Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions, plus a French Onion Soup Recipe!

This week’s Frugal Homemade feature is Easy Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions. These are so easy, and so good! I first fell in love with caramelized onions at a Williams-Sonoma cooking class years (and years and years) ago and have been using them in recipes ever since. When there’s a great sale on onions I stock up and make enough to freeze and use for the next few months.

Recently, onions were on sale at ALDI. Three pounds for $.69? Sold! I bought 9 pounds, because these really shrink down as they cook.

Easy Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions

Ready? This is SO easy.

Peel your onions & slice them. Put them in your slow cooker, add 9 tablespoons of butter (1 tablespoon per pound) and cook them on low all day. No, really: ALL DAY. Cook them 12, 15, even 18 hours — until they are a caramel color you are happy with and the flavor is perfect for your taste buds! The longer the better, in my opinion. I have an average sized slow cooker and 9 pounds doesn’t fit all at once. So as they cook down, just keep adding more onion slices until they are all in there. Cook them & then cook them some more.

That’s it. Let cool and freeze in portion sizes that work for you.

Ideas on where to use caramelized onions?

• On sandwiches — patty melts, roast beef, mozzarella & tomato, grilled cheese… really anything!
• On burgers — turkey or beef
• On steaks
• On baked potatoes
• In veggie quesadillas
• In pasta dishes
• In French onion soup
• With pork roast or pork chops
• In mushroom risotto
• On pizza
• On bruschetta
• In meatloaf
• French bread with garlic, caramelized onions, and a savory cheese

Bonus: Easy French Onion soup recipe

Here is one recipe we love for Easy French Onion Soup using caramelized onions.

Ingredients

1 cup caramelized onions
1 tablespoon flour
Two 14-15 oz cans of beef broth
1/2 cup red wine (optional)
2 1/2 cups of water
1 loaf of hearty French bread
Sliced provolone cheese (some people prefer Swiss, use what you like!)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a pot, saute 1 cup of caramelized onions for a minute or two. Stir in 1 tablespoon of flour until the onions thicken up a bit.
Add beef broth, red wine, and water.
Simmer for 10 minutes.
Slice bread into 1/2″ slices and lightly toast at 350 degrees while the soup is simmering. Remove bread from oven and increase temperature to 425 degrees.
Place 4 oven safe bowls on a cookie sheet.
After the soup has simmered and the bread has toasted, ladle soup into the bowls, place a piece of toasted bread in each bowl, and top with a slice of provolone cheese.
Bake at 425 degrees until cheese is melted, 5 minutes or so.

Makes 4 servings, approximately 1.5 cups each.

French Onion Soup, printable recipe

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French Onion Soup

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Here is the recipe we love for French Onion soup using caramelized onions.

Course Soup

Cuisine Dinner-Lunch-Appetizer

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

• 1 cup caramelized onions
• 1 tablespoon flour
• Two 14-15 oz cans of beef broth
• 1/2 cup red wine optional
• 2 1/2 cups of water
• 1 loaf of hearty French bread
• Sliced provolone cheese some people prefer Swiss, use what you like!

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a pot, saute 1 cup of caramelized onions for a minute or two. Stir in 1 tablespoon of flour until the onions thicken up a bit.
• Add beef broth, red wine, and water.
• Simmer for 10 minutes.
• Slice bread into 1/2" slices and lightly toast at 350 degrees while the soup is simmering. Remove bread from oven and increase temperature to 425 degrees.
• Place 4 oven safe bowls on a cookie sheet.
• After the soup has simmered and the bread has toasted, ladle soup into the bowls, place a piece of toasted bread in each bowl, and top with a slice of provolone cheese.
• Bake at 425 degrees until cheese is melted, 5 minutes or so.
• Makes 4 servings, approximately 1.5 cups each.