A Decadent Caramelized Onion Jam Recipe
Is there anything more decadent, more delicious, more heavenly than caramelized onions? They dress up a steak, flavor a quiche, and make the perfect jam to enjoy alongside cheese, on sandwiches, or, just by itself.
Caramelized onion jam is what happens when you allow onions to cook until they’re deeply golden and falling apart. It takes a lot of patience, but it’s completely worth it. If you’re willing to devote an afternoon to making your kitchen smell like heaven, you’ll be rewarded with a little jar of spreadable delicious to enjoy.
Caramelized Onion Jam Recipe
Ingredients
Method
Finely slice the onions. Place them in a heavy-bottomed skillet over low heat. Add the butter, olive oil and salt. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter and olive oil have melted. Then spread the onions out evenly over the bottom of the skillet, and wait.
Every 10-15 minutes, stir the onions. When brown bits start to stick to the bottom of the skillet, add about a quarter cup of wine, and stir to deglaze. When the wine evaporates and brown bits form again, add another quarter cup of wine and stir to deglaze.
Continue cooking and adding wine until all of the wine has been added. This should take about 2 – 2 ½ hours. The onions should be brown and sticky. To test if the jam is done, take a small amount of the jam and try to spread it on bread. If the onions break apart and spread easily, the jam is done. If you’ve finished all the wine and the onions are still too solid, you can continue cooking by adding quarter cups of water instead.
Season to taste with more salt, if needed, and thyme if you like. Keep in a jar in the fridge and use within a week.
How to Use Onion Jam
If you have any onion jam after swiping it on bread and eating it plain, here are a few of our favorite ways to use it:
- On a cheese plate with some of your favorite local cheeses (mild cheeses like soft goat cheese or cheddar are better than more flavorful cheeses like Camembert or blue cheese, which could overpower the jam)
- On our grass-fed beef sandwiches
- Use it in a baked brie
- Add some to a classic grilled cheese
- Use it as the onion layer in Niçois pissaladière
Scoops of onion jam image via shutterstock
