Caramelized Onion and Cheese Skillet Pie
A pan of slow-browned onions bound with egg and cheese over a cracker base. Long cook, short ingredient list.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 7.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 19 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 55 min
- total time
- 65 min
- water
- 180 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Yellow onions | 4 cups sliced | yellow, not sweet — sweet onions resist browning |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Whole egg powder | 6 tbsp | stands in for 3 eggs |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/3 cup | replaces the cream and milk |
| Provolone | 1 1/2 cups shredded | a firm block travels better than pre-shredded |
| Salted crackers or pilot bread | about 2 cups crushed | the crust stand-in |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Heat the oil in a lidded skillet or small Dutch oven over low, steady heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt.
- Cook the onions 40 minutes, stirring every few minutes. They should go limp, then gold, then brown. Rushing this on high heat gets you scorched edges and raw centers.
- While that runs, whisk the egg powder and milk powder into 180 ml of cold water in a bottle or bag. Shake until no lumps remain. Add pepper.
- Press the crushed crackers into the bottom of the pan, over the onions or on the side of the pan if you moved them out. Simplest is to scrape the onions to a bowl, spread crackers, then return the onions on top.
- Pour the egg mixture over and scatter the cheese across the surface.
- Cover and cook on low coals or the lowest stove setting for 12 to 15 minutes, until the center stops sloshing when you shake the pan. Pull it off the heat and let it sit five minutes before cutting.
Caramelizing onions is the whole recipe and it takes about 40 minutes, not the 15 that most instructions claim. Low heat, frequent stirring, and yellow onions. Sweet varieties like Vidalia carry too much water and sugar in the wrong balance; they slump into sweetness without ever browning.
The original is a baked pie, which is not happening on a camp stove. Crushed crackers pressed into the pan give you the same salty base without pastry, egg and milk powders replace the fresh custard, and a lid over low heat sets it the way an oven would. The cheese is structural here — it holds the slices together when you cut them.
Packing
Slice the onions at home and pack them in a bag in the cooler. Egg and milk powder go in one bag, crushed crackers in another. Cheese stays whole in the cooler until you grate it at camp.
Variations
- A dutch oven with coals on the lid browns the top and skips the covered-skillet guesswork.
- Dehydrated onion flakes rehydrated in the oil work if cooler space is tight, but they will not brown the same way.
https://www.tasteandtellblog.com/cookbook-of-the-month-recipe-caramelized-onion-pie