How to make caramelized onions quickly???

Question

making traditional stew for the family tonight but it takes so long to brown the onions... is ther any quick method to speed up carmelized onions???

Answer 1

Hello Arthur. Caramelizing onions traditionally takes anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes because you have to slowly evaporate the water content before the natural sugars can break down and undergo the Maillard reaction. Since you are in a rush for your family stew tonight, there are two reliable methods you can use to cut that time down to about 15 minutes.

The most effective shortcut is adding a tiny pinch of baking soda. Use roughly one-eighth of a teaspoon per pound of sliced onions. The baking soda increases the pH of the onions, which accelerates the chemical browning process and softens the cell walls much faster. Keep in mind that this makes the onions softer and slightly more jam-like, but for a rich stew, that texture melts into the broth perfectly. Just be careful not to use more than a pinch, or it could alter the flavor.

The second method is using higher heat combined with frequent water deglazing. Heat your skillet over medium-high heat with your oil or butter and add the onions. Stir frequently. As soon as a brown glaze begins to stick to the bottom of the pan, pour in one or two tablespoons of water, scrape up all the browned bits from the pan with a wooden spoon, and stir them back into the onions. Repeat this process every time the pan dries out and begins to brown again. This distributes the rich color and flavor throughout the onions quickly without letting them burn.

Using these two tips together will give you deep, flavorful onions in a fraction of the usual time. I hope your stew turns out delicious.

Comments

Cutting the onions paper thin with a mandoline speeds up the process because the thinner slices loose their moisture twice as fast in the pan.

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Set the hob to medium-high and ensure the sliced onions are spread out in a wide pan so moisture evaporates fast. Deglazing the fond with splashes of water or beef stock every two minutes gives an even, dark colour in fifteen minutes without burning the batch. A wide frying pan works far better than a deep pot for this.

Answer 2

Put a lid on the pan for five minutes to trap steam and soften them quickly. Take the lid off and turn up the heat to brown them fast.

Answer 3

Microwave the sliced onions in a covered, microwave-safe bowl for four minutes to purge the excess moisture before cooking. Transfer them immediately into a wide, hot skillet with cooking fat and salt, stirring continuously over high heat. This eliminates the lengthy evaporation phase and achieves proper browning in roughly eight minutes, which is essential for getting family dinners ready on tight schedules.

Answer 4

People nowadays keep searching for chemical shortcuts instead of learning proper stove control. Slice your onions paper thin with a sharp knife and spred them across a broad heavy skillet so they do not steam together. Keep the flame at medium-high and stir constantly untill you get rich browning in fifteen minutes without ruining the authentic flavour of your stew.

Comments

Cutting them that thin on medium-high heat usually just burns the edges in my experience... I tried that exact thing for a quick weeknight soup last month and there flavor turned bitter because the sugars scorched! If you need to cut the cooking time down safely without ruining your meal, add a couple tablespoons of water every few minutes to deglaze the pan fond... It dissolves the browned bits back into the onions and gets them deeply browned in about twenty minutes!

Answer 5

Stop looking for shortcuts with weird tricks and just prep ahead! Caramelize five pounds on Sunday, freeze them in silicone trays, and drop cubes right into weeknight stews... It saves dinner every single time!!!

Answer 6

i freze sliced onions in a bag first becos frezing breakes all the veg fbres down completly so when you drop them in a hot skillet with a litle oil they lose all there watter in two minits and get propper sweet and brown in under ten minits i make big family stews like this on a tite bujet all the thyme and its so much faster

Answer 7

Adding a pinch of salt directly to the raw sliced onions draws out the water much faster. This simple step cuts the browning time down to ten minutes for a family stew.

Answer 8

A reliable weeknight cook hack for a rich meal-starter is adding half a teaspoon of regular granulated sugar along with coarse salt right when the onions hit the pan. The salt pulls the moisture out rapidly, while the sugar kickstarts the surface caramelization without burning if you maintain steady medium heat.

Once the bottom starts catching, deglaze with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or beef broth from your pantry staples instead of plain water. This cuts the cooking time to roughly twelve minutes and builds great depth of flavor for an easy budget-friendly family stew without needing expensive ingredients.

Answer 9

Salting the onions immediately draws out moisture faster to accelerate browning, but I am not certain if that alone will save enough time for a weeknight stew.