These roasted balsamic onions are tender, savory, and coated in a sweet and tangy glaze that highlights their natural flavor. Perfect as a versatile side dish, they pair beautifully with roasted meats, vegetable dishes, or holiday spreads.
I've grown onions several times in my garden, and each time they ended up much smaller than expected. More like golf balls rather than the baseballs or softballs I imagined.
This past season I was happy to pull more onions out of the ground than ever before. But I couldn't stomach peeling and chopping four or five of them every time I needed a normal onion for a recipe. So that's why all of these tiny onions sat in bag in a closet for the past few months.
Fortunately, I read that you can give onions a quick blanching and the peels would come right off. Turns out, it actually works. Dipping the onions in boiling water for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a bowl of iced water to cool makes it easy. You just slice the root end off after and give them a squeeze, and out pops the onion.
These balsamic onions are a tasty compliment to all kinds of dishes. A few of them on a plate with a a nice cut of grilled steak or piece of roasted chicken can elevate a meal without much effort. But you could add them to a salad, a bowl of cooked grains, or over pasta.
😍 Why You'll Love These Onions
- It's a great recipe for using up small onions, which would otherwise be a pain to slice up and cook in other recipes. There's virtually no crying required to cook these onions.
- The glaze is tangy and rich. With honey, thyme, and mustard, it's a delicious blend of sweet and savory.
- You can serve them with just about anything. Roasted onions make a perfect side for most meat and vegetable dishes.
Try these onions on this Arugula and Spinach Salad with Chicken in place of the pickled onions, with Stuffed Yorkshire Pudding, or alongside a helping of Rutabaga Pie.
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🧅 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make these roasted balsamic onions.
Key Ingredients
- Onions: Use any onion that is smaller than the typical onion. This can range from pearl onions to ones slightly larger than a golf ball, which is what you can see in my photos. This is a good recipe for onions that would otherwise be a pain to peel and chop. Even those on the larger end of the smaller spectrum can be cut in half. Just keep in mind that you'll need to adjust the cooking time - less for smaller, and more for larger.
- Balsamic vinegar: The balsamic vinegar thickens and deepens in flavor during the roasting and helps the onions to caramelize. Any standard balsamic vinegar is good here, since its flavor will only improve during cooking.
- Thyme: Thyme is a great herb to pair with onions. You can use fresh or dried.
- Honey: For a touch of sweetness and to offset the acidity of the vinegar.
- Dijon mustard: For a little more tang and to help act as an emulsifier and bring the oil and vinegar together to form the glaze.
See the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and quantities.
🌿 Substitutions & Variations
- Rosemary: In place of thyme, try rosemary.
- Using sliced onions: You can try making this recipe with thickly sliced onions rather than whole onions. They should take less time to cook, so check on them after 30 minutes.
- Add mushrooms: Mushrooms would make a nice addition and compliment to the onions. Use halved or whole button sized mushrooms.
🔪 Instructions
How to make balsamic roasted onions.
- Step 1: Whisk the vinegar, oil, honey, thyme, mustard, salt, and pepper.
- Step 2: Add the onions to a pot of boiling water and boil for 2 minutes.
- Step 3: Remove the onions from the pot and add to a bowl of ice water for 2 minutes.
- Step 4: Slice off the root ends of the onions and squeeze the onions out of their skins.
- Step 5: Pour the balsamic glaze over the onions. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.
- Step 6: Toss the partially cooked onions around in the glaze to coat again, then continue to cook for another 20 minutes.
✨ Top Tips
- If you want to use fresh thyme instead of dried, use 1 tablespoon.
- The best way to tell if the onions are done cooking is to give one a try. The exact cooking time varies depending on the size of your onions. Smaller onions, like pearl onions, will cook faster, while larger ones will take longer.
- If deciding to cook the onions for more than 40 minutes, check them at 5 minute intervals to avoid burning the glaze.
🥡 Leftovers
Store any leftover balsamic onions in a sealed container in the fridge for up to three days.
🥄 Equipment
Spider: Not a necessity, although Allrecipes will tell you every kitchen needs a spider, and having one will certainly make scooping the onions out of the boiling water and into the ice bath much easier. But if you do any kind of frying, they're the perfect tool.
🙋🏻♀️ FAQ
You can cook onions in the oven by tossing them with oil, seasoning them with salt and seasonings of choice, and roasting them at 400 degrees until tender.
Balsamic roasted onions make a great side dish to meat centric meals, as well as vegetarian dishes. You can serve them on the side or on top of foods such as pork chops, steaks, or chicken as a vegetable garnish.
No, they're not necessarily the same. Roasted onions are cooked in the oven until tender or to your liking while caramelized onions are cooked for a longer period of time until softened, have reduced, and are caramelized. Caramelized onions may be cooked in the oven or on the stove while roasted onions are cooked in the oven.
🍗 Pairing
These recipes would go great with these roasted onions:
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📖 Recipe
Roasted Balsamic Onions
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These roasted balsamic onions are tender, savory, and coated in a sweet and tangy glaze that highlights their natural flavor. Perfect as a versatile side dish, they pair beautifully with roasted meats, vegetable dishes, or holiday spreads.
Ingredients
- 1 pound small onions
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a medium sized pot of water to boil. Add cold water to a bowl with several ice cubes. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- While the water is coming to a boil, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, mustard, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Add the whole, unpeeled onions to the boiling water and let boil for 2 minutes. Remove them from the pot and add to the bowl of iced water. Let cool for 2 minutes.
- Remove the onions from the water. Slice off the root end of each onion and gently squeeze to push the onions out of their skins. If you have any onions on the larger size, you can cut them in half.
- Put the onions in a small baking dish. Pour over the balsamic glaze and toss to coat. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, then toss the onions around in the glaze again, and roast for another 20 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Serve warm.
Notes
Smaller onions (like pearl) will cook a bit faster. Start checking them for doneness at 30 minutes. Larger onions may need a little longer than 40 minutes.
The best way to tell if the onions are done cooking is to give one a try. The exact cooking time varies depending on the size of your onions. Smaller onions, like pearl onions, will cook faster.
If using fresh thyme, use 1 tablespoon of leaves.
If deciding to cook the onions for more than 40 minutes, check them at 5 minute intervals to avoid burning the glaze. If the glaze looks like it's on the verge of burning but the onions aren't done cooking, add a small splash of water to the bottom of the dish.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Sides
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
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