Blend Caramelized Onions Into Soups for More Umami

The northern hemisphere is now going into soup mode, but soup itself has (at least) two modes: broth, with something hanging out in it, and blended, where the ingredients are pureed into cream. Both have the ability to warm you from the inside, but creamy soups pack a ton of flavor into one spoonful, and with caramelized onions you can add even more.

Caramelized onions in soup are nothing new—hello, French onions—but this recipe from Food52 is the first time I’ve seen them pureed. Similar to adding roasted onions to ranch dressing or turkey gravy , caramelized onions add a deeper, roasted flavor that your soup might otherwise be lacking. Unlike burnt onions, caramelized onions are sweeter, stickier, and less bitter.

Mixing caramelized onions into a soup (like tomato, potato, or even chowder) sweetens and thickens it, making it taste more “rounded.” Caramelized onions don’t just taste like onions, they taste like a good time, as if someone put some effort into developing all those sweet and rich umami flavors.

However, you don’t have to put in much effort at all. While caramelizing onions takes a little longer than most recipe writers would have you believe, that time can be saved by moving the onions from the stovetop to the oven . Try to add one or two onions per pot of soup, although I think it’s hard to overdo it. Also, don’t feel beholden to one bow; Caramelized shallots, leeks and garlic can also be tossed straight into your favorite soup for excellent results.

Once the onions are caramelized ( on the stove or in the oven ), all you need to do is add them to the soup and puree them in a high-powered blender or stick an immersion blender into the pan. (Although I prefer a standard high-powered blender; it makes a creamier soup.) Finish with a sprinkle of some dehydrated caramelized onions . It may be gilding the lily, but that’s okay when the lily is a bow.