11 Recipes That Prove That Caramelized Onions Make Everything Better

Caramelized onions are a sweet and savory addition to this healthy stuffing recipe. Choose an apple that becomes tender yet holds its shape when cooked--try Jonagold or Cortland.

As these onion halves cook, the balsamic mixture becomes syrupy and caramelizes the onions, giving them a bronzed caramel color and a luscious, rich flavor.

Sweet caramelized onions and creamy goat cheese team up in this easy yet elegant dish that makes a great appetizer or side with soup or salad.

Roasted portobello mushrooms stuffed with cheese, herbs and breadcrumbs stand in for the traditional Gruyère toast you'd find on top of a crock of French onion soup.

Serve this vegetarian tart recipe as a main dish or in thinner slices for an appetizer or side dish. Since you'll be pleating the dough to create a rustic look, buy ready-to-roll pie crusts rather than prepared pie shells--you'll find them in the dairy section of your market with other ready-to-bake items or near the frozen desserts.

Fresh from the skillet, these flatbreads are perfumed with intense sweet caramelized onions. They're wonderful dipped into a little soup or to serve alongside a saucy curry. They're quite simple to make--to speed up the process use two skillets or a griddle so you can cook twice as many at once.

Fans of French onion soup who love it for its caramelized onions, beefy broth and cheesy toast topping won't be disappointed with this recipe, which offers all those elements plus a hands-on time of only 20 minutes.

Broccoli's impressive nutritional profile (think folate, vitamins C and A, fiber, phytochemicals) puts it high on the list of foods to eat more of, an inviting task when you toss it with crunchy pine nuts, soft, sweet onions and tangy balsamic vinegar.

Traditional pulled pork is barbecued, which gives it a smoky flavor. But the slow cooker happens to be the absolute easiest way to cook pulled pork--and you can get a hint of smoke by adding chipotle chile. Serve the pulled pork with potato salad, collard greens and grits. Or make it into a sandwich and serve it on a bun with coleslaw.

This recipe is reminiscent of a pot roast made with onion-soup mix, but the flavors are true and pure--and nobody misses the excess sodium. (For a slow-cooker variation, see below.)

No more boring beans! In this recipe, the familiar green bean takes on an exciting new flavor. Onions, sugar, and balsamic vinegar coat the beans in a sweet, but tangy sauce.