Learn how to Sauté Onions

May 15, 2025

10

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 a straightforward 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 may have deliberate. In simply 10 minutes, you get tender, golden brown onions good as a aspect dish or in sandwiches, dips, and extra.

As with all onion recipe, there’s a candy spot between undercooked and charred onion slivers. My ideas right here can have you effectively in your strategy to tossing, folding, and piling these sautéed onions onto your entire favourite meals.

Professional Chopping Ideas

Chopping onions is a kind of fundamental expertise each house prepare 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 minimize.

This ends in beautiful sliver shapes that look extra engaging than the lengthy strings you get whenever you minimize the opposite approach. Listed below are the straightforward steps:

Slice the ends off your uncooked onions, then minimize them in half. As soon as the ends are eliminated, stand the onion on its flat minimize aspect and minimize 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 minimize slices following the curve of the onion, from the tip to the foundation. For a visible, go to minute 1:40 of my knife expertise video on chopping onions.

Time to Sauté

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

Use butter for the most effective taste, however olive oil works too. There’s one thing concerning the wealthy, savory taste of butter that provides it the sting, however olive oil is sort of pretty much as good!
Preserve the warmth on medium-high. If you happen to go greater, the sliced onions will burn earlier than they’re tender.
Cook dinner your onions till browned and tender, about 10 minutes. Style-test towards the top as you add seasoning on your sauteéd onions with black pepper and a pinch of salt. You could discover you wish to go just a little longer, particularly for those who 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 beneath low warmth for that intensely candy taste.)

The onion taste in sautéed onions can also 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 recommendations on each stage in my recipe for caramelized onions. Stick with yellow onions over white onions for each.

High 5-Star Evaluate

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

– Marsha M.

Add in Some Balsamic

I point out balsamic as an non-obligatory addition to your onions, however it’s grow to be 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. It’s also possible to add a splash of purple wine to infuse complexity into the flavour.

My Favourite Methods to Use Sautéed Onions

Sautéed onions are a straightforward, flavorful addition to so many alternative 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 on your beef, turkey, or veggie burgers.
Tacos: I 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 home made 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 one in all my favourite onion dips.
Skillets: Embody 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 desire a good non-stick pan for egg-based dishes.)

Dietary Info

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 opinions

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

Writer: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook dinner Time: 10 minutes
Whole Time: quarter-hour
Yield: 4 servings as a aspect
Class: Facet Dish
Technique: Sauteed
Delicacies: American
Eating 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
Recent floor black pepper
Elective 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 prepare dinner for 4 minutes, stirring often.
Add the kosher salt and contemporary floor black pepper and prepare dinner one other 4 to five minutes, stirring often.
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 proper consistency and to launch their pure sugars and aromas. If you happen to’re cooking with each onions and garlic and wish to toast your garlic, you can begin with the garlic.

You simply wish to make sure you don’t overcook and even burn your garlic. It cooks a lot quicker than onions! Both approach, each are an ideal 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 analogous stage of char. Cook dinner them each for 10-12 minutes for crisp-tender veggies or quarter-hour for extra tender veggies.

The opposite possibility 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 shade of each.

How do you prepare dinner onions on the grill?

To prepare dinner onions on the grill, slice the onions into wedges, leaving the foundation 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.