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Have you ever had those sizzling hot fajitas at a Mexican food restaurant and found yourself scraping the little crunchy onion bits off the bottom of the skillet? No? Just me?

Well those tasty onions are the source of my inspiration for today’s post – how to make the perfect caramelized onions. A caramelized onion is an onion that has had most of it’s natural sweetness crystallize into sugar. This is the same thing that happens when meat is browned on a grill. It’s what makes the flavor come out.

But I’ll warn you – this is not a quick endeavor by any means. Caramelizing onions means that you’ll be standing over a skillet (a cast iron one if I was making it) for a while but man oh man is going to be worth it!

This recipe will show you how to make the perfect caramelized onions – full of sweetness and packed with flavor!

If your onions look like this, you’re on the right track. At this point, add your balsamic vinegar and brown sugar and keep stirring and watching it as it gets a deeper brown color.

How to Make the Perfect Caramelized Onions

This recipe will show you how to make the perfect caramelized onions - full of sweetness and packed with flavor!

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Ingredients

2 yellow onions sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar

Instructions

Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add in the onion.
After 10 minutes, add balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Cook, stir and scrape the brown bits from time to time for 20-30 minutes more, until onion get a rich brown color. (I like mine to have a little bit of crispy black bits on it as well)
Transfer caramelized onion in a bowl and set aside (you can keep it refrigerated in an airtight container for one week).