Easy oven-baked onions are wonderfully flavorful, creamy and cheesy. They make a wonderful side dish to meats and poultry.
These creamy onions are just wonderful. Baking them in the oven with heavy cream and Parmesan makes them tender, creamy, and very flavorful.
It’s a recipe that I like to make because it’s nutritious and easy to make, yet it produces impressive results. With the exception of the youngest – the Picky Eater – we all like it very much.
Cooked onions are creamy and mild
I don’t know about you, but I really dislike raw onions. I find their pungent, sharp flavor to be quite offensive.
But something magical happens when you cook them. They become creamy and mild, almost sweet. In this recipe especially, the addition of heavy cream makes the onions extra creamy and mild.
The ingredients you’ll need
You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make this tasty side dish. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here’s an overview of what you’ll need:
Large onions: White or yellow onions work well in this recipe.
Heavy cream: I only use 1/4 cup in this recipe. It’s the perfect amount to add creaminess without making the dish too rich.
Kosher salt and black pepper: I use kosher salt in most of my recipes. If using fine salt, you might want to use less of it, or the dish could end up too salty.
Herbs: Dried thyme and dried bay leaves. Make sure they are fresh – a stale spice can easily ruin a dish. Speaking from experience…
Grated Parmesan: Make sure you use finely grated parmesan and not coarsely shredded. I use just a tablespoon – you can use a little more if you’d like.
How to make creamy baked onions
Scroll down to the recipe card for the full details. Here are the basic steps:
Cook the onions briefly in water to soften them, then cut them in half.
Top them with a creamy sauce made from heavy cream and grated Parmesan.
Bake them until golden. This should take about 30 minutes at 400°F.
Cooking the onions in water prior to placing them in the oven is admittedly an annoying extra step, but it does ensure that they turn out wonderfully creamy in the oven rather than browned and crispy.
What main dishes go with creamy baked onions?
This lovely side dish goes really well with meat and poultry dishes. Since I bake it in a 400°F oven, I like to serve it with a main dish that I can cook in the same oven. It’s just so convenient.
So I often serve these onions with baked pork chops, with baked meatballs, or with beef tenderloin roast.
What about leftovers?
Leftovers keep quite well in the fridge, in a sealed container, for 3-4 days. Reheat them, covered, in the microwave on 50% power. Leftovers are also very good when mixed into an omelet or a scramble such as this spinach and eggs scramble.
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Creamy Baked Onions
INGREDIENTS
- 2 large onions, 8 oz each without refuse
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Peel and trim the roots of the onions but leave them whole.
- Cook the onions in a large pot of boiling water for 30 minutes, until tender. Use a slotted spoon to remove them to a plate.
- Whisk the cream with the salt, pepper and thyme.
- When the onions are cool enough to handle, slice each in half through the root. Place the onion halves, cut side down, in a small baking dish with the bay leaves. Pour the cream over the onions, sprinkle them with the Parmesan, and bake for 30 minutes, until golden.
NOTES
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, Reader's Digest, and Better Homes and Gardens.