Onions whenever you want! I recommend gently reheating them on the stove top. If you are adding them to something like soup, just add them towards the end to heat through.
You can also just let them thaw, since they are in small portions it won’t take long.
Storage
Freeze in a freezer safe container or bag for up to 3 months.
Perfect for these recipes!
Recommendations for Kitchen Gear, Spices & Pantry Items, or what I use for my Photos and Videos, check out my Amazon Storefront!
Caramelized Onions
Equipment
- Silicone Muffin Liners (or Muffin Tin, Ice Cube Tray)
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. Yellow or Brown Onions
- 2 Tbsp Vegan Butter
- 1 Tbsp Cooking Oil (Olive, Canola, Vegetable etc)
- Salt to taste
- Sugar to taste
- 1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar (optional)
- 1/4 cup Vegan Beef Broth (optional)
Instructions
- First, slice the top root of your onions off. Then slice the onion in half pole to pole. If you are unfamiliar with this, if the onion was the Earth, slice it as if you were slicing from the North Pole to South Pole. Don't slice them along the equator. This will help the onions from becoming mushy.Peel the onions, cut off the bottom root and then julienne / slice them (again pole to pole) so they are about 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick.
- Melt some vegan butter and oil in a large dutch oven or wide skillet. You can also use two separate pots or pans if you have the stovetop space. This will speed things up, or you can double the recipe and cook even more onions.
- Add the onions, stir to coat them in the butter and oil. Add a few pinches of salt, stir again. And now, we wait. At first, you can crank the heat to medium high, this will speed up the process. Just stir the onions every minute or so.
- After about 15 – 20 minutes, you should see some browning, and some fond sticking to the pan. This is a good time to lower the heat to medium or medium low.Then simply cook them until they are golden brown, keeping an eye on the heat and adjusting as needed. The total time for cooking these can take anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- If you want to add a little more flavor, finish off with 1/4 cup Vegan Beef Broth and 1 tsp of Balsamic Vinegar. Cook down the liquid until it's been absorbed, about 3 – 5 minutes.
How to Freeze the Onions
- There's a few ways you can freeze the onions. You can portion them into an ice cube tray.Or you can do a muffin pan. If you go that route, make sure you line the muffin pan with something like plastic wrap so the onions don't stick.
- I prefer using some Silicone Muffin Liners as they don't take up as much space in the freezer and the onions will pop right out. No matter what you use, you want to flash freeze the onions for about 2 hours. After that, pop them out, and add them to a freezer safe bag or container.
- Now you have Caramelized Onions whenever you want! I recommend gently reheating them on the stove top. If you are adding them to something like soup, just add them towards the end to heat through.You can also just let them thaw, since they are in small portions it won't take long.
