Crockpot Caramelized Onions

As you know, my crockpot’s days may be numbered. I have been trying to test it in many different ways to see if it is worth having around and these caramelized onions may have saved the appliance from taking a trip to the thrift store!

I was a total skeptic that it was even possible to caramelize onions in a crockpot until I discovered this Island Vittles’ post. I have never done a very good job of caramelizing them on a stovetop (I have no idea why) so if I could make them in a slow cooker this would go a long way to proving the appliance’s existence in my kitchen.

Into the slow cooker I put 5 thinly sliced small onions, added 2 tbsp of butter, drizzled with olive oil and added some salt, pepper and thyme springs. I set the crockpot to low and after a few hours checked on it and stirred with a wooden spoon.

After five hours, shockingly, they had reduced perfectly and even browned! I honestly could not believe it. No work on my part and no heating up my kitchen while the onions took forever to brown on the stovetop. I was thoroughly impressed.

I put these on my soft tacos but had so much I froze the rest. I thawed them out and put them on our homemade pizza last night and they were fabulous. Honestly, I may just cook caramelized onions this way from now on.

Not only does this make life easier, it was a great way to use up some old onions that might have ended up in the compost. A tasty inexpensive garnish that will now be practically effortless to make in my slow cooker.

That said, my crockpot may be a bad-weather inducer. Every time I have brought it out the temperature has plunged and the sun has disappeared. I may have to suspend testing its worth until our staycation is over.