Caramelized onions are one of my most favorite things. Some nice onions, balsamic vinegar, ruby port, a tiny bit of sugar: there’s nothing terribly exotic in there, but the resulting product is sublime. But the one ingredient that is inescapable is time, around 45 minutes. It takes time for the cell walls to break down so that the onions are tender and sweet. To the rescue come our friends at Serious Eats with technique that gives you caramelized onions in about 15-20 minutes.
One note: I think this method may be best when your caramelized onions will be used as an ingredient for something like an onion dip or a frittata. For me, the jury is still out on whether I would use this method when the onions will be used as a garnish item. I make a batch to see what the results look like (I’ve only used this technique for an omelet). But still, it can’t be beat for caramelized onions in a pinch.