Unlike yellow and white onions, sweet onions are so mild that you can eat them like an apple! There are many ways to incorporate sweet onions into super easy dinner recipes. From killer condiments like a sweet onion jam, delicate pasta dishes, or even onion pie! So, put away your onion goggles and check out some of these delicious sweet onion recipes below.
1. Southern Sweet Onion Casserole
As someone with a southern grandma in the family, I’m no stranger to this sweet onion casserole. Sweet onions add a bit of crunch and sweetness to creamy shredded potatoes. For intense creaminess, it incorporates evaporated milk and tons of cheddar cheese. No holiday gathering is complete without this cheesy and creamy potato dish topped with buttery Ritz crackers!
2. Sweet Onion Jam
Sweet onion jam is the ultimate topping to elevate burgers or added to a charcuterie board with crackers and cheese. While the sweet onions add sweetness, they also earn a fragrant herbal kick from bay leaves and thyme. It’s sweet and savory and will soon be your new favorite condiment to keep in the fridge.
3. Grilled Sweet Onions
Onions often play second fiddle to other veggies or meat, but in this grilled onion recipe, they’re the star of the show! Since sweet onions have a milder flavor than their more potent cousins, they’re ripe for grilling up and serving as a complete meal. Their sweetness pairs perfectly with meaty beef bouillon, fresh herbs, and a dash of white wine.
4. Vidalia Onion Pie
Sure, onion pie sounds a little strange, but hear me out. Think of this onion pie more like a flavorful quiche with plenty of fresh herbs and tons of cheese. It uses a pie crust using buttery Rize crackers and layers of fragrant sauteed onions. An egg mixture with herbs, cheese, and butter fuses all those flavors and bakes until golden and delicious.
5. Roasted Sweet Onions
Give potatoes the night off with this roasted sweet onion recipe. The onions bake very similarly to baked potatoes, but it much lower in calories. It’s a perfect side dish when you want to keep calories low without sacrificing flavor. It includes simple seasoning from thyme, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
6. Baked Chicken with Sweet Onions
This recipe celebrates the flavors of chicken and onion. While the chicken infuses simple spices from garlic and paprika, it doesn’t mask the taste of the hearty helping of onions. The chicken pieces and onion slices bake in the oven for 45 minutes until thoroughly cooked and fragrant. Without much oil, butter, or cheese, it’s a flavorful main course that keeps the calories low.
7. One-Pan Boiled Brats With Sweet Onions and Hard Cider
Sauteed sausage and onions are a match made in heaven. Cooking the sausages in a sweet onion mixture is a great way to infuse robust flavors into this simple fall-inspired dish. What takes this recipe over the top is the addition of hard cider. Hard cider helps to deglaze the pan and lift the sweet flavors of the onions for depth of flavor. If you don’t have hard cider on hand, swap it out for apple cider or chicken stock.
8. Sweet Onion Dip
You can’t go wrong with sweet onion dip if you are on dip duty for your next holiday gathering. It earns intense cheesy flavors from cream cheese, Parmesan, and mayonnaise and incorporates sweet onions to lift those cheesy flavors. Garnish it with simple spices, and serve it with salty crackers or fresh veggies.
9. Sweet Potato Onion Gratin
If your potato dishes feel a little tired and dull, it’s time to change things up! Pairing sweet potatoes and onions deliver intense sweet flavors tamed by cheese and horseradish. Add horseradish for a spicy and fragrant kick and plenty of heavy creams and salty cheese to tame the sweetness. It packs intense flavors that are unique and different but just as savory and delicious as traditional potato gratin.
10. Corn, Sweet Onion, and Zucchini Sautee With Fresh Mint
What I love most about this tasty veggie dish is that it effortlessly celebrates the flavors of late summer. Corn and Vidalia onions deliver a sweet kick to this dish, and zucchini and a dash of fresh mint make it meaty and incredibly satisfying. If you are tired of roasted veggies, this unique summer side dish is a must-try.
11. Sweet Onion Creamed Corn
Creamed corn is a great side dish, but it’s not everyone’s favorite. However, this sweet onion creamed corn is picky-eater approved. It has smoky flavors from bacon to help offset the intense sweetness from the corn and onion. It earns a creamy kick from cream cheese and a double punch of meaty flavors from bacon and ham.
12. Tomato and Sweet Onion Pasta
Are you on the hunt for a tasty pasta dish for meatless Monday? No one will miss the meat with this creamy and slightly sweet tomato and sweet onion pasta. The best part of this recipe is that it only requires a few key ingredients. Sweet onions and acidic tomatoes combine to offer sweet, earthy flavors. Marry the veggies and pasta in a rich sour cream sauce, and serve this with a crisp garden salad.
13. Sweet Onion Carbonara
Sweet onion carbonara may look simple, but it’s packed with intense flavors. The sweet onions in this dish offer a light buttery sweetness enhanced by fragrant Gruyere cheese and a dash of fresh lemon juice. These intense flavors come together in a heavy cream sauce garnished with fresh herbs. It’s simple but delicious!
14. Southern Cobb Salad With Roasted Sweet Onion Dressing
Are you on the hunt for something a little lighter? A good old-fashioned cobb salad will never disappoint. It incorporates a ton of nutrition from hard-boiled eggs, roasted chicken, corn, avocado, and fresh veggies. However, the sweet onion dressing takes this simple salad to new heights. It earns its sweetness from Vidalia onion and a kick of acidity from apple cider vinegar.
15. Sweet Onion and Tomato Salad
Go home, iceberg lettuce, you aren’t needed. With just a few simple ingredients, you can make a killer summer salad. It’s juicy, delightfully sweet, and filled with fresh-out-of-the-garden flavors. Pile ripe tomatoes with delicate sweet onion, and pair with a light vinaigrette. You won’t need much dressing with this salad when you have bright summer flavors!
16. Cherry Tomato Vidalia Onion Pasta
This pasta dish is a great way to whip up something insanely flavorful in under 30 minutes. Cherry tomatoes provide bright acidity to this dish that pairs perfectly with tender sweet onions. A dash of red pepper flakes brings on the heat, and fresh basil from the garden offers light earthy flavors.
17. Roast Pork With Sweet Onion Rhubarb Sauce
Roasted pork and rhubarb? While it sounds strange, this unlikely duo works well when combined with sweet onions! The onion and rhubarb sauce is sweet and tangy, which pairs perfectly with roasted pork. The intense purple hue of the rhubarb sauce is stunning and looks like something out of a 5-star restaurant.
18. Caramelized Onion Sourdough Biscuits
This recipe pairs my favorite words: onion, sourdough, and biscuits! Adding caramelized sweet and green onions to the sourdough biscuit dough adds intense sweetness and flavors. The sourdough is dense and tangy and earns a bright lift of sweetness from onions. Beware, however, because these biscuits are incredibly addictive.
19. Sweet Pickled Onions
Are you ready for your next favorite condiment? Pickles had a good run, but it’s time they take a back seat to these sweet pickled onions. What’s great about this recipe is that it only requires a few pantry staples, and it’s so easy to prepare a big batch. It only requires sugar, vinegar, salt, water, and onions to transform sweet onions into a tart pickled treat.
20. Southern Sweet Onion Hush Puppies
No fish fry is complete without hush puppies! Adding sweet onions to this southern staple is a great way to make these fried cornmeal balls sing. It only requires one small sweet onion to deliver massive flavor into these heavenly deep-fried balls. The delicate flavors add a subtle touch of sweetness that’s hard to resist.
21. Caramelized South Carolina Sweet Onion Sauce for Fish
Move over, tartar sauce, there’s a new sheriff in town. If you’re on the hunt for a fragrant sauce to serve with fish (and you’ve grown tired of tartar sauce), it’s time to shake things up! Caramelized onions offer a touch of sweetness with a spicy kick from jalapeno peppers. Packed with rich spices such as basil and cilantro, you won’t look at tartar sauce the same way ever again.
22. Carp Fish Cakes in Sweet Onion Jam
Carp cakes are a traditional Polish food often served around the holidays. They have a distinctly fishy taste and are only for die-hard fish lovers. However, the fishy taste of these traditional carp cakes melts away by the intense flavors of the sweet onion jam. The onions combined with the flavors from cherry preserves and honey make this unique Polish dish a must-try.
23. Sweet Onion Spoon Bread
Sweet onion spoon bread is the ultimate comfort food. The addition of sour cream into the mix adds tangy and bright notes that pair perfectly with sweet onions and cornbread. Once baked, it tassels like a tangy, creamy, and cheesy cornbread. Yes, please!
24. Caramelized Sweet Onion Gravy
No holiday dinner is complete without gravy! This caramelized sweet onion gravy takes traditional gravy and adds a sweet twist. It’s still thick and savory like your average beef gravy with just a subtle addition of sweetness from onions. To make it vegetarian, swap beef for vegetable stock, and pick up a bottle of anchovy-free Worcestershire sauce.
25. Beef and Onion Stir-Fry
Nothing tastes as good as beef and sweet onions for a cold winter evening. This dinner dish is a family favorite, with tender cuts of meat and plenty of sweet onions. While it’s great on its own, you can also pair it with steamed rice or a side of roasted veggies to keep calories low.
26. Sweet Onion and Pepper Beef Sandwiches
I’m a sucker for sandwiches served with a side of au jus! This recipe includes tender, slow-cooked beef, sweet onions, peppers, and plenty of cheese! After assembling your sandwiches, pour the remaining juice into small bowls ready for dunking. You must serve tender beef on a loaf of crusty French bread that holds up once dunked in a side of au jus.
27. Julia Child’s French Onion Soup
Without sweet onions, French Onion Soup is just dull soup! Julia Child’s recipe for French onion soup is the only recipe you’ll ever need. It’s rich and hearty and perfect for a cold winter’s night. The onions are nice and tender and work so well against a backdrop of beefy flavors and a slice of Swiss cheese.
28. Simple Caramelized Onion White Pizza
In the pizza topping hall of fame, onions will always reign supreme. Caramelizing your onions before they hit the oven brings out those sweet and smoky flavors that take a simple cheese pizza over the top. To impress your guest on pizza night, opt for homemade dough! It tastes 10 times better than pre-made, and it’s surprisingly easy.
29. Caramelized Onion Turkey Brie Panini
This isn’t your average sandwich. Turkey, caramelized onion, and brie paninis are the perfect dinner dish for a weeknight. They deliver elevated flavors from caramelized onions and decedent brie and come together in a snap. A tart cranberry mustard makes this intensely flavorful sandwich sing to marry the sweet and savory flavors.
30. Lentil Stew With Sweet Onions
Lentil stew delivers bone-warming flavors that are perfect for a cold autumn evening. The flavors of this dish are meaty and robust and elevated by sweet onions. It infuses smoky bacon with rich spices such as cinnamon, paprika, and nutmeg. For an added freshness to this heavy dish, garnish it with fresh herbs and a dollop of crème fraîche. Click on a star to rate it!
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