Effortless Small-Batch Caramelized Onions in a 2-Quart Slow Cooker

 

I’m obsessed with the sweet, jammy magic of caramelized onions, but standing over a skillet for an hour? Hard pass. That’s why I downsized my old overnight crockpot method into a tiny 2-quart version — just enough golden goodness for topping steaks, smashing onto burgers, or turning a humble grilled cheese into a masterpiece.

Grab a mandoline (or spiralizer), toss everything in, and let the slow cooker do the heavy lifting. By dinner, you’ll have silky, deeply flavored onions ready to steal the show—no babysitting required.

Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions (Small Batch)

1½ T. butter

2 medium Melissa’s yellow onions, thinly sliced

1 small Melissa’s red onion, thinly sliced

1 small Melissa’s shallot, thinly sliced

1 t. Melissa’s minced garlic

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

⅛ t. Montreal Steak Seasoning

⅛ t. freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

 Turn your 2-quart slow cooker to Low. Drop in the butter and let it melt while you slice.

Use a mandoline or spiralizer for speed; aim for ⅛-inch slices.

 Pile onions, shallot, and garlic (if using) over the butter. Drizzle with Worcestershire, sprinkle steak seasoning and pepper; stir to combine.

 Cover and cook on Low 8-10 hours. Stir only if you walk by.

 Remove lid for the final 1-1½ hours to evaporate liquid and intensify color/flavor.

Cool, then refrigerate (1 week) or freeze (3 months) in small portions.

Freeze in ice-cube trays for instant burger upgrades.

These onions are sweet, savory, and stupidly versatile. Mound them on a cheeseburger, stir into French onion dip, or crown a perfectly seared steak. Your future self (and your taste buds) will thank you.

 Yield: ¾–1 cup

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Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions

 

When I was a little girl, supermarkets had cozy restaurants inside, like “The Station” at Schnuck’s market. They weren’t fancy, but I loved the table service or sitting at the counter. Going out to eat was a treat, especially when my dad was out of town. My mom and I would head to The Station for dinner. One night, we sat at the counter, and Mom stepped away to grab something from the store, leaving me to order. She wanted a Reuben, and I chose a cheeseburger with pickle and onion, just the way dad liked it. When the waitress, with her pencil tucked over her ear, asked, “Grilled or raw?” I recoiled in horror! Grilled or raw, I thought to myself, who would eat a raw burger? “Grilled!” I blurted, proud of my choice at eight years old. But when my burger arrived topped with limp, grilled onions, my heart sank—those weren’t dad’s crisp, raw onions. Hungry, I took a bite anyway. To my surprise, those grilled onions were heavenly! I’ve been hooked on them ever since. 

Recently, I stumbled across a unique burger recipe topped with caramelized onions, the unique twist was that they were Coca-Cola caramelized onions—yes, you read that right! The soda adds a sweet, tangy depth that elevates any burger. It takes a bit of time, but it’s simple and so worth it. If you want the recipe for the entire burger, you can find it here. If, like me, you’re just interested in the onions, the recipe is below.Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions

4 Melissa’s sweet onions

1 T. olive oil

2 t. kosher salt

½ t. freshly ground black pepper

1 c. Coca-Cola (NOT diet. I cannot emphasize this enough.) 

Peel onions and slice into ¼-inch rounds. Separate into rings.

 Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, onions, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat onions evenly.

 Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes until onions are translucent and soft.

 Pour in Coca-Cola and stir. Cook for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are browned, caramelized, and most liquid is gone.

 Remove from heat. Serve warm atop your favorite burger.

 These onions are sweet, savory, and perfect for jazzing up any meal. Try them—you won’t be disappointed! 

Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions

Many, MANY, way too many times, I have cursed myself for buying a not-particularly-easy-to-store spiralizer. That is until it comes time to caramelize onions for French onion soup. Then I praise myself as genius! There is nothing easier or more tear-free than using a spiralizer to prepare onions for soup. It takes no time whatsoever to get all of the onions beautifully and evenly sliced, and into the pot for cooking or caramelizing. All of the components of the spiralizer can go right into the dishwasher, so clean up is easy as well.

It’s near 90° today, but a change is coming, FINALLY coming, and cool weather is moving in. When cool weather comes in, the soup pot comes out. Today I am caramelizing onions, and, because I am busy and it’s hot outside, I am employing the use of the slow cooker. If you’ve never used a slow cooker to caramelize onions you will thank me again and again for showing you how.

This is an easy way to do it, allows you to go on with your day, and yields delicious, flavorful, creamy onions, that you can spoon right from the crock into your mouth. You can make these in advance of onion soup (or other soups or stews if they require caramelized onions), and store them in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days, or in the freezer for up to three months. It keeps your kitchen cool, and your hands free for doing other things. You are going to love this method!

Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions

4 Tablespoons butter

3 pounds yellow onions

1 red onion

2 large Melissa’s shallots

2 cloves garlic (optional)

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 teaspoon Montreal Steak Seasoning

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Set a large (six-quart) slow cooker on low heat. Place butter in bottom of slow cooker, and allow it to melt while you slice the onions and shallots. (I used a spiralizer, it makes things so much easier.) Place onions, shallots, and garlic on top of the melted butter. Sprinkle Worcestershire sauce, steak seasoning, and pepper over the top, and give it one good stir. Allow it to cook for 10 to 12 hours, stirring if the mood hits. During the last two hours of cooking, remove the lid.

Cool to room temperature, and then place into containers to refrigerate, freeze, or use immediately. These are not only good for use in onion soup, but also excellent as a side dish, or on top of a grilled burger, or other grilled sandwich.

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I have a new and delectable recipe for Onion Soup coming l later in the week, but meanwhile, you can use your onions in this local iconic favorite: Famous-Barr’s French Onions Soup.

This post is linked to:

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Over the Moon

Smells Good Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Full Plate Thursday

Best of the Weekend

Grace at Home

Friday at the Fire Station
Create, Bake, Grow and Gather

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Da Vinci Pasta (Cheesecake Factory Clone)

I’m not sure how we first got onto the subject, but a couple of weeks ago when my son and daughter-in-law visited we ended up talking about the Cheesecake Factory, and our favorite dishes served at this popular restaurant. I've only been there twice, both times having the Thai Peanut Noodles, and both times really enjoying it. My daughter-in-law, who once worked there, said that her favorite dish is the Da Vinci pasta, adding that she would love it if I could find the recipe.

After a brief Google search, I did find a recipe at bigoven.com. Last night I tried it, following it exactly, with the exception of using rigatoni instead of penne pasta because rigatoni was all I had. I really liked this dish. I think one of the reasons I liked it so much was due to the inclusion of the wonderfully flavorful Madeira wine that made up of part of the sauce. I made it with the chicken as directed, but I think this would be excellent as a vegetarian dish with the addition of more mushrooms, and perhaps zucchini. At any rate, this is definitely a dish worth trying, and would be an excellent choice to serve on those cool fall nights.

Da Vinci Pasta (Cheesecake Factory Clone)

Slightly adapted from bigoven.com

1 large red onion, diced

1 .5 ounce pkg. Melissa’s dried morel mushrooms, hydrated and halved

2-4 Tablespoons Olive oil

1 cup Madeira wine

1-2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sour cream

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2-4 chicken boneless, skinless breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 pound penne pasta; cooked according to directions

 Freshly ground black pepper

Salt

In a 9” skillet, over medium heat, caramelize the onion in 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle the onion with a little salt, and cook them until they are a rich brown color and taste sweet. The onions will have a “gooey” texture and excess liquid will be evaporated.

Add the chicken, mushrooms, and garlic to the onions. (Add a little more oil if the mixture is too dry.). Sauté until chicken is cooked through and the mushrooms are soft. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Deglaze the pan with the wine, and bring to a slow boil; reduce by 2/3 until the alcohol smell has cooked out.

Lower the heat and once the mixture is no longer boiling, add the sour cream and heavy cream. Stir constantly until melted. Swirl in the butter. Add cooked chicken mixture and stir. Toss with the cooked and drained pasta. Salt and pepper to taste.

Rustic Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions

Every time I make mashed potatoes or, really, any potato dish at all, I think of a wonderful woman whom I had known all of my life, Betty Pitliangas, who passed away last summer. She was like a second mother to me, so the loss was particularly hard. Betty loved potatoes in any form. “Potatoes,” she would tell me, “are my favorite vegetable.” So I made sure that whenever I had her over for dinner I'd fix some potato dish that was really special. Last night I thought about her when I whipped up this company worthy version of mashed potatoes with caramelized onions. Betty was a great experimenter in the kitchen, and with my first bite I knew this was a dish of which she would heartily approve. It makes a tasty side dish, particularly with beef. It also served as an excellent base for the leftover Swedish Meatballs that I served on top. Mr. O-P is not at all a fan of mashed potatoes, but gobbled these right up.

Rustic Mashed Potatoes

with Caramelized Onions

1 medium onion, thinly sliced (I used a mandolin)

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon malt vinegar (lacking this, you can use cider vinegar)

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1-1/2 to 2 pounds Melissa's Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes, scrubbed, but unpeeled

1/3 cup cream

1 tablespoon butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a 9” saute pan, melt butter. Add thinly sliced onion and cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until they become soft. Stir in the vinegar and sugar and continue to cook over medium heat until they have caramelized. While the onions are cooking, halve the potatoes and place them in a 2-quart saucepan and cover with water. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, 25-30 minutes. It helps to time things so that both onions and potatoes are ready at the same time, but if the onions get done beforehand, just turn off the heat and leave them on the warm burner.

When potatoes are fork tender, drain them, and return to the warm burner to allow for evaporation of excess water, a minute or so. You'll see a lot of steam come up during this process. Warm the milk and cream, and mash the potatoes in your preferred method, adding the melted butter and cream to yield a creamy texture. Fold in the caramelized onions and serve immediately.

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This post is linked to:

What To Do Weekend 

Weekend Blog Hop

Simple Saturdays

Saturday Sparks

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