Caramelized Onion Flatbread with Bacon and Arugula
Looking for a crowd-pleasing appetizer that doubles as an easy weeknight dinner? This caramelized onion flatbread is an irresistible combination of sweet, savory, and tangy flavors. Topped with perfectly caramelized onions, crispy bacon, two types of cheese, and fresh arugula, it’s a dish that feels restaurant-worthy yet is simple enough to make at home. Whether you’re entertaining friends or treating yourself, this flatbread is sure to impress.
- 1 Erica’s Notes
- 2 What You’ll Need to Make Delicious Caramelized Onion Flatbread
- 3 How to Make Caramelized Onion Flatbread
- 4 Expert Tips for Perfect Caramelized Onion Flatbread
- 5 Variation Ideas
- 6 FAQs
- 7 If you love this easy flatbread pizza recipe you’ll love these other fresh recipes:
- 8 Caramelized Onion Flatbread Recipe
Erica’s Notes
December is a dinner struggle bus- this is established. We know this. Holiday functions, irregular schedules, the pressure of creating holiday magic, the urge to eat no less than 10 cookies for dinner every evening, oof. I’m feeling it.
This flatbread was born because I needed two things: an appetizer to take to a holiday party and a dish balanced enough to be a family dinner. Mission accomplished baybay.
There is something about sweet, almost jammy, but also deeply savory caramelized onions that is absolute perfection on pizza. Paired with fig jam and bacon? And fresh arugula and balsamic glaze!? MUAH! It’s so good and covers our food groups right!?
Even though the onions take a bit to caramelize, this flatbread is simple and makes for a stress-free weeknight dinner. LOVE me a caramelized onion pizza!
What You’ll Need to Make Delicious Caramelized Onion Flatbread
Sweet onions: Vidalia or Walla Walla onions work best, providing natural sweetness that enhances as they caramelize. Yellow onions are another good option.
Olive oil and butter: olive oil increases the smoke point and butter provides flavor- that’s why there is a combo of both!
Salt, pepper and brown sugar: these simple seasonings lift the overall flavor and encourage the caramelization process.
Balsamic vinegar: balsamic vinegar deglazes the pan and introduces a tangy depth of flavor.
Premade flatbread or pizza dough: premade flatbread is quick and convenient, while pizza dough offers a more authentic pizza feel. Both are great but my slight preference would be to use pizza dough. You can make homemade pizza dough or grab a dough ball in the deli section of the grocery store.
Apricot or fig jam: both apricot and fig pair beautifully with the other flavors in this dish. You’ll see that I use fig jam in the photos and apricot jam in the video- both are so yummy!
Cooked bacon: you can easily omit this for a vegetarian flatbread, but crunchy bacon adds salty, delicious flavor.
Gruyere cheese: Gruyere is a melty, nutty cheese that complements the sweetness of the onions.
Goat cheese: goat cheese is creamy and tangy and complements the rich bacon and onions.
Finishing touches: fresh thyme, arugula, balsamic glaze and flaky sea salt make this feel like you’re eating at an artisan pizza place!
How to Make Caramelized Onion Flatbread
Step 1: Make the Sweet Caramelized Onions
Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the sliced onions and toss to coat. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions start browning/caramelizing. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar, scraping up any browned bits.
Continue cooking for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are deeply browned and caramelized.
Step 2: Preheat the Oven and Prep the Pan
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven if you have one. If not, use a sheet pan. If using pizza dough, sprinkle semolina flour or cornmeal on a pizza peel or cutting board to prevent sticking.
Step 3: Assemble the Flatbread
Roll out the pizza dough into two rectangles or use premade flatbread. You can toss the pizza or use a rolling pin. I find that splitting one pound of pizza dough into two pieces creates the perfect size for flatbread. Spread jam evenly over the surface.
Layer with chopped bacon, caramelized onions, gruyere cheese, and crumbled goat cheese. Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves.
Step 4: Bake and Garnish
Transfer the flatbread to the preheated pizza stone or sheet pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the bottom is crispy and the cheese melts.
Top with fresh arugula, a drizzle of balsamic glaze and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Pizza night here we come!!
Expert Tips for Perfect Caramelized Onion Flatbread
- Don’t rush the onions! They take about 35-40 minutes total and should be deep golden brown. Refer to photo for visual.
- Use a preheated pizza stone to avoid soggy crust.
- Bake your bacon. I like to line a sheet pan with foil or parchment paper for easy clean up and bake the bacon at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Turns out perfect every time!
- If you don’t have pizza dough you can use a premade pizza crust, flatbread, naan bread or even puff pastry.
Variation Ideas
- Vegetarian: skip the bacon and add roasted red peppers or sun-dried tomatoes.
- Sweet and spicy: use a hot pepper jelly instead of jam for a kick of heat.
- Fig flatbread: add chopped fresh figs (before baking) to reinforce the fig flavor.
- Switch up the cheese: fontina or mozzarella cheese are great substitutes for Gruyere and blue cheese would be a good sub for tangy goat cheese.
- Other veggies: mushrooms, red onions, cherry tomatoes and/or fresh rosemary would all be excellent additions.
- More protein: this combo of flavors pairs well with most proteins! Add shredded chicken, Italian sausage or even cooked shrimp.
FAQs
Yes, you can assemble the flatbread up to the point of baking. Store it covered in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Bake just before serving.
Mozzarella, fontina or gouda cheeses are all mild and melt beautifully. If you like, blue cheese is a great substitute for goat cheese.
Most grocery stores carry fig jam in the same aisle as the peanut butter/jam/honey. I go to Trader Joe’s for the fig butter, which is the same as fig jam.
The pizza stone ensures your pizza will have a crispy crust but if you don’t have one, don’t worry! You can get similar results by preheating a baking sheet in the oven.
Wrap leftover slices tightly in plastic wrap or store in an airtight container. I love to reheat pizza in my air fryer at 350 degrees for a few minutes.
If you love this easy flatbread pizza recipe you’ll love these other fresh recipes:
Arugula salad with beets and citrus
Caramelized onion brie chicken
Caramelized Onion Flatbread Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Sweet and savory caramelized onions pair beautifully with fig jam, bacon and gruyere cheese to make a drool-worthy flatbread.
Ingredients
- 2 sweet onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon EACH salt, pepper and brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 15oz premade flatbread or 1lb pizza dough
- 1/3 cup apricot or fig jam
- 6 slices cooked bacon, chopped
- 4oz gruyere cheese, grated
- 4oz goat cheese
- 4–5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
- 2–3 cups arugula
- Balsamic glaze
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Caramelize the onions: In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced onions, tossing to coat. The heat should be high enough to create some color/char on the onions, but not burn them. Cook for 15 minutes, until the onions develop some initial caramelized color. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the salt, pepper, brown sugar. Deglaze the pan by adding the balsamic vinegar and scraping up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook on medium-low for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very deeply browned (refer to picture for what they should look like!)
- Preheat and pan prep: Preheat oven to 450 degrees and place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven while it preheats. If you don’t have a pizza stone you can use a sheet pan. If using pizza dough, sprinkle a little semolina flour or cornmeal on a pizza peel or cutting board so it’ll slide right off onto the pizza stone.
- Assemble flatbreads: Roll out the pizza dough into two rectangular pieces or skip this step if using premade flatbread. Spread the jam evenly over the dough/flatbread. Layer on: chopped bacon, caramelized onion, gruyere cheese and then crumbled goat cheese. Remove thyme leaves from several sprigs and sprinkle on the flatbread.
- Bake and garnish: Transfer flatbread to the preheated pizza stone or pan and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the bottom is crispy and cheese is melted. Top with fresh arugula, a drizzle of balsamic glaze and extra virgin olive oil and pinch of flaky sea salt.
Serve immediately to your fancy flatbread friends. Or eat it all yourself, I won’t judge.
Notes
Bacon: I like to bake my bacon. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place bacon on a lined sheet pan (foil or parchment) or broiler pan and bake for 27-32 minutes, flipping bacon at the 20 minute mark. Keep an eye on it and cook until your desired crispiness. Let cool and chop for this recipe- store extras for avocado toast or mac and cheese!
See above blog post for step by step photos, expert tips and answers to frequently asked questions.
Would you like to save this?
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 recipe
- Calories: 430
- Sugar: 12.2 g
- Sodium: 984.6 mg
- Fat: 16.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 50.1 g
- Fiber: 1.2 g
- Protein: 19.1 g
- Cholesterol: 40.9 mg
If you try and like this recipe please don’t forget to leave a comment and star rating down below! If you love more lifestyle, behind the scenes and ‘eating in real life’ type of content come find me over on Instagram, @itsaflavorfullife, I love connecting with you all there!
Made this for Christmas Eve appetizer…. This is SO delicious and beautiful with the bright arugula on top. The caramelized onions are amazingly good and I love the sweetness of the fig jam with the salty of the bacon. UGH so good. I used the fig butter from TJs and it was delish. Thank you Erica for another banger! And Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Eileen! Thank you so much for trying this banger!😂🫶🏼
OMG! I knew this would be amazing because everything you make is but I even got my husband to exclaim on how utterly delicious this flatbread is. It made a phenomenal dinner paired with a salad and would be a delightful appetizer.
Ahhhhh LOVE! Thank you Dani! I’m always here for the husband testimonials 😂