The way to Sauté Onions

May 18, 2025

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In simply 10 minutes, you can also make tender, completely golden-brown sautéed onions. I’m sharing all of my professional onion chopping and sauté secrets and techniques.

Sautéing onions is an easy however important kitchen talent that’s value mastering. Sautéed onions are quick, straightforward, and immediately add a layer of savory taste to no matter you have got deliberate. In simply 10 minutes, you get tender, golden brown onions excellent as a aspect dish or in sandwiches, dips, and extra.

As with every onion recipe, there’s a candy spot between undercooked and charred onion slivers. My suggestions right here could have you properly in your method to tossing, folding, and piling these sautéed onions onto your whole favourite meals.

Professional Chopping Suggestions

Chopping onions is a type of fundamental expertise each residence cook dinner ought to grasp, if solely as a result of onions present up in so many recipes. For this sautéed onions recipe, I like to chop the onions in a mode known as French lower.

This leads to pretty sliver shapes that look extra engaging than the lengthy strings you get if you lower the opposite manner. Listed below are the simple steps:

Slice the ends off your uncooked onions, then lower them in half. As soon as the ends are eliminated, stand the onion on its flat lower aspect and lower it down the middle.
Together with your fingers, take away the paper and outer layer of the onions.
Place the onion on its flat aspect, then lower slices following the curve of the onion, from the tip to the basis. For a visible, go to minute 1:40 of my knife expertise video on reducing onions.

Time to Sauté

Whether or not you want a aspect or a sandwich part, these fast sautéed onions solely take 10 minutes from begin to end. Listed below are the steps:

Use butter for one of the best taste, however olive oil works too. There’s one thing in regards to the wealthy, savory taste of butter that offers it the sting, however olive oil is almost nearly as good!
Maintain the warmth on medium-high. When you go larger, the sliced onions will burn earlier than they’re tender.

Prepare dinner your onions till browned and tender, about 10 minutes. Style-test towards the top as you add seasoning to your sauteéd onions with black pepper and a pinch of salt. You might discover you need to go just a little longer, particularly in case you reheat from frozen.

Sautéed Onions vs. Caramelized Onions

So what’s the distinction between these and caramelized onions? Caramelized onions are nice, however more often than not, I do know I don’t have 40 to 50 minutes to spare. (That’s how lengthy it takes for onions to interrupt down underneath low warmth for that intensely candy taste.)

The onion taste in sautéed onions can be extra pronounced in comparison with caramelized onions. If caramelized is what you’re after — they’re a should for French onion soup — I’ve tips about each stage in my recipe for caramelized onions. Stick with yellow onions over white onions for each.

Prime 5-Star Overview

“Thx for the onion reducing video — very useful! Additionally, I actually just like the sauteed onion choice, good taste with much less time–thanks!”

– Marsha M.

Add in Some Balsamic

I point out balsamic as an optionally available addition to your onions, nevertheless it’s change into a should in my kitchen for these and roasted onions. Add 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar about 5 minutes into the sauté. It evaporates, however leaves behind a tangy, candy essence. You can even add a splash of crimson wine to infuse complexity into the flavour.

My Favourite Methods to Use Sautéed Onions

Sautéed onions are a straightforward, flavorful addition to so many various dishes. Listed below are just a few of my favourite methods to make use of them:

Facet dishes: Add a sprinkle of contemporary herbs like thyme, oregano, or chives and serve them with steak or pasta.

Sautéed veggies: Add mushrooms for a killer aspect to steak or vegan dishes, or make traditional sautéed peppers and onions to bump up the sweetness in your bell peppers.
Grilled cheese: Add these onions to your favourite grilled cheese for much more savory taste.
Garnishes and toppings: Serve on high of your favourite rooster or steak to raise the meat’s taste, or add them as a topping to your beef, turkey, or veggie burgers.

Tacos: I really like pickled onions on my tacos, however you’ll be able to strive them sautéed on black bean tacos or vegan carnitas tacos for a candy praise to spicy and smoky fillings.
Crostini: Make selfmade goat cheese crostini and high with sautéed onions to stability the tangy richness of the cheese.
Onion dip: Chop them finely and use them as a stand-in for caramelized onions in considered one of my favourite onion dips.

Skillets: Embrace them in your stir fry or stovetop skillets, that includes your grains, like my farro with mushrooms, or a hearty breakfast skillet.
Omelets or galettes: Add them to a mushroom galette or sneak them right into a goat cheese omelet. (You’ll need a good non-stick pan for egg-based dishes.)

Dietary Data

This recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. Make it vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free by choosing olive oil.

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Sauteed Onion

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5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 evaluations

These sautéed onions come out golden brown and tender each time for a straightforward, savory addition to breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Creator: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 5 minutes

Prepare dinner Time: 10 minutes
Whole Time: quarter-hour
Yield: 4 servings as a aspect

Class: Facet Dish
Technique: Sauteed
Delicacies: American

Food regimen: Vegan

Substances

3 medium yellow onions (or candy onions)
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter (or 1 tablespoon of every)

½ teaspoon kosher salt
Contemporary floor black pepper
Non-obligatory adder: Add 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar with the kosher salt

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Directions

Slice the onions.

In a big sauté pan or giant skillet, warmth the olive oil or butter over medium-high warmth.
Add the onions and cook dinner for 4 minutes, stirring sometimes.
Add the kosher salt and contemporary floor black pepper and cook dinner one other 4 to five minutes, stirring sometimes.

Style to evaluate doneness and add just a few pinches of salt, to style.

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FAQs

Why do cooks sauté onions and garlic first?

Many cooks sauté onions first as a part of their cooking course of, even earlier than the garlic, to get them all the way down to the best consistency and to launch their pure sugars and aromas. When you’re cooking with each onions and garlic and wish to toast your garlic, you can begin with the garlic.

You simply need to make sure you don’t overcook and even burn your garlic. It cooks a lot quicker than onions! Both manner, each are an excellent savory base for dishes that profit from aromatics.

When sautéing onions and bell peppers collectively, ought to one go within the pan first?

I like cooking my peppers and onions collectively to realize an identical stage of char. Prepare dinner them each for 10-12 minutes for crisp-tender veggies or quarter-hour for extra tender veggies.

The opposite choice is beginning with onions to develop their sweetness. Sauté them for a couple of minutes till they start to show translucent, then add bell peppers to retain the feel and colour of each.

How do you cook dinner onions on the grill?

To cook dinner onions on the grill, slice the onions into wedges, leaving the basis ends intact. Toss them with olive oil and salt, and grill over medium-high warmth for a complete of 8-10 minutes till they’re tender, turning them a number of occasions. You’ll need your onions proper on the grill grates.