French Onion Grilled Cheese

Caramelized onions freeze well. After I harvest onions in the early fall, I set up a table next to my gas grill. I put a big skillet on the side burner, add some oil. I cut up three pounds of so at a time and toss them in the skillet. Doing it on a breezy day keep the tears and smell at bay. After several batches, I let the caramelized onions cool and fill snack size Ziploc bags. Three bags fit into a quart freezer bag. They keep all winter.

A friend pointed this recipe out the other day and it fit the bill for a perfect, Lenten Friday, lunch. The wife approved with double thumbs up. My one tweak: I deglazed the pan with some bourbon. It's something I usually do if I am caramelizing onions. It's adds a nice vanilla sweetness.

Made these with homemade tomato soup and thought they were great. We had leftovers, so I made myself another soup and sandwich, but added some minced fresh dates to the onion and heated them again in a little butter. Wow! The very slight bitterness of onions was transformed. The added specs of sweetness to the combination of crisp bread, silky melted cheese and savory onions elevated this already excellent sandwich to something REALLY special. Give it a try. You’ll like it.

As Natalie notes, getting the water out is essential for caramelization. One trick I learnt from another commenter on another recipe is to spread your sliced onions on a plate, cover with a paper towel, and zap in the microwave for two minutes. Doing so takes some of the moisture out of the onions and reduces the time needed for caramelizing.

I love Ali Slagle's recipes, and I love caramelized onions, so what a great combination on a cool, rainy, early spring weekend afternoon. Deglazing the pan with sherry vinegar took this dish over the top, as did some leftover Emmi Roth Le Maréchal cheese. Genuine comfort food, and easy to make, too. I can easily imagine making this on a weeknight. Whole Foods' "bits and pieces" of leftover ends of cheese make it possible to purchase just a small bit of some really interesting cheese.

I love making this if I have the time to caramelize the onions. My super lazy version of this is to buy a good onion jam, and spread that inside the sandwich with a good cheese.

Try buttering the bread instead of the pan. Does a better job of getting the butter right where you want it.

I make my carmelized onions in my Instant Pot. It takes about the same time as using a skillet, but it doesn’t have to be watched and stirred. I put 1-2T each of butter and olive oil in pot on sauté, add 2-3 lbs sliced onions and sauté until onions are coated, the pressure cook for 25 minutes. Quick release then sauté again until liquid has evaporated (5 min+-) and the onions are golden. No burning and very easy.

I live in Russia and real Gruyere is hard to find and crazy expensive here, so I used some not so fancy cheese and common onions (we don't have varieties sold at stores) — still turned out super delicious and super French. It's amazing how 20 minutes of cooking in butter can transform the texture of onions and make them a sophisticated dish.

I realized that I didn't have bread but did have corn tortillas- so this became a DELICIOUS quesadilla.

My husband grills the bread slices on both sides on a buttered griddle first, then adds the cheese to one and puts the second slice on top of the first. This way the bread is good and crispy outside and inside but still moist inside (don’t overdo it). We also add different types of cheese. Best GC I’ve ever eaten!

Used Publix (sorry New Yorkers its a Florida thing) Five Grain Italian bread and a well seasoned cast-iron skillet. Mixing the grated cheese in with the caramelized onions before spreading on the bread is genius. 10/7 will make again.

Added balsamic vinegar to the caramelized onions. Used a thin layer of mayo to cook the sandwich which made the bread golden and perfectly crisped. I had extra cheddar and American in my frig, which I added. I'm staying home to help 'flatten the curve' - this sandwich was like a warm hug. Since I can't have human contact this was a good substitute.

Just FYI, many experts caution against trying to caramelize sweet onions (like Videlias). I don’t know why they say this (having been cautioned, I’ve never tried to do that), but cheap yellow onions caramelize beautifully.

The "bits and pieces" suggestion is a great way to keep this meal from costing a fortune or having to figure out what to do with a bunch of gruyere. I may try fig pieces added in or fig balsamic to deglaze.