Textual Chef Textual Chef

Caramelized Onion Chili Crunch Pasta

Slow-caramelized onions tossed with chili crisp, soy sauce, and parmesan, the viral pasta trend that pairs a French technique with an Asian pantry staple.

50 minMediumServes 4520 cal/serving

FusionDinnerStovetopVegetarian

Ingredients

  • 4 yellow onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 oz spaghetti
  • 2 tbsp chili crisp
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • 2 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

Instructions

  1. 1

    Heat 2 tbsp unsalted butter and 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 4 thinly sliced yellow onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden and jammy, 25 to 30 minutes.

  2. 2

    Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook 8 oz spaghetti until al dente, reserving 1 cup pasta water before draining.

  3. 3

    Add 4 cloves minced garlic to the caramelized onions and cook 1 minute until fragrant.

  4. 4

    Stir in 2 tbsp chili crisp and 2 tsp soy sauce, then add the drained pasta and toss, adding splashes of the reserved pasta water until glossy.

  5. 5

    Remove from heat and toss in 1/2 cup grated parmesan.

  6. 6

    Top with 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives and serve hot.

Questions

Can I make Caramelized Onion Chili Crunch Pasta dairy-free?

Yes. The dairy in this entry is 2 tbsp unsalted butter, 1/2 cup grated parmesan. Swap the butter for olive oil where it melts, or a plant-based block butter where it is creamed; the cheese for a plant-based melting cheese (expect a milder flavor). The richness shifts slightly, but the method does not change.

Can I make Caramelized Onion Chili Crunch Pasta gluten-free?

Yes. The gluten in this entry is 8 oz spaghetti, 2 tsp soy sauce. Swap the pasta for a gluten-free one, cooked a minute short of its package time; the soy-based sauce for tamari or coconut aminos. Everything else proceeds as written.

How long does Caramelized Onion Chili Crunch Pasta keep?

Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and eat them within three days. Reheat uncovered in a 400 F oven (or an air fryer) for a few minutes to bring the crust back; the microwave softens it. It also freezes well for up to three months.

Can I halve or double Caramelized Onion Chili Crunch Pasta?

Yes. As written it serves 4. Every ingredient in this entry carries precomputed half and double quantities, and the app's batch dial rewrites them inside each step. When doubling on the stovetop, use your widest pan or work in two batches so the food sears instead of steaming.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is a plain-text cooking reference of 4,492 recipes, free to read and cook from, with no account and no paywall. In the app, this entry scales itself: half, standard, or double batch, every quantity recomputed inside the step that uses it. No ads, no life stories, no photos of somebody else's dinner.

The entries are curated and public-domain sourced, written to a fixed template and checked against it: tested quantities, one closed vocabulary of methods, and precomputed half and double batches on every line. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser, instantly. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually, and the first 30 days are free.

More Fusion entries

All Fusion recipes · All Dinner recipes · All Pasta recipes