How to Saute Onions without Burning Them - Jo's Kitchen Notebook (2024)

FAQs

How to not burn onions when sautéing? ›

Adding water periodically into the pan while caramelizing your onions will prevent burning. If you start to notice some burnt bits, add a splash or two of water.

Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan over a low heat. Add the onions with a generous pinch of salt and cook slowly for 30-40 mins. Stir occasionally to prevent them from sticking or burning until they become soft and golden. If the onions start to catch, add a splash of water to the pan and mix well.

Cook onions too little, and they won't have enough time to develop that sweetness; cook them too hot and those sugars can burn.

You need to stir it occasionally to keep it from burning and to promote even cooking, but not constantly. Learning to let food cook, without constant intervention, will turn you into a better cook overnight. Add food to hot pans and give it a stir every 35-45 seconds.

Cut onions in cold water. Cut the root last—it has a higher concentration of enzymes. Chill or freeze onions to minimize the amount of gas released into the air. Light a match before you peel or slice the onion.

butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions. Cook, covered, for 13 to 15 minutes or until the onions are tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover the skillet; cook and stir over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes more or until onions are golden.

Our Test Kitchen likes to use butter when caramelizing onions, as it offers the richest flavor. If you avoid dairy or don't have butter, you can caramelize onions in other fat such as margarine or olive oil. Add the onion slices. It's okay if they overlap a bit here because they'll shrink as they cook down.

Sautéing vs caramelizing

Sautéing is about softening and lightly flavoring the onions, while caramelizing is about developing a rich, sweet complexity. Unfortunately, you can't swap one out for the other without changing the flavor profile of your dish.

Depending on the consistency you want your onions, you can use more or less fat. Just cover the bottom of your pan for jammy, soft caramelized onions, or add a little more for more structured, slightly charred caramelized onions. The more fat in the pan, the more the onions will fry rather than soften.

Once your onions begin to soften and take on a golden hue, you'll want to reduce the heat from medium to medium-low or even low for the remainder of the cooking process. The sugars in the onions require time and gentle heat to caramelize; cooking them over high heat will take you straight to burnt.

Should you cover onions while caramelizing? ›

If you cover the pan, you'll trap steam, which will speed up their softening, heat them more quickly, and help release their liquid more quickly. Lift the lid a few times during this stage to give them a stir and make sure nothing is browning yet.

The sooner you add salt in a cooking process the faster water will be removed from the product. When you fry onions you are removing water and caramelizing sugars. Adding salt will also help you from burning the onions at the beginning Because it draws out moisture and allows you to start with a hotter pan.

* After the oil is heated, put some of the slices first so that the oil settles down after sputtering. Fry on medium to high flame but do not forget to stir it continuously. * When the onion slices start getting brown, you should drop the flame so that all the slices are evenly browned.

While my onions are sweating I stir them often so that they don't start to brown. Stirring often means that I'm breaking up the heat and adding ventilation in a sense to keep my onions from burning.

While you can start the cooking process at medium heat, low and slow is the name of the game when it comes to caramelizing onions. Once your onions begin to soften and take on a golden hue, you'll want to reduce the heat from medium to medium-low or even low for the remainder of the cooking process.

Submerge Them in Cold Water

Soak them for at least 15 minutes (longer is even more beneficial), properly drain, and eat away! Submerging them in cold water takes away that intense, sharp bite from the raw onion. The cold water helps the enzyme that causes onions to have their pungent flavor to leach out.