Caramelized Red Onion Jam + Cookbook Giveaway!

The wait is over! Naturally Sweet Food in Jars  has been released! We are huge fans of Marisa McClellan and are thrilled to share one of our favorite recipes from her new cookbook. Marisa has long been asked about alternative ways to sweeten her canning recipes so here it is  -- 100+ recipes sweetened with honey, maple, coconut sugar, agave, dried fruit and fruit juice concentrates. It's the ideal book for people who want to reduce their dependence on refined sugar, but don't want to give up their favorite jams, fruit butters, and sweet pickles. 

For Marisa, the catalyst for this book was both her own desire to eat less sugar and her observations of that same longing in her readers. She felt strongly that for home preserving to stay relevant in this modern era, we needed recipes that were lower in sugar and embraced some of the less refined options. As she wrote the recipes for this book, she had two goals in mind. The first was to translate a goodly number of traditional preserves into naturally sweetened versions. The second was to develop novel jams, pickles, chutneys, and other spreads that made the most of the natural sweeteners the book was featuring. 
 
We're thrilled to share Marisa's recipe for Caramelized Red Onion Jam.

"The idea for this jam came one night while I was watching the Food Network. A restaurant chef was showing Guy Fieri how to make the joint’s signature pizza, which included a house-made caramelized onion marmalade. The pizza looked good, but I was more interested in the onion condiment. Within 24 hours, I’d made my first batch. I love stirring a generous spoonful into a dollop of plain yogurt for a quick, tangy sauce for roasted vegetables."

Caramelized Red Onion Jam (Makes 5 (half-pint/250 ml) jars ) 

  • 3 pounds/1.4 kg red onions, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil, like sunflower or grapeseed
  • 1 cup/310 g maple sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups/355 ml apple cider vinegar 
  • 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Notes: 
 
1. Marisa uses maple sugar rather than maple syrup because the onions are a low acid ingredient and she's trying to ensure a product that is safe for canning in a boiling water bath canner. If the maple sugar is too expensive, this recipe also works with a cup of coconut sugar.
2. Make sure you're using 5% acidity vinegar. Occasionally you'll see vinegar that's been diluted to 4% acidity, and that's too low for this recipe if you want to preserve it in a boiling water bath canner. 
 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until it shimmers.

2. Add the onions, give them a good stir, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, stirring regularly for 45 to 50 minutes, until the onions reduce and begin to caramelize. Avoid browning or charring the onions. The goal it let them melt and develop their sugars. 

3. While the onions cook, prepare a boiling water bath canner and 5 half-pint/250 ml jars 

4. Once the onions have reduced by about half, add the maple sugar and stir well to combine. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly for 3 to 4 minutes, until the sugar begins to smell like it is toasting slightly. Add the vinegar and lemon juice and stir to integrate. It will bubble and sputter at first, take care not to breathe in deeply over the vaporizing vinegar. Reduce the heat back down to medium and add the salt. Let the onions cook until the vinegar reduces to a thick, sticky syrup and the onions have melted further into the liquid, about 10 to 12 minutes. 

5. When the jam is finished, remove the pan from the heat.

6. Funnel the jam into the prepared jars leaving 1/2 inch/12 mm headspace.

7. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.

We prefer canning in Weck canning jars. The mini tulip jars and the 1/2 liter tulip jars would be beautiful and practical choices for canning this jam. 

GIVEAWAY!!  Enter below for a chance to win Naturally Sweet Food in Jars cookbook, 2 cases of Weck Tulip jars, a jar lifter, and 21 qt. canning stockpot.  (Valued over $100+) Giveaway ends May 2nd at 11:59pm. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GIVEAWAY WINNER, JEANNINE CHESTER!

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