Creamed Pearl Onions Recipe (2024)

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Extremely simple to make with a sweet, mild flavor.

J. Kenji López-Alt

Culinary Consultant

Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.

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Updated January 05, 2024

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Why It Works

Cooking the onions slowly produces a deep, mellow flavor.
This recipe is dead simple, and rather than using a roux, just calls for cream and a bay leaf.

Pearl onions don't have quite the sweetness of their larger counterparts, or even of the candy-sweet cipollini or shallots, but they do have a similar bite. What does this mean for cooking them? It means that the best pearl onion recipes are ones that tame the bite while bringing out the natural flavor of the onions withoutrelying on them to provide much sweetness.

For me that means one of two methods: glazed or creamed. Both methods start out the same: by peeling pearl onions.

The easiest way to peel pearl onions is to not bother doing it at all and just pick 'em up peeled and frozen. In ourblind taste test, we found that tasters were pretty evenly split on fresh vs. frozen onions. If you've had them frozen in the past and enjoyed them, there's no reason to switch.

But if you do want to start with fresh ones (they tend to have a slightly firmer texture and milder flavor when cooked), you can peel them by first cutting off the tops and bottoms with a paring knife and scoring one cut side with a small X in order to help you peel off the skin later on. After that, it's a quick dunk in a hot pot of boiling water just to loosen the outer layers. About one minute will do you. After a shower under the cold tap, they should be easy to peel with your fingers. (A short video appears below which demonstrates this process.)

Creamed onions are all about slow, slow cooking to produce a rich, mellow flavor. Some folks like to add a flour-and-butter roux to thicken and stabilize their creamed onions. As with other avenues in life, I prefer my creamed onionsau natural, with nothing but heavy cream to coat them with (and ok, a bay leaf to flavor that cream).

Another option is glazing your onions, which is even simpler. But whether you cream or glaze your onions, chopped parsley is a perfect partner.

0:47

Knife Skills: How To Prepare Pearl Onions

November 2013

Recipe Details

Creamed Pearl Onions

Prep20 mins

Cook30 mins

Active10 mins

Total50 mins

Serves6 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds pearl onions(see note)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Using a paring knife, trim off the ends of each onion and score a light "X" into one cut side. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add onions and cook until outer layers are soft, about 1 1/2 minutes. Drain onions and run under cool water until cold enough to handle. Peel onions with your fingers and discard peels.
Place onions in a medium saucepan and add heavy cream, stock, and bay leaf. Heat over medium-high heat until simmering, then lower heat to maintain a very gently simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cream has reduced to a rich sauce, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, discard bay leaf, stir in parsley, and serve. If sauce breaks and turns greasy, stir in 2 tablespoons of water and shake pan vigorously over high heat until it comes back together.

Notes

Frozen pearl onions can be used in place of fresh. To use frozen onions, cook direct from frozen, skipping step 1.

How to Peel Pearl Onions
Easy Roasted Cipollini Onions
Roasted Shallots With Buttery Sweet-Tart Glaze

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
203	Calories
15g	Fat
17g	Carbs
3g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories	203
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15g	19%
Saturated Fat 9g	46%
Cholesterol 45mg	15%
Sodium 131mg	6%
Total Carbohydrate 17g	6%
Dietary Fiber 2g	8%
Total Sugars 8g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 10mg	49%
Calcium 63mg	5%
Iron 1mg	3%
Potassium 313mg	7%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

FAQs

Who makes pearl onions in a cream sauce? ›

Vegetables & sauce. Microwavable portable tray. Low cholesterol.

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Do you have to peel pearl onions before you cook them? ›

Pearl onions are great in soups and stews and their high concentration of sugars help them caramelize nicely when glazed in a pan. But before you cook pearl onions, you have to peel them. Like all cooking onions, pearl onions have a layer of papery skin around their exterior.

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Are pearl onions just baby onions? ›

ampeloprasum 'Pearl-Onion Group'), also known as button onion, baby onion or silverskin onion in the UK, is a close relative of the leek (A. ampeloprasum var. porrum), and may be distinguished from common onions by having only a single storage leaf, similar to cloves of garlic.

Are pearl onions the same as boiling onions? ›

In the United States, Boiling onions are often used and sold interchangeably with the smaller pearl onion.

Get More Info ›

Are cipollini onions pearl onions? ›

While cipollini onions resemble smaller versions of sweet onions, pearl onions closely resemble white ones. In fact, they are often referred to as white co*cktail onions—and make their way into martini glasses. Ways to Use Them: Use them a lot like you would cipolline onions— roasted, glazed, or even pickled.

Which onions are the healthiest? ›

Red onions

All types of onions are good for you, but this dark reddish-purple variety, sometimes called purple onion, has especially high levels of quercetin and other helpful plant compounds known as flavonoids. Flavonoids give many fruits, vegetables, and flowers their colors.

Get More Info Here ›

Is a shallot the same as a pearl onion? ›

pearl onions. Another smaller, sweeter variety of onion, the pearl onion is often used for pickling or as garnishes for co*cktails. It is fairly similar in flavour to a shallot, but without the hint of garlic.

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Which onion has the least odor? ›

You'll also see Vidalia and Maui onions mentioned in the same category as white onions. While they are white onions, both varieties contain a much higher sugar content and even lower sulfur content (the stuff that gives onions that sharp smell and flavor).

Learn More Now ›

What is the difference between pearl onions and co*cktail onions? ›

A co*cktail onion is usually a pearl onion pickled in a brine with small amounts of turmeric and paprika. Pearl onions are usually chosen for their natural sweetness, but other sweet onions such as the crystal wax, also known as the white Bermuda, are also sometimes used.

Where do you get pearl onions? ›

White Pearl Onions at Whole Foods Market.

Tell Me More ›

Are white pearl onions the same as white onions? ›

Tiny and sweet, pearl onions come in yellow, red, and white varieties, with the latter being the most common. What They Look Like: These cuties look just like regular onions but are about the size of a jawbreaker. How They Taste: Much milder and sweeter than large bulb onions.

Find Out More ›

What is the closest to a pearl onion? ›

Texture and Size

If you are looking for a substitute that closely resembles the size and texture of pearl onions, cipollini onions are a great option. Cipollini onions are small and round, similar to pearl onions, and have a sweet and mild flavor.