onion recipes
Here's a collection of onion recipes from our weekly newsletters, and some lovely ones you've sent in. If you'd like more please have a look at our recipe index! To find out about our onion producer and order yours click here.
Goulash
Glazed Baked Onions
Onions with Barbecue Sauce
Roasted Vegetable Tart
Ratatouille
Sticky Red Onion Marmalade
Golden Onion and Cider Soup
Thyme Onions wrapped in Pastry
Undercover Onion Tart
Roasted Onions
Super Stuffed Onions
print page
This is a very simple and tasty recipe, perfect on a cold day. Meat lovers may like to add beef, but it is just as tasty without.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions
- 1 rounded dessertspoon wholemeal flour
- 1 tablespoons paprika
- Cayenne pepper
- 400 g tomatoes
- 275 ml hot water, mixed with 1 teaspoon tomato puree
- 1/2 cauliflower
- 225 g carrots
- 225 g courgettes
- 225 g potatoes
- 1/2 green pepper (de-seeded)
- 150 ml greek yoghurt
- Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ Gas Mark 4. Prepare the vegetables by cutting them into chunks. Heat the olive oil in a pan and then fry the onion until soft. Stir in the flour and most of the paprika and cayenne pepper. Cook for a minute and add the tomatoes and water. Bring the ingredients to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the vegetables, salt and pepper. Transfer to a casserole dish and bake covered for 30-40 minutes. After this time stir in the yoghurt, sprinkle on the rest of the paprika and serve piping hot with rice.
back to top
- 4 medium onions, peeled
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 120 ml water
Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5/190°C/375°F. Cut about 1/2 inch off the top of each onion with a sharp knife. Combine remaining ingredients, except water, in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Shake vigorously. Fit the organic onions snugly into a baking dish. Pour the water into the bottom of the dish and drizzle 1-tablespoon of the glaze over each onion. Bake for 50 minutes or until tender, basting with additional glaze every 10-15 minutes.
back to top
Serves 4. Serve this dish over your favorite veggie burger or as a side dish.
- 2 medium onions, sliced into rings
- 60 ml vegetable broth
- 120 ml barbecue sauce
Sauté onions in broth in a large pan over medium-high heat for 8 minutes. Add barbecue sauce and heat 2 minutes longer. Serve warm.
back to top
- 1 aubergine
- 1 red pepper
- 1 small onion
- 500 g plum tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt
- Fresh thyme
- 250 g shortcrust pastry
Preheat oven to 200°C/ 400°F/ Gas Mark 6. First prepare the vegetables. Cut the aubergine into chunks. Cut the peppers in half and de-seed. Place all of the vegetables in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and the thyme and roast for about 40 minutes. Line a 20 cm tart tin with the shortcrust pastry; bake blind for 10- 15 minutes or until golden. When done, spoon in the vegetables and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Serve while still warm!
back to top
The best thing about Ratatouille is that it is easy to make and always popular. You can use this basic idea and add any of your leftovers, like carrots, artichoke, mushrooms or fennel.
- Aubergines
- Courgettes
- Onions
- Red or green peppers
- 4 large tomatoes or 400 g tinned tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil
- Salt
- Black pepper
Cut aubergine and courgettes into approximately 1 inch slices. Chop the onions roughly, de–seed the peppers and chop them too. Skin the tomatoes by first plunging them into boiling water for a couple of minutes, and then removing the skins. Quarter them, and extract the seeds. Rinse the aubergine and courgettes. Pat with a kitchen towel to dry. Now fry the onions and garlic gently in the olive oil in a large pan until soft. Cut the aubergine and courgettes into chunks and add them to the pan. Add the basil, salt and pepper (fresh ground black pepper will give the best result) and simmer very gently for about 30 minutes. After that time add the tomato flesh. Leave the lid off and cook for a further 15 minutes. Enjoy! You will be pleased to know that not only is this recipe tasty, it’s packed full of vitamins!
back to top
Serve this with in a bun, with a sausage just off the
grill. Pile a mound of it on a steak. Or, pair it with a soft goat's cheese
and serve on toast.
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive or rapeseed oil
- 3 large red onions, finely chopped
- 5 whole cloves
- 75g demerara sugar
- 125ml red wine
- 75ml aged balsamic vinegar
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan, add 3 large, finely
sliced red onions and the cloves and cook for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and 75ml
cold water. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, then add the red wine and balsamic
vinegar. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until syrupy, then serve
or cool, place in serilised jars, seal with preserving lids and store in a dry
place.
back to top
This is a rich, luxurious soup – and a great way to clear a backlog of onions! Serves 4.
- 1kg white onions, finely sliced
- 75g unsalted butter
- 500ml Samuel Smith’s cider
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 litre chicken stock
- 200ml Berkeley Farm pouring cream
- To serve: a loaf of pain de campagne
In a pan, sweat the onions in the butter until golden brown. Add the cider and boil gently until reduced by half. Add the thyme, bay leaf, stock and cream and simmer for 30 minutes. Season to taste and serve with a warm loaf of pain de campagne.
back to top
If you saw Valentine Warner’s ‘What to Eat Now’, you’ll recognise this recipe. It’s a very mild variation on one he picked up from his friend Bill, which he probably picked up from his wife! It’s simple, and an utterly genius way of using up and eating an onion! Serves 4
- 450g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 375g cold butter, cut into 2cm pieces, for the pastry
- Plus 4 tsp butter for the onions
- 250ml cold water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 4 small onions
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs, beaten with a splash milk
- Sea salt
To make the pastry:
Sift the flour and a good pinch of salt into a large bowl and add the butter. Mix the butter around with a large metal spoon to coat it in flour. Mix the water and lemon juice together in a jug and pour it into the flour and butter mixture. Using a round-tipped knife, cut across the contents of the bowl several times, turning the bowl continuously as you chop the butter into the flour, until the dough comes together.
When the dough has come together as a loose lump, tip it onto a lightly floured work surface and quickly shape it into a thick slab, roughly the dimensions of a house brick. Flour the work surface well and roll the dough out to a rectangle approximately 38cm/15in x 20cm/8in. Fold one-third of the dough to the centre, then fold the other third over that. Roll the pastry out again to the same 38cm/15in x 20cm/8in proportions.
Fold in exactly the same way again. Rotate the pastry a quarter turn and repeat step 6. Continue rolling, folding, pressing and turning a quarter-turn 3-4 more times. Don't worry too much if the butter oozes through the dough occasionally in the early stages, just keep the board and rolling pin well floured. After the last folding stage, wrap the pastry in cling film and place into the fridge to chill for several hours, or overnight. When ready to use, if the pastry is very firm, allow it to warm in the room for a few minutes before using.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Peel each onion and then cut 1-2 cm off the top and bottom of each one. Then, make a cross in each one, cutting right down through the onion, leaving about 1-2cm or just enough to hold it together in one piece. Divide the pastry. Roll each piece out on a floured surface to the thickness of a pound coin. Cut each piece into two squares that are considerably wider then each onion (the bottom squares being approximately 12cm and the top approx. 16cm).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place on the pastry squares on top and then sit one of the onions on it. Nestle 1 tsp of butter into the cavity of the onion, sprinkle in a good pinch of fresh thyme leaves, top with ¼ tsp caster sugar, a little pinch of sea salt and good grinding of black pepper. with the egg and milk mix, paint all the way round the base edges of the pastry square. Picking up another pastry square, place it over the top of the onion and push the edges gently on to those of the bottom pastry square. Crimp the edges with a fork. Repeat with the other onions. Give the pastry wrapped onions a good gloss of eggy milk before baking in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the pastry is a rich gold. These make the most wonderful snack, starter or accompaniment for a steaming bowl of soup! Heavenly!!
back to top
This French onion tart will clear your onion backlog - and it tastes so delicious, you may just weep with joy. Pair with seasonal salads and some rosé.
Serves 8
Pastry
- 170g plain white flour
- 70g unsalted butter, chilled
- 1 egg, beaten
- Sea salt
Filling
- 3 large white onions, sliced finely
- 50g unsalted butter
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 150ml half‐fat créme fraîche
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
- Freshly ground black pepper
Sift the flour with a good pinch of salt into a large bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes; coat in the flour, then rub into the flour with your hands until it resembles damp sand. Add the beaten egg and just enough iced water (2-3 tablespoons) to make a soft dough. Place into a small bowl, cover with a lid or a plate and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C.
In a heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter. Add the onions and the sugar; cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the thyme and set aside.
Roll the dough on a floured surface until thin. Carefully place in a lightly buttered, 20cm tart tin (ideally one with a removable bottom). Line with greaseproof paper, add baking beans (or dried beans) and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Take the pastry out of the oven and remove the paper and beans.
Mix the egg yolks with the créme fraîche and some pepper. Drain any fat off the onions, spoon into the pastry case and spread the egg mix across the top. Turn the oven up to 190°C/gas 5 and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden on top. Serve warm, cold or at room temperature – up to you, it's delicious any way you eat it!
back to top
Roasted onions are easy and delicious - simply peel the onion, leaving the root ends intact, place in a pan of water, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 4-5 minutes (this makes sure the onions will come out really tender when roasted). Remove and cool, brush with oil or butter, and roast in a greased pan or alongside your turkey in the oven for about an hour, or until soft and browned. Or, try these variations:
- After simmering, scoop out a third of the inside of the onion. Spoon into each a mixture of melted butter, breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan cheese. Roast as above.
- After simmering, drizzle with a combination of balsamic or red wine vinegar, olive oil, black pepper, and chopped fresh rosemary. Roast as above.
- Instead of simmering the onions, trim the bases so they sit flat and cut the tops off, leaving a wide opening (you may want to remove some of the inside of each onion). Drizzle with olive oil and pre-bake at 200ºC for 30 minutes. Fill each onion with some of your turkey duck or goose stuffing, (or a mixture of ham, mushrooms, rice and Parmesan) and bake for 30 minutes in a pan with a little stock, or alongside your turkey.
back to top
Up to your eye balls in onions? Don't cry. Get stuffing.
Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: about 45 mins (a little longer for larger onions)
Serves 4
- 4-8 red or white onions depending on size
- 1 mug breadcrumbs
- A nugget of butter, plus a little more for baking
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
- A good pinch of ground cloves
- Sea salt and ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6.
Pop onions in a pot of water. Bring to the boil. Cook for 15-30 mins (varies according to size), till they start to soften and skins loosen.
Rinse onions under cold water to cool. Remove the skins. Gently pull or cut off the root end. Pull out the middle bit.
Add the middle bit to the breadcrumbs and remaining ingredients. Whiz in a food processor or finely chop. Rub all the ingredients together with your hands. Adjust seasoning as needed.
Fill the onions with the filling. Place on a baking tray with a little butter or olive oil. Roast till the onions start to pick up colour. Serve warm.
back to top