Pearl onions braised with butter and chicken stock, great side dish for roast beef or stews.
Ingredients
- 1 pound pearl onions, about 1 inch in diameter
- Butter
- Chicken stock or water (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option)
- Salt and pepper
- Sugar (for brown-braised onions)
Method
1 Blanch the onions in boiling water for one minute. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Slice off the ends; slip off the skins.
If you are using frozen pearl onions, defrost and drain them before the next step.
2a For "white-braised" onions:
Put onions in one layer in a saucepan with chicken stock or water coming up halfway. Add 1 Tbsp butter, season lightly, cover, and simmer slowly 25 minutes, or until tender.
2b For "brown-braised" onions:
Before braising, sauté peeled onions in one layer in butter until lightly browned. Then add liquid, salt, and 1 teaspoon of sugar; cover and simmer slowly 25 minutes, or until tender.
3 Uncover, boil off excess liquid, and fold in another Tbsp of butter if you wish. For "creamed" onions add some heavy cream to white-braised onions when they are just tender. Simmer several minutes until thickened, basting.
Yield: Serves 4.
My husband and I made the onions on New Year’s Eve as a side dish with Filet Mignon. They were so tender and delicious. We really loved this recipe!! We will most certainly make this dish again.
Elise, I finally got around to trying this recipe. I’ve never had brown braised onions and they definitely piqued my interest…they were so good! I was definitely surprised :). can’t wait to try the creamed version, as I’ve never had creamed onions, either. thanks!
Hi Elise, I am getting into cooking and love all your recipes. I have a real novice question. I have seen references to “blanching” vegetables. What is this and how do I do it?
Hi Samantha, great question. Blanching means dipping into boiling water from anywhere from a few seconds to a couple minutes. The idea is not to cook through, otherwise that would be called boiling. ~Elise
Made these as a side to go with Mother’s Day T bone steaks. Also used the frozen variety. Delicious!
I am trying the beef bourguignon and will add the braised onions also. What else would you suggest to go with this meal?
Potatoes, either mashed or boiled, and a green vegetable. ~Elise
These look delicious! I’m wondering if you think this could be adapted to a slow cooker / crock pot. I’d like to have these as a side for a vegetarian meal I’m preparing, but I fear that all of the burners will be taken. Do you think they’d turn out alright if the braising was done in a slow cooker? Thanks!
I don’t see why not. Sounds like a good idea! ~Elise
Braised onions!
At the very end…I added a drop of white wine and reduced it. Yummy.
So now…let me see…Elise’s braised onions OR Elise’s caramelized onions.
Braised or caramelized; Caramelized or braised.
What’s a girl to do?
Me thinks I have to caramelize some onions as well this week, Elise. Both are winners. :)
Now…if I could only stop eating chocolate…I’d lose some weight with all these vegetable dishes of yours.
Thanks for another goodie.
JT
I made this for my boyfriend with a few other recipes from this site–incredible! He is not a fan of onions, but a few bites in, he was in love.
Highly recommended for anyone who wants a nice, warm dish!