This Week for Dinner: Rose's Creamed Onions Recipe (2024)

Friday, November 16, 2018

Rose’s Creamed Onions

Today I was going through my favorite Thanksgiving recipes to share them on Facebook and discovered something – I have never published Rose’s creamed onions recipe here on my blog. This is not right and I must rectify the situation immediately.

This Week for Dinner: Rose's Creamed Onions Recipe (1)

When Nate and I met and married, his great-grandmother Rose was still alive. She was in her 90s and still lived in the beautiful Colonial home where she raised her children. It wasn’t until she was 99 years old that she finally moved into an assisted living facility, where she requested a cane simply because everyone else had one. She also always wore a dress, even in exercise classes. She passed away just one month shy of her 104th birthday and Iam so grateful to have had the chance to know her.

This Week for Dinner: Rose's Creamed Onions Recipe (2)

Rose was able to meet her first two great-great-grandchildren, both of whom carry her name. My daughter, Cate Rose met Great-Great-Grandma Rose a few times — meetings that of course involved many laughs, hugs, and camera flashes.

Until she moved into assisted living, Rose made creamed onions for every holiday. Her creamed onions could always be counted on for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. After she died, Nate’s grandmother and his mom both carried on the tradition. Rose’s creamed onions are beloved and elicit wonderful memories and feelings of love.

This Week for Dinner: Rose's Creamed Onions Recipe (3)

The first time I tried making Rose’s creamed onions was with Nate’s sister Jess at Thanksgiving.We inadvertently usedpickledonions for the recipe and it was horrible, but also really funny. While the laughs were good, we were a wee bit disappointed at our failure. Thankfully I have since made creamed onions successfully with my girls, keeping the tradition alive.

The more modern version of the recipe uses jarred onions, but Rose always used fresh pearl or boiler onions. The first time I made these after that initial failure, Cate and I could only find fresh onions at the store. Cate insisted that we stop looking and make the recipe the way Rose always did. She literally gripped the fresh onions to her chest, rejecting even the possibility of jarred onions. It was very sweet.

This Week for Dinner: Rose's Creamed Onions Recipe (4)Cate and Anna three years ago, making the creamed onions recipe together

Whether you use fresh or jarred onions, the result is the same — delicious! The fresh onions take longer to cook, but if you cook them a long while, as Rose did, it works great. Either way you end up with layers of flat, soft onion petals that complement many different types of meals nicely. I will admit that my kids don’t loveeatingthese onions nearly as much as they love making them, but I’m sure they will appreciate the taste as they get older. As my daughter Anna pointed out, even if you don’t like the onions that much, the cream around them is awesome!As for the adults in the family, we all love Rose’s onions. There are even several onion-averse members of the family who eagerly look forward to this dish each year. It’s just so good served alongside holiday food — as necessary for some family members as cranberry sauce.

This Week for Dinner: Rose's Creamed Onions Recipe (5)

Rose's Creamed Onions

This Week for Dinner: Rose's Creamed Onions Recipe (6)

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Recipe for creamed onions from my husband's great-grandmother, Rose McCarthy. Perfect for all kinds of holiday meals.

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

  • 1 16-ounce jar onions (NOT pickled) or 1 pound pearl/boiler onions, fresh or frozen (about 20-25 total)
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 2 cups half and half
  • 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
  • ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon pepper
  • Pinch nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. If you are using fresh onions, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add onions and cook for 1½ minutes. Drain onions and add to an ice bath to stop cooking. Cut off the root end of the onions and then peel the outer layer off each onion. Set onions aside.
  3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add flour all at once. Whisking constantly, cook until butter has liquefied. The butter and flour will start out pasty, then boil for about 3-4 minutes, then it will foam a bit and become liquefied, about 5 minutes total. When it reaches this point, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for 3 more minutes.
  4. Slowly add cold half and half, whisking constantly while adding.
  5. Raise the heat back up to medium and cook until the sauce thickens, between 5-10 minutes.
  6. Remove from heat and whisk in the Parmesan cheese, dry mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
  7. Add onions to the sauce, stir well, then pour into a 1½-quart baking dish. Sprinkle top with paprika.
  8. Jarred Onions: Bake uncovered for 10-30 minutes, until mixture is hot and bubbly. Cook longer if you want the top more browned.
  9. Fresh Onions: Bake uncovered for 60-90 minutes, until onions are very soft and top is very brown. If you want to cook the onions longer to make them even softer, cover with foil once the top is as brown as you want it.
  10. Frozen Onions: Boil frozen onions for 2 minutes then prepare as you would for the fresh onions.
  11. Creamed onions can be made a day ahead. Follow all directions until the baking step. Place unbaked creamed onions in the fridge, covered. The next day, remove baking dish from fridge, uncover, and let sit at room temperature while oven preheats. You will probably need to add 10-20 minutes of baking time.

Notes

Makes appx. 12 servings; Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 10-20 minutes when using jarred onions, 60-90 minutes when using fresh pearl/boiler onions


Posted by Jane Maynard at 2:20 pm 10 Comments
Categories: featured recipes, Recipes, side dishes, thanksgiving prep Tags: creamed onions, family food traditions, holiday food, thanksgiving prep |

This Week for Dinner: Rose's Creamed Onions Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Who makes pearl onions in a cream sauce? ›

Birds Eye Pearl Onions with a Cream Sauce (9 oz) Delivery or Pickup Near Me - Instacart.

How long does it take to cook onions? ›

butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions. Cook, covered, for 13 to 15 minutes or until the onions are tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover the skillet; cook and stir over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes more or until onions are golden.

How to boil pearl onions? ›

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.

How to boil onions? ›

Boiling onions is as simple as peeling them, adding them to a pan with boiling water with a bit of salt and leave them for around 10 minutes. Drain them, and they are ready to go! Boiling onions will get rid of their bitterness while still retaining a subtle onion flavour. Onions are perfectly safe to boil.

What is another name for pearl onions? ›

The pearl onion (Allium ampeloprasum var. sectivum or A. ampeloprasum 'Pearl-Onion Group'), also known as button onion, baby onion or silverskin onion in the UK, is a close relative of the leek (A. ampeloprasum var.

Where do you get pearl onions? ›

White Pearl Onions at Whole Foods Market.

Is it better to cook onions in butter or oil? ›

You can use either oil or butter to caramelize onions — but ideally, you use a combination of both! I like to use olive oil, and this cooking fat tolerates heat particularly well. Meanwhile, butter adds a distinctly rich flavor to the caramelized onions.

How do you know when onions are fully cooked? ›

Cook until translucent. If you keep cooking the onions for another few minutes, they will start to lose their opacity and become come translucent. The moisture will evaporate and the onions will wilt further. Keep stirring and adjusting the flame so that the onions cook, but again, do not let them brown.

Do onions get sweeter the longer you cook them? ›

Think of French Onion Soup. The flavor of this classic recipe is sweet, rich, and ultra-comforting. This is because the onions have cooked low and slow, which breaks down the enzymes and ultimately makes the onions taste really sweet. "The longer you cook an onion, the softer and sweeter it gets," says Patel.

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.

Are boiling onions and pearl onions the same? ›

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

How long to boil onions before they are soft? ›

Cook in salted boiling water for 30- 50 minutes (depending on size of onions) until soft and onion layers start to 'come apart'. Drain water, and toss onions w/ margarine, sugar, salt and pepper. You can make this recipe a day or 2 in advance, store in fridge, and heat up in microwave just before serving.

How long do boiling onions last? ›

Cooked onions should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated as well. Like most leftovers, cooked onions will last up to four days in the fridge. Another bonus of refrigerating onions is that the cold slows down the enzymes responsible for those pesky onion tears.

Does Trader Joe's have pearl onions? ›

Braised onions are the side of choice with beef Bourguignon but they are also wonderful with roast beef and other stews. Trader Joe's sells a pack of multi-colored pearl onions that cook up beautifully as braised onions.

Are cipollini onions pearl onions? ›

While cipollini onions resemble smaller versions of sweet onions, pearl onions closely resemble white ones. In fact, they are often referred to as white co*cktail onions—and make their way into martini glasses. Ways to Use Them: Use them a lot like you would cipolline onions— roasted, glazed, or even pickled.

Who makes frozen creamed onions? ›

Vegetables & sauce. Microwavable portable tray.

Are white pearl onions the same as 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.

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