Instant Pot All-purpose Instant Onions

Onions.  They go with everything, don’t they?

It’s the first step to so many recipes – heat oil or butter and saute onions, blah, blah, blah.  So simple.  But, time-consuming.  My baba would simmer onions on low heat in butter for what seemed like hours. They never browned and these aren’t caramelized.  They’re just wonderfully cooked onions.

My solution: chop and cook a lot of onions all at once in the Instant Pot.  Maybe use some now, freeze the rest to use later.  Then you’re covered when you need a fast topping for those frozen perohe (Sure, the box or bag says perogies but you’re stubborn and call them perohe). Or, you just want a head start on filling some traditional cabbage rolls or some summertime beet leaf holubchi.  All-purpose onions are here for you.

Jump to the recipe

First off, you’re going to chop up a lot of onions. If they make you tear up, at least you’re getting all of them done at one time.

Add those onions to the Instant Pot along with a stick of butter.  If you’re vegan or making the onions to prepare for Sviata Vecheria (the 12-dish meatless Christmas Eve dinner), use one cup of vegetable oil instead.  I’ve used canola and a canola/olive oil blend.

Seal it up and cook on Low Pressure for 5 minutes.

Strain the onions in a fine mesh sieve.  Chill the liquid in the refrigerator until the fat solidifies – reuse the onion-infused butter for frying. Discard the liquid.

Portion the 3/4 cups of the onions into individual small bags or containers and freeze.

Time saved!

In the traditional low-and-slow method of making this onion topping, you’re saving over an hour of time by using the Instant Pot.

Equipment

• Instant Pot
• Fine-mesh sieve
• A very sharp knife

Instant Pot All-purpose Onions

These cooked onions give you a head-start on many recipes. Also, it's an instant topping for perohe or perogies.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Cuisine Ukrainian-Canadian

Servings 3 cups

Ingredients

  

• 4 to 6 onions finely chopped
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter OR clarified unsalted butter OR 1 cup of vegetable oil

Instructions

 

• Add the butter and chopped onions to the Instant Pot.
• Set the Instant Pot to Manual and Low Pressure for 5 minutes.
• Do a quick release.
• Strain the onions using a fine mesh sieve.
• Reserve the liquid and refrigerate - discard the water and save the fat for frying.
• Use the cooked onions right away and freeze leftovers.