How To: Make & Freeze Caramelized Onions

I absolutely love caramelized onions! They add so much flavor to my recipes!

However, I hate how long it takes and how much it stinks up my house! Of course, it smells good… for a while, but I don’t want to smell onions several hours after dinner!

To avoid this long and smelly process in the future I chose to make a bulk batch of onions for the freezer. This way I can pull out what I need and add to dinner without the extra time, fumes, and watery eyes!

It is just as easy to caramelize six onions as it is one!

How To: Make and Freeze Caramelized Onions

Making Caramelized Onions:

1) Chop all onions into equal size slivers so they will cook down and caramelize evenly. Note: the onions will reduce by over half so chop more than you think. I chopped 6 medium onions for this batch.

2) Warm a pan to medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil.

3) Drop in the onions and stir.

4) Allow the onions to cook down and caramelize, stirring occasionally (every 5 minutes) – total cooking time is about 35-45 minutes. May need to stir more frequently toward the end of cooking to prevent burning.

5) When desired caramelization is reached, remove onions from heat.

Freezing Caramelized Onions:

1) After onions have cooled slightly, fill individual muffin tins with the caramelized onions.

2) Freeze the muffin tins for several hours until solid.

3) Remove the solid groups of onions and store in a large freezer bag with today’s date.

4) Keep onions in the freezer and pull out the desired amount each time your recipe calls for caramelized onions. Onions should keep in the freezer for several months.

When ready to use, grab what you need and thaw in a skillet with recipe. Could also thaw in microwave if desired.

Apologies for the blurry iPhone photo!

Try caramlized onions…
– in an omelet
– atop a juicy, grilled steak
– with sautéed vegetables
– on a salad (I love caramelized onions with a balsamic dressing)

Also try these recipes from Rustic Honey featuring caramelized onions.
Easy Philly Pizza
Caramelized Sweet Onion Dip

I know this will be big time saver for me! I hope it will also save you some time and watery eyes in the near future!

Happy Freezing!

-RH