The Latest Viral Pasta Dish Is So Good, My Family Fought Over the Leftovers

I finally understand why it's racked up over 20 million views.

Caramelized onions are delicious on everything from burgers to baked Brie, so I wasn’t surprised to see caramelized onion pasta dishes going viral on social media. After all, what’s not to love about cheesy, creamy spaghetti noodles mixed with sweet, caramelized onions and topped with nutty Parmesan cheese?

I love all pasta dishes equally, so when caramelized onion pasta started popping up everywhere on Instagram and TikTok, I began saving recipes with the intent of making the viral dish for my family. But it was a recipe from Instagram influencer Chhaya Joshi of @cookwithchay that finally made me take the Parm-topped plunge.

What's in Caramelized Onion Pasta?

Joshi’s caramelized onion and chili oil pasta has racked up more than 20 million views on social media. A simple enough dish that features spaghetti, caramelized onions, a cheesy, chili oil-infused sauce, and fresh parsley, the pasta looked decadent and actually made my mouth water a bit as I watched the video on repeat.

In her now-viral video, Joshi calls her caramelized onion and chili oil pasta “an absolute bomb. I’m talking crazy-delicious here. It’s spicy and creamy and you’ve gotta try it.”

How to Make Caramelized Onion Pasta

Sold, I headed to the grocery store to gather the ingredients I didn’t already have in my pantry. I cooked my 10 ounces of spaghetti in boiling, salted water, and went to work on the creamy, garlicky chili sauce while the noodles cooked. First, I halved and thinly sliced two large yellow onions, then caramelized them in butter and olive oil for about an hour, until they were golden brown and softened.

Next, it was time to make the sauce. I cooked the chili oil, garlic, salt, and heavy cream in a sauté pan until it resembled a thick pasta sauce, then added the onions back in. Once the sauce looked creamy and coated my wooden spoon just a bit, I used tongs to add my cooked spaghetti right into the same pan and tossed it all with grated Parmesan cheese. Topped with fresh parsley, the pasta dish was beautiful and I couldn’t wait to dig in.

My Honest Review of the Caramelized Onion and Chili Oil Pasta

When my family gathered around the dinner table, everyone eagerly ate the pasta dish, even my teenagers who claim to “not like onions.” The onions had become soft, melt-in-your mouth strands that gave the creamy, alfredo-like pasta sauce a sweet flavor profile. Combined with the mild heat of the chili oil, the dish had tons of different flavor dimensions—it was all at once sweet, slightly spicy, cheesy, and creamy.

To get some extra protein in, I served my caramelized onion and chili oil pasta with some sautéed apple gouda chicken sausage. The sweetness of the onions in the pasta and the apples in the sausage made the perfect fall bite and the dish was even better the following day as leftovers, once the flavors had even more time to meld.

Joshi’s viral caramelized onion and chili oil pasta was incredibly easy to make, but looked beautiful and had the perfect hints of sweetness and spiciness. Would I make this viral dish again? Absolutely. And I think my family would eat it again, too.

In fact, my daughter proclaimed the pasta dish tasted like French onion soup in pasta form and my husband and I spent the next few days arguing over who’d get to eat the leftovers for lunch—it was that good.

Read the original article on All Recipes.