Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Carmelized Onions in the Slow Cooker

So...

Don't be shocked.

I have a recipe.

A real recipe.

It's a cool recipe, too, for something I rarely have the patience to make.

But this new, improved recipe involves a tiny bit of work and a great, big, wonderfully scrumptious yield.

It involves three ingredients, Pam, salt and pepper and one appliance.

Are you ready for the ingredients?

Onions
Olive oil
Butter
Salt and pepper

Are you ready for the appliance?

A slow cooker.

So...

Buy some sweet onions (I could only fit five into my slow cooker).


Spray your slow cooker with Pam. Turn it onto high.

Cut your onions in half and then cut them into half-circles.


Throw them all in your slow cooker.


Put a few small pats of butter on top of the onions.


Drizzle a little olive oil on top of the onions.

Shake some salt and pepper on there, too.

DON'T PUT THE COVER ON. PERIOD. AT ALL. NOT EVEN FOR A LITTLE BIT. PRETEND YOU LOST THE SLOW COOKER COVER.

Now...

Walk away.

Whenever you can't stand the suspense walk by and stir the onions.


They will reduce.

And reduce.

And reduce.

Your slow cooker might be faster or slower then mine, but after about 8 hours I was left with glorious, delicious, beautiful, golden, savory and EASY carmelized onions.


Let them cool.

Divide them into little freezer ziploc bags and tuck them away for whenever you want to add them to hamburgers or pizza or sandwiches or...

Geez.

This is making me hungry.

Give it a try.

I mean, if you like carmelized onions.

But I guess if you didn't you wouldn't be reading this anyway, right?

And then, after you make some...

...invite me over for dinner!

Puleeeeeze!

post signature

34 comments:

Leslie Morgan said...

You hooked me! I'll try it this weekend. A recipe that demands as little of me as this one seems to . . might have a chance to see the light of day. Thanks!

vivian said...

mmmm!! they would be good on a steak too! thanks for sharing!
xo
viv

Willoughby said...

I love caramelized onions!

No lid? Really? That's going to be hard for me, I know I'm going to want to put the lid on (it's an OCD thing). You may have to come over and hide it for me!!

Unknown said...

Yum! These will be great to just pull out of the freezer.

Donnie said...

Our place is too little to do any onions because of the odor but I sure would consider doing this outside and driving the neighbors crazy....lol....Yum.

Mid-Atlantic Martha said...

Really? My kind of recipe! Thanks!

PeggyR said...

Those sound very good. Mad Hungry (Hallmark channel) had a similar recipe for them.

The Tablescaper said...

I'm always looking for ways to better use my slow cooker. This looks great! Interesting that you leave the lid off. I've never seen a slow cooker recipe where you do that.

- The Tablescaper

ellen b. said...

Oh how we love our carmelized onions around here...I am so going to try this!

Busy Bee Suz said...

We love onions!!! This is a great idea...thanks for sharing Jenny!
xoxo

Pondside said...

My daughter's slow cooker is sitting on my counter - not yet returned after I borrowed it to make Teriyaki Chicken from Penny at Lake Lure Kitchen's blog. I will definitely make this as I just happen to have a bag of sweet onions and The Great Dane is an onion lover!

Barbara F. said...

This is a great tip on making these onions. I love them, but don't make them too often because I once spent over an hour cooking them down to the right color, etc. This is perfect. I am surprised about not using the lid, I guess the lid on would make the onions steam and remain pale. xo,

cj Schlottman said...

These sound wonderful, Jenny! I'm going to try this. But first I have to run over to Living Fiction and catch up. I was at work yesterday.

Namaste..........cj

Linda @ A La Carte said...

Easy and yummy! Just my kind of recipe and I love caramelized onions!

Sue said...

I'll bet your house smelled good. I love carmelized onions...but they don't love me. In fact, garlic and onions are no longer my friends. On occasion I eat them when in a restaurant, but I don't cook with them anymore:( So sad.

Judie said...

Well, if you remember, I DID invite you over. I served a wonderful chicken salad that I learned about on The Barefoot Contessa. I will definitely be doing the onions! The holidays are right around the corner!!

Paula ~ castleandcottagesigns said...

Gosh Jenny!! That's awesome..did you invent that? I'm thinking they look as fun to do as it was to read your post!! :) :)

Flat Creek Farm said...

Jenny, I am so there. Looove me some onions, and carmelized is just the icing on the cake. WILL try this - thanks a million and one!! -Tammy

Ms. A said...

Oh, Jenny, would you find it insane if I told you that sometimes I saute onions just to smell them cooking? (yes, I eat them afterward) This sounds wonderful, however the 8 hour wait would be heavenly torture.

Unknown said...

I don't like onions but read it anyway cause you are funny:-) This is pretty awesome though, makes me wanna try it just cause I think it's cool. Then I'd have a whole lotta onions that I wouldn't be eating though. Maybe I could freeze them and gift them to people like my mom who loves her some onions, the boyfriend likes them too so then he'd have some easy access to single servings that he wouldn't have to cook. Hmmm, there are possibilities for me to test it out and watch the awesomeness occur:-)

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

I love the idea of food that takes very little effort, makes the house smell wonderful and can be frozen for last minute meals!


brilliant!

Wanda..... said...

THANK YOU BIG TIME, JENNY!!!!

Jo said...

I am totally going to try this ... it looks so yummy!

Caroline said...

This looks wonderful! I love onions cooked up real tender like this. I don't like raw onions, though. Thank you for stopping by Aprons & Old lace. I'm hoping books don't become obsolete...they are treasures. :) You have inspired me to keep goin' with my Baby Food Bazaar. Thank you so much for stopping by. See ya Thursday.

Unknown said...

My tummy is so rumbly right now! Mmmmmm....love caramelized onions but who has the time? Thank you for the tip!

Julie Kwiatkowski Schuler said...

Yum. I love carmelized onions on a nice hamburger, maybe with some bacon in there, too.

Susan Anderson said...

That sounds easy and yummy!

=)

NatureGirl said...

Let me apologize in advance for this next statement...

"Ok Who are you, and What have you done with Jenny!"

Sorry...I could not resist, but I am soooo gonna do this!

Wendy said...

thanks for the recipe! I cook my baked potatoes in a crockpot (using the lid). very easy.

Wendy

Betty said...

I bet they smell great while they're cooking. I think I'll give it a try on a day when I'm here all day. I know it's probably just me, but I don't like going out and leaving the slow cooker on. (I know people do it all the time...it's just me.)

Unknown said...

Oh, this looks good! Smells good too! (well in my head they do) I should give this a try. I think I have a slow cooker. If I don't I'll go out and buy one just so I can make this :)

MrsJenB said...

Glorious! Glorious! Glorious!

And you know something? I had planned on doing a post next week in my "Cooking Basics" series devoted to caramelized onions - because so many people think that browned = caramelized. Which you and I clearly know is false. Do you mind if I include a link back to this post as an alternative to cooking them on the stove?

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

Simple enough and yummy..smell good too!

Pat Tillett said...

YUM! Thanks for this. I would eat some of them right out of the pot. Looking at the photo is causing me to smell them! Again, yum!