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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Where did creamed onions come from? ›

That's because creamed onions originated in England², an area known for meals saturated with meat and potatoes. But creamed onions are also found elsewhere on the continent both in French³ and Italian cuisine⁴.

Explore More ›

Are small white onions the same as pearl onions? ›

Also known as white co*cktail onions, these small onions are larger than a pearl but still quite compact since they're grown close together and harvested early.

Learn More Now ›

Are pearl onions just baby onions? ›

ampeloprasum 'Pearl-Onion Group'), also known as button, baby 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.

Read The Full Story ›

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.

Do you peel white pearl onions before cooking? ›

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.

Discover More Details ›

Is a boiling onion a pearl onion? ›

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

Keep Reading ›

Are pearl onions the same as pickling onions? ›

Pearl onions

Also known as button or baby onions, these are larger than pickling onions and have a sweet, delicate flavour. Uses: Add whole to stews and casseroles or cook them very gently in a little butter and a splash of balsamic vinegar for 20-30 minutes until tender, serve with roasted meat.