A celebrity chef recently told us, “Every great meal starts with onions, garlic, and olive oil in a pan.” At Gills Onions, we couldn’t agree more. Onions are the foundation of adding great flavor to any dish. 

Specifically, chefs love caramelized onions, because they’re a delicious and simple way to elevate a recipe and add that special touch. 

Caramelized Onions Are Trending 

If you take a look at current foodservice trends, you’ll see that plant-based dishes and bursting flavors are stealing the show across the board. Caramelized onions could be the poster child for both these movements. 

When you think of sweet foods, onions may not be the first product that comes to mind. But compared to most vegetables, onions are naturally sweet. The caramelization process takes advantage of those natural sugars to create intense and unforgettable flavors. These onions can then be used in a recipe in a variety of ways – always providing a complex sweet, savory, rich base for your dish. 

Gills Onions Make the Best Caramelized Onions

At its heart, onion caramelization is a slow, delicate process. You can’t rush it. It’s an art and a science. 

You start by sweating onions over medium-low heat, adding small amounts of water anytime the onions start to look dry or begin to brown very quickly. The water moistens the onions and helps dissolve sugars to prevent burning. When the onions begin to brown, lower the heat and stir periodically. A finished batch of caramelized onions should be a rich brown color, greatly reduced in size from the beginning of the process, and soft (but not mushy). The carmelized onion process can typically take from 45 to 60 minutes. 

The success of the onion caramelization process depends heavily on the quality of onions that you use. Every time a chef cooks with Gills Onions, they can’t stop raving about how different an experience they had compared to  cooking with bulk sack onions. That difference is because of our unique growing process and prescription for onions that taste better and stay fresh longer. 

Chefs need water to caramelize onions. It prevents the sugars from burning. But, too much water can also spell disaster in the form of mush. When onions have too much moisture it means one thing: they’ve already started to go bad. 

Gills Onions are naturally drier than other onions in the marketplace. That’s why they have a guaranteed shelf life of 18 days. The fresher the onions, the better the caramelized batch. 

Get Started with These Caramelized Onion Recipes 

There are so many ways to use caramelized onions, and they all taste amazing! Here are a few of our favorites to get you started. 

Ready to try onions the Gills Way? For more information, contact the Gills Onions sales department.