Key Takeaways
- Frozen pearl onions are inexpensive, easy, and convenient.
- They can be easily substituted in many recipes for regular fresh onions.
- Freezing also tames the sharpness of onions, making them more mellow and tender.
From the beginning of my cooking career (Helping with dinner when I was 6 years old counts, right?), onions have been my nemesis. Besides the tear-inducing, injury-threatening task of peeling and chopping them, there’s the worry of maintaining that delicate balance between raw, tender, caramelized, and burnt when cooking them.
Onions can also be a polarizing ingredient. Some people put raw onions on everything, and others can’t stand the thought of an onion coming anywhere near them. For me, it’s the fact that I’ve eaten too many dishes where the onions didn’t fully cook in the time the recipe stated that turned me off. That is until Julia Child reminded me that pearl onions exist.
How a Julia Child Recipe Started My Obsession With Frozen Pearl Onions
I first came across the idea of using pearl onions in a video of Julia Child using fresh pearl onions to make a braised onion dish. I went to three stores before I finally found fresh pearl onions. Back home, I followed her exact directions to blanch and peel those things, only to pierce my finger with a paring knife.
Undeterred, I bandaged my finger, went back to Kroger, and bought their frozen pearl onions. I finally made Julia’s recipe, ate every delicious bite, and never looked back.
After this discovery, I started using frozen pearl onions in most of my cooking. They are blanched and peeled before packaging, so most of the work is done for you. No more chopping or crying!
Because of their small size, all you have to do is add them to whatever you’re making and they cook up perfectly. I’ve used them in stir fries, added them to potato hash, dropped them into soups and stews, and even included them when oven-roasting vegetables.
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How To Substitute Pearl Onions for Regular Onions
The most convenient thing about frozen pearl onions is that they can go into your dishes still frozen, with no prep needed at all. After you add them they thaw almost instantly, cook quickly, and enhance the flavor of the dish. And freezing mellows that raw onion flavor and texture I don’t love.
In soups or stews, like my mother’s Korean curry rice, I sometimes thaw them for about 15 minutes on a paper towel-lined plate or, in a pinch, microwave them for 30 seconds. I then sauté them in oil or butter until they start to caramelize a bit, then add them to the pot. This quick sauté adds a depth of flavor that you would expect from browned fresh onions with none of the fuss or the tears.
For a fraction of the cost of fresh pearl onions, you get a product that won’t spoil, requires no prep, and tastes at least as good, if not better, than its fresh alternative. If something frozen can taste as good as fresh but make my life easier, I’m putting on a sweater and heading to the frozen food section. See you there!
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