Caramelized Leeks (3 ways)

Caramelized leeks are soft, sweet, and creamy additions to meals, as both a side dish or an ingredient. Depending on how you want to use them, there are different ways to make caramelized leeks.

Leeks are tragically underrated. They're part of the allium family of vegetables that includes onions, shallots, garlic and chives. When cooked very slowly in oil, leeks caramelize and become very soft and sweet with a mild flavor somewhere between onion and cabbage.

The mild sweet flavor of caramelized leeks makes them a really versatile addition to dishes like roast or grilled meat or chicken, pasta, potatoes, and baked goods.

How to trim & clean leeks

Leeks get greener towards the top and whiter towards the bottom near the roots. The white part is a bit more tender as the green leaves near the top can become a bit more fibrous and tougher.

Since the green tops can be tougher, some recipes call for them to be discarded.

I personally don't discard the green tops because I find it unnecessarily wasteful. I find the tops still tender enough, especially when the leeks are slow cooked like with caramelization.

When trimming leeks, you should cut away:

• The root;
• The top, making sure to trim all the frayed leaves;
• The first 1-2 layers of leaves from the whole leek if they are very dry or fibrous.

In order to maximize the white portion, growers push the soil up towards the top of the leeks. This also causes soil to get in between the leaves, so leeks need to be cleaned very well to avoid sand or grit in the finished dish.

In my experience it's enough to just cut off any areas where it looks like the stalk has split and allowed some dirt in. You don't necessarily need to split the whole stalk lengthwise and rinse every leaf, unless you have a particularly sandy leek or the leaves seem loose enough that sand has gotten in.

Preparation of caramelized leeks

You can cut the leeks in different ways to get different results. Below you can see three different cuts:

• leeks cut lengthwise
• leeks cut into medallions
• leeks finely sliced

Each type of cut requires slightly different cooking ranging from set-it-and-forget-it to fully hands-on.

Seasoning

These recipes mostly just use salt but there are other seasonings that go really nicely with leeks including:

• garlic powder
• smoked paprika
• cayenne
• black pepper

Caramelized leek slices

After cleaning the stalk of root, frayed leaves and any sand (give it a quick rinse too) then you can cut it in half, and then cut each half lengthwise so you end up with four equal pieces.

Getting caramelization from leeks is all about cooking them in oil low and slow.

Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of salt over the cut side of the leeks. Add a few teaspoons of oil to a non stick or cast iron skillet and heat on low. Place the leeks in the skillet with the cut side (the center) facing down and cover with a lid. Cook for approximately 10 minutes.

Some of the outer layers of the stalk may have shifted off. Just use a fork to place them back.

After 10 minutes of slow cooking the covered leeks, look for 2 things:

Tenderness: At this point all the layers should be quite soft and tender already so you don't have to cover with a lid anymore. If they aren't tender then keep covered until they are.

Caramelization on the bottom: Use a fork to check if the leeks are indeed golden on the bottom and if they are, gently flip them over and cook on the other side for another 10 minutes or until golden. If they aren't golden, continue cooking 2 minutes at a time until they are.

Leeks cut lengthwise are nice as a side dish to go with meat or seafood dishes dishes and would even make a nice side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

You can also use these to make other dishes like caramelized leek tarte tatin, caramelized leek quiche or caramelized leek pizza.

Caramelized leek medallions

To make caramelized leek medallions it's a very similar process as making leeks cut lengthwise.

After trimming and cleaning, cut the leeks into a medallion shape. You can use a butter knife or other kitchen tool as a guide to cut them approximately the same width.

Sprinkle about a ¼ teaspoon of salt onto the leeks. Just the top is fine. Add a few teaspoons of oil to a non-stick or cast iron skillet, cook low and slow for about 10 minutes and use a fork to check if the bottoms are golden.

Be careful as they get slippery as they cook which can make the center pop right out.

Once they are golden on one side, use a fork to gently flip them. Be careful as they get slippery as they cook which can make the center pop right out.

Caramelized leek medallions have a nice aesthetic and are really nice as a sophisticated garnish. You can also toss them with some olive oil, white beans and pesto or gremolata to make a quick salad.

Caramelized Leeks Finely Sliced

I like to refer to this as caramelized leek shake, because you can shake it on anything and make it taste better.

This might by my favourite form of caramelized leek because they have so much textural nuance.

There are soft bits, crispy bits, and slightly sticky super caramelized bits where you can really feel all the natural sugars in the leek.

They are absolutely delicious.

Making finely sliced caramelized leeks is a bit more challenging than making either the lengthwise cut or medallion cut leeks.

For one, you have to cut them into very thin strips which takes a bit more time and attention than the other two methods.

You also need to use more oil and be more hands-on with the cooking. This is not a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing.

It will feel like nothing is happening for a while, and then all of a sudden they'll start cooking very fast. So keep an eye out for that.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of oil to a non-stick or cast iron skillet and heat to medium. Add the finely sliced leeks and a ¼ teaspoon of salt. Stir the leeks to mix and then continue stirring every 2 minutes or so, but keep a close eye on them in between.

Leeks don't take as long to caramelize as onions do, but it will still take about 20-25 minutes. Probably the first 15 minutes it will be very slow, and then suddenly it will start going faster as the water evaporates out of the leeks and they reduce in volume.

You may need to add more oil (one tablespoon at a time) if the pan feels dry and reduce the heat if the leeks start cooking too quickly or turning black anywhere.

By the end you should be stirring them almost constantly so they don't burn. They are read once they're evenly golden and have significantly reduced in volume.

Serving Suggestion for Caramelized Leeks

You can use thinly sliced caramelized leeks as a topping for burgers or mashed potatoes, a ham and cheese tarte tatin with caramelized leek, or my absolute favourite is to add them to pasta.

Caramelized leek pasta is so much more flavourful than you would expect. Highly recommend.

If you want to turn caramelized leeks into a whole meal, maybe you'll like Meat & Rice Stuffed Leeks or my outrageously flavourful totally plant-based Chickpea & Rice Stuffed Leeks in Spiced Tomato Sauce.

Recipe