These Creamed Onions are a traditional side dish that is popular during the holidays. Pearl Onions are cooked until tender in a creamy white sauce for a classic, elegant dish that is perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any special occasion.
Where Did Creamed Onions Originate?
Originally hailing from England, these Creamed Pearl Onions have been found on many American holiday tables for decades. If you’ve never tried them, now is your chance. Because we have made this recipe so simple, straightforward and easy, you’ll have no excuse to treat yourself!
One of the reasons this is such a popular Holiday Recipe is that you make it the day ahead of time and just put it in the oven before serving. This means that you can have a delicious side dish already to go without worrying about one more recipe to prepare!
Ingredients To Make Creamed Onions
First gather all your ingredients. You probably already have a lot of these in your kitchen right now!
- 4 cups pearl onions
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup flour
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
After that, you just need to follow a couple of steps until your in Onion heaven!
How To Make Creamed Onions
- Place the onions in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, around 6 to 7 minutes. Remove the onions from the water, drain in a colander and allow to cool. Peel the onions and set them aside.
- In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk to mix.
- Pour in the chicken broth and heavy cream and simmer, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened, around two minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in the parsley and parmesan cheese.
- Add the onions and stir to coat.
- Transfer the onion mixture to a baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator overnight.
- When ready to cook, remove the pan from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the onions covered for 15 minutes, then remove the cover and cook an additional 10 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly.
Notes, Tips and Suggestions
- CAN YOU USE DIFFERENT ONIONS?- I would not substitute for any other onions on this dish. Pearl onions have that slightly sweet, mild taste that really makes this dish work. Most other onions would be WAY too strong or bitter.
- CAN YOU USE FROZEN PEARL ONIONS? – Yes, and you can cook them straight from frozen. You may just have to increase the cooking time a bit.
- DON’T OVERCOOK THE ONIONS- You know your onions will be done cooking in the first step when they are slightly soft and becoming translucent. Cooking them anymore may get them too mushy and ruin this dish.
- HOW TO COOK AND PEEL PEARL ONIONS- If needed, trim the ends off of the onions before cooking. After cooking, make sure you allow the onions to get back to room temperature before peeling the skin off. If cooked properly, the skin should just peel right off. If you are in a hurry, you can use an ice bath to lower the temperature of the pearl onions before peeling.
Items To Help With This Recipe
- We love to bake casseroles in our Le Creuset Casserole Dish because it comes with a lid! You can just keep your leftovers right in your casserole dish in the fridge! Or, if you are looking for something a little less expensive, this one works great too!
- This Large Stockpot is super affordable and would be the perfect size for this recipe.
LOOKING FOR OTHER CLASSIC SIDE DISHES FOR THE HOLIDAYS? CHECK OUT:
- CREAMED PEAS
- CREAMED CORN
- CREAMED SPINACH
- CROCKPOT CORN CASSEROLE
- GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
- SMASHED POTATOES
- SWEET POTATO BITES
- BACON WRAPPED GREEN BEANS
We hope you enjoy this Creamed Onions Recipe. We’d love to know how it turns out for you! Let us know in the comments!
Creamed Onions
Ingredients
- 4 cups pearl onions
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup flour
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the onions in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, around 6 to 7 minutes. Remove the onions from the water and allow to cool. Peel the onions and set them aside.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add the flour and stir to mix.
- Pour in the chicken broth and heavy cream and simmer, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened, around two minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in the parsley and parmesan cheese.
- Add the onions and stir to coat.
- Transfer the onion mixture to a baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator overnight.
- When ready to cook, remove the pan from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the onions covered for 15 minutes, then remove the cover and cook an additional 10 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly.
Comments & Reviews
Jen says
Any suggestion for using frozen pearl onions?
Kathy says
Sorry. We haven’t tried that.