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Is there a way to cook onions in recipes that won’t have them release a lot of sugar like cooking them in liquid. I am on a very low carb diet and am not allowed onions as they apparently release too much sugar when Caramelized

Darlene Ess
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    I wonder about the premise of your question. "Sugar" doesn't mean just suagr literately, but carbohydrates in general. So sauteing onions in butter will cause the carbohydrates to break down into sugars which caramelize, but the carbohydrates are already in the onion. Cooking in a broth would leach some carbohydrates out of the onions, but would such cooking leach enough to make any real difference? – MaxW Oct 25 '18 at 04:06
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    What MaxW said. The carbohydrates are already in the onions. Whether you brown them or not doesn't make a difference in quantity. – FuzzyChef Oct 25 '18 at 06:01
  • @FuzzyChef... unless, I suppose, you poach them in water, and then pour the water away... (not a recommendation) – Robin Betts Oct 25 '18 at 09:21

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Try lightly boiling them in broth or stock. They won't caramelize (as long as you don't let the liquid evaporate completely); but they will soften and become translucent.

elbrant
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  • btw, this is also a great way to cook mushrooms!! They end up tasting like the ones that are sauteed in butter... but nowhere near the calories! – elbrant Oct 25 '18 at 03:37
  • I don't think this method will actually reduce the amount of carbs in the onion. Do you have a source? Yes, will prevent carmelization, but the carbs are already there in the onion. – MarsJarsGuitars-n-Chars Oct 25 '18 at 13:02
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    @MarsJarsGuitars-n-Chars OP stated that she's "not allowed onions (because they) release too much sugar when caramelized". My method prevents the caramelization, therefore preventing the release of sugars. Onions themselves are low in carbs. – elbrant Oct 27 '18 at 03:01
  • I'm sorry but this is factually incorrect. Carmelizing onions (or anything) doesn't make sugars where none existed before. It changes the sugars (or carbs) that *are already there.* Unless you can demonstrate that carbs are leached out of the onion by simmering (and a small amount probably is), then this does not eliminate the sugars in the onion. – MarsJarsGuitars-n-Chars Oct 29 '18 at 15:40
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Ironically, true caramelization will convert the sugar into something that is no longer sugar.

As for the low carb diet: there are many "more" carbs in a starch than in a sugar. This is because of the psychological magnitude of sugar vs. the starchy food. If you wanted to keep your carbs below, say, 35g per day then if you wanted a bit of sugar in your tea/coffee then you could splurge on over EIGHT teaspoons (16 cups of coffee??) to meet your carb limit in sugars. Whereas, if you decided to splurge on English Muffins instead, eating a single English Muffin would already blow your limit at 46g.

So, my low carb philosophy is that, as long as you are avoiding sugary foods, there is little value in managing the amount of sugar carbohydrate in otherwise healthy foods like carrots, tomatoes, etc. Rather, you should concentrate on identifying and avoiding danger areas like starch-thickened sauces.

Douglas Held
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