Roasted Onions
Enjoy these lovely roasted onions – elegant enough for a holiday, easy enough for everyday, and a breeze to make ahead and reheat!
I seem to be obsessed with roasted vegetables, right now… Maybe it’s the cool weather, but mostly it’s the influx of the winter vegetables, which roast so beautifully. Root vegetables and winter squash – all bred over the centuries as storage vegetables, all firm and a bit sweet. Roasting concentrates the sweetness and the flavor, while keeping individual flavors in a medley, rather than running them together as braising does.
And then, well, the CSA gave us cipollini onions. These are an Italian sweet onion – small, thin-skinned, and very sweet. I had to feature them in a recipe that deserved them! But if you don’t have cipollini – after all, I usually do not – any small sweet onion will work. Even yellow onions will, though they won’t be as good. Pearl onions are also an option, if you have them (I see them fresh even less often than cipollini.)
This is another So Simple it’s Barely a Recipe recipes… but at the same time, it’s elegant enough for a side dish on a holiday table. You can make it ahead, too, and reheat at the last minute – very useful for a holiday meal!
The hardest part is peeling the onions. That delicate thin skin is a nuisance… it comes to pieces. Just keep going, you’ll get it…
Directions for Roasted Onions
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Then melt a tablespoon of butter. My baking dish is cast iron and flameproof (though no handle – I wouldn’t normally use it on the stovetop) so I just put it over low heat for a minute. It really only needed to be warm to melt the butter. You could whisk it in and out of the oven the same way, or just melt the butter in something else. When the butter is melted, add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. I don’t use it often, but its sweet/sour taste sets onions off incredibly well. Mix them well, pour them into your baking dish (if you didn’t use it to begin with) and swirl it around to coat the dish.
Then add your onions, and roll them around in the butter mixture to coat them completely. Bake at 350° for… well, that’s going to depend on your onions… These were small and flat, and fully cooked at 35 minutes. I would check them then, but allow 45, just in case – slightly larger onions would be longer. Some Spanish onions are pretty big, so you might want to allow an hour (though check at 45 minutes) or even cut them in half. I slip the tip of a sharp paring knife in – if the knife meets resistance, I bake longer. If the onion is fully tender, it is ready. When in doubt, err on the side of longer cooking.
For a holiday meal, bake it ahead of time, then pop it in the oven to reheat when you remove the turkey or the roast. Reheating won’t hurt roasted onions at all, and it will make your life easier.
I have not tried this, but I think you could use the same treatment for frozen pearl onions, if you are low on time or energy. Just remember that they are not only smaller but also already essentially cooked – I’d coat them in the butter mixture, then bake for just 10 minutes, to heat, brown, and develop flavor.
Roasted Onions
Ingredients
- 4 sweet onions I used, and recommend, cippolini
- 1 T butter
- 1 T balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Peel the onions.
- Melt the butter, and mix with the vinegar. Pour into a small baking dish, and swirl around to coat.
- Add the onions, and roll them in the butter mixture until they are fully coated with it.
- Bake at 350 until onions are fully cooked and tender - 35-45 minutes for small onions.
Love having a side dish where the onions are the star instead of another ingredient. Thank you!!
Thank you! Sometimes we forget how good they are themselves…
I used to work for a restaurant that served roasted onions. They were so tasty. Can’t wait to try yours. They are so pretty and caramelized.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them!
I’ll take onions any way I can. These look fabulous!
Thank you! They are so good…
I love onions! This sounds delicious. Perfect for parties (as long as they come with mints! lol)
LOL You’d be surprised, though – if they are thoroughly cooked, they’re not an issue for most people. (Undercooked, or burned – yeah. Whew.) The flavor is surprisingly sweet, too.
A recipe that’s good for holidays, weekdays, AND reheats well? You’re hitting all the right qualities with these beauties!
I’m trying… LOL Thank you!
But pretty and elegant and easy… can’t go wrong with that!
Yummy, yummy. These roasted onions look so delicious! I too have been into roasted veggies lately. I love onions and the delicate flavor they have when roasted! I can’t wait to try your recipe!! Awesome!
They are just so good cooked – it’s amazing! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Such a lovely recipe! It’s so simple but onions are just so good roasted. They are even one of my three year old’s favourite recipes and I know he would love this.
Aren’t they delicious! But it’s really so easy!
Ohh. Ive never had a whole roasted onion. I love onions. Adding this to my to try list
Enjoy them!
i love onions in general but never thought of roasting them whole like this.
Thank you! Enjoy them!
Oh my goodness those look heavenly! Roasted veggies of any type are something my family loves but this sounds like a new favorite! The thought of the bitter flavored onion being mellowed into luscious sweetness is perfection in my eyes!
They’re so sweet it’s amazing… Enjoy!
Roasted cipollini onions remind me so much of home! It was a dish we often had at home, and I think my mom still makes it from time to time! The cipolline are so sweet when they slowly caramelize while roasting…beautiful recipe!
Thank you! What a lovely memory.
I noted that it can work with other kinds of onion – but sweet is better, and cipollini are best… they’re so sweet!
such simple yet interesting recipe,would love to try this sometime.
Thank you. I hope you enjoy it!
This is a great way to make onions the star of your side dish!
Thanks for this! There is nothing like roasted onions. Thanks for sharing the step by step.
Thank you!
I always hope the step by step will encourage someone to try it.
I love grilled onions so I know I need to make these too. I haven’t seen these roasted before. They look delicious! Thanks for the recipes.
Then I’m sure you’ll like this! Thank you!