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

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

Vegetable Sides
Onions
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Easter Side Dishes
Christmas Sides

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

Nutrition Facts
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.

FAQs

Who makes pearl onions in a cream sauce? ›

Vegetables & sauce. Microwavable portable tray. Low cholesterol.

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What makes pearl onions different? ›

Because of its uniquely small size and a taste sweeter than that of a common onion, it has also been used in dishes ranging from mid-20th-century American casserole dishes such as succotash to sweetly flavored onion relishes in Indian cuisine.

Are boiling onions the same as pearl onions? ›

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

Read The Full Story ›

Are pearl onions just baby onions? ›

Ever see a pearl onion, and think "Oh, aren't these baby onions cute?" That's what I thought pearl onions were: just baby onions. Until I started gardening and realized that common onions don't form little bulbs like this. Pearl onions are in the same genus as onions, but are actually sisters of leeks.

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Are cooked pearl onions good for you? ›

Additionally, pearl onions contain quercetin, a flavonoid that has anti-inflammatory properties and may help reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

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Where do you get pearl onions? ›

White Pearl Onions at Whole Foods Market.

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What's the difference between pearl onions and 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.

How long are pearl onions good for? ›

Look for pearl onions with dry outer skins that feel and sound papery. Skip any onions with brown soft spots or signs of sprouting. Pearl onions keep well for about a month stored loosely in a cool, dry, dark place with good ventilation.

Discover More ›

What flavor are gold pearl onions? ›

Description/Taste

The flesh is firm, juicy, and crisp. Gold Pearl onions are crunchy and mild developing a savory, sweet, and slightly less pungent flavor than full-sized onions when cooked.

Tell Me More ›

Should you peel pearl onions? ›

Like other onions, pearl onions need to be peeled before use. Unlike their larger onion counterparts, pearl onions are trickier to peel thanks to their tiny size. The fastest way to peel pearl onions is to use a blanching method.

Know More ›

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.