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The best caramelised onion chutney
From Aldi to Tracklements, the Good Housekeeping Institute tested 19 chutneys to find you the best partner to your cheddar.
This versatile condiment is a brilliant store cupboard staple. It can transform a simple cheese board, or add it to a grilled cheese sandwich, inside a sausage roll or to a chicken dish as an easy marinade.
We looked for a chutney that was rich and glossy, with a sweet and tangy vinegar smell. The onions should be softened but retain a slight bite, while the flavour should be balanced with a sweet note, gentle acidity and a rounded onion flavour.
Joint Winner: English Provender Caramelised Red Onion Chutney
Overall Score: 80/100
Red onions give this chutney a sweet aroma with a zingy hit from the white wine and balsamic vinegar. Sharp in flavour but balanced with a nice caramelised sweetness. Testers enjoyed the slight bite to the onions.
BUY NOW Ocado, £1.90
Joint Winner: M&S Caramelised Red Onion Chutney
Overall Score: 80/100
This winning chutney is glossy, sticky and chunky, with lots of red and white onion. Testers enjoyed its well-balanced aroma and the appley, caramelised flavour, with a slight acidity to cut through the sweet onions. We enjoyed the softened onions that had a slight crunch and jammy texture.
BUY NOW M&S, £2
Runner Up: Newton & Pott Caramelised Red Onion Chutney
Overall Score: 78/100
One for the serious onion lovers, full of big slices of red onion and small apple pieces. A subtle sweetness from the onions with a nice vinegary aroma. The chilli flakes added a spicy kick, but the powerful vinegar flavour overpowered the perfectly cooked sweet onions for an unbalanced flavour. We prefer a smoother chutney, so the onion pieces were too big and sticky for our liking.
BUY NOW Harvey Nichols, £5.95
Morrisons The Best Caramelised Balsamic Onion Chutney
Overall Score: 76/100
Golden in colour with a thick, stewed appearance, this chutney has a tangy vinegar smell with notes of caramelised onions and treacle. Testers were divided with this chutney; some enjoyed the way the sharp taste cut through the sweetness but others found it too strong. We enjoyed the texture of the smooth, sticky onions that had a slight bite to them.
BUY NOW Morrisons, £1.50
Tracklements Caramelised Red Onion Relish
Overall Score: 75/100
Strong sweet onion and vinegar flavours come through in this thick, deep brown relish. The flavour of caramel came from the muscovado sugar and a subtle tang from the vinegar balances the sweetness. The onions are well-cooked with a slight bite and, despite its separated appearance, the sauce is soft and smooth.
BUY NOW Tracklements, £3.65
Aldi Specially Selected Caramelised Red Onion Sweet Chutney
Overall Score: 75/100
Small, jammy onion pieces are in a thick and glossy mahogany chutney. Balanced in flavour, the chutney is very sweet with savoury notes and hints of molasses, likened to soy sauce. A very strong vinegar aroma comes through, but some still found the chutney slightly too sweet. However the sticky-smooth texture and slightly crunchy onions were loved.
In-store only, 99p
Paxton & Whitfield Caramelised Onion Chutney
Overall Score: 74/100
A golden orange chutney that looked very similar to marmalade with thick white onions. Initially quite acidic from the vinegar and white wine, the sharp scent is followed by a rich onion aroma. Caramelised in flavour, the vinegar adds a pickled tang but it isn’t punchy enough to cut through the sweetness. The crunchy onion pieces are a touch too stringy.
BUY NOW Paxton and Whitfield, £4.99
Waitrose Caramelised Red Onion Chutney
Overall Score 74/100
Thick, glossy and chunky, this dark brown chutney had a well-balanced aroma with a subtle acidity and sweetness. There's a strong, sweet onion flavour , with a sharp vinegar kick that some testers found over powering. The onions retain their shape in the body of the jammy chutney.
BUY NOW Waitrose, £2.70
Co-op Irresistible Caramelised Red Onion Chutney
Overall Score: 72/100
Like a thickly set jam, this chutney was overly set with pureed onions. We found the aroma to be subtly sweet and sour with a slight pickled note. Testers found the onions overly sweet and lacking a balance of tartness from vinegar, but a few picked up a welcome warming black pepper note. The texture is thick, sticky and slightly stodgy.
In-store only, £2.29
Tesco Finest British Red Onion Chutney
Overall Score: 68/100
Rich and dark with a thick, jammy and chunky appearance. This chutney has a sharp vinegar aroma with balsamic and caramelised notes. Though it has the traditional sweet, sharp onion flavour, some testers found the raw onion and vinegar were overly sharp and it needed more sweetness to balance out the flavours. The onions are indulgently sticky, though, with a good crunch to them.
BUY NOW Tesco, £1.50
We also tested...
Cartwright & Butler Caramelised Onion Chutney 67/100 £4.49
Cottage Delight Caramelised Red Onion Chutney 67/100 £3.30
Cottage Delight Caramelised Onion Chutney 67/100 £3.30
ASDA Extra Special Caramelised Onion Chutney 66/100 £1.19
Daylesford Organic Red Onion Chutney 66/100 £3.99
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Caramelised Onion Chutney 64/100 £1.50
Wilkins & Sons Tiptree Red Onion Chutney 62/100 £2.29
Iceland Caramelised Red Onion Chutney with Balsamic 58/100 £1.29
Branston Caramelised Onion Chutney 52/100 £1.49
Mel is the Senior Food & Drink Writer for Good Housekeeping UK, covering all the delicious new product launches that come her way, writing about food and drink topics, and curating gift guides for the best foodie products to buy. Alongside that, she can be found developing and creating cocktails for GH and holds her WSET Level 2 in Wine and Spirits. She was part of the Good Housekeeping Institute food testing team for over four years before moving over to the digital side, so knows a thing or two about great food products. You'll find her scouring the supermarket shelves in her spare time for new and exciting ingredients to experiment with in her kitchen.
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