Cipollini Onions with Balsamic Glaze
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Italian Cipollini onions in a balsamic glaze, a sweet and savory cipollini onion recipe that makes the most delicious, elegant pearl onion substitute. Serve as a side dish or topping for pizza or pasta.
Tiny, sweet Italian cipolini onions show up in the fall in farmer’s markets and grocery stores, and this is an easy, elegant way to cook them. Because they’re naturally sweet and tender, I love to caramelize them in butter and tangy-sweet balsamic vinegar.
This is essentially a pan-roasted cipollini agrodolce recipe — sweet-and-sour baby onions, Italian-style. Think of this easy side dish as a twist on the traditional bowl of Thanksgiving pearl onions.
The liquid in the pan reduces down to a syrupy glaze that’s a little bit sweet and a little bit sour. You end up with little nuggets that are tender, savory and perfectly balanced with tangy sweetness.
- Cipollini are an Italian heirloom variety shaped like flat, plump discs, almost like mini versions of Vidalia onions that have been squashed. Their papery skin comes in shades of red, yellow and white, but I’ve only ever seen the yellow and red ones.
How to peel cipollini:
- Put them into a pan of boiling water for 2 minutes.
- Drain, cool slightly and trim off the top of the onion with a small knife.
- Slip the skins off.
Serving ideas
- Toss glazed and chopped cipollini into a mushroom ragu sauce for pasta.
- Serve over creamy Parmesan polenta (so good!).
- Roughly chop the onions and use as a pizza topping.
Balsamic Glazed Cipollini Onions (Cipollini Agrodolce)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds (675 g) cipollini onions
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup (75 ml) water
- ¼ cup (60 ml) balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or rosemary leaves
Instructions
- Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Drop in the onions and boil 2 minutes. Drain and cool slightly.
- Use a small, sharp knife to slice off the top of the onions, then slip off the skins. Trim any hairy roots, but leave the stem end intact so that the onions don’t separate. If the onions are larger than 1 1/2-inches diameter, slice into halves or quarters.
- Heat the butter and oil in a medium (8-10-inch) nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter stops foaming and begins to smell nutty, add the onions to the pan. Cook 5 minutes, or until the onions are browned, stirring occasionally.
- Sprinkle the onions with the sugar and salt. Pour the water and vinegar over them (the pan will sputter). Turn the heat down to medium and cover the pan. Cook 5 minutes.
- Uncover the pan and continue cooking until the liquid in the pan looks syrupy and has large bubbles, another 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with the thyme and serve.
Notes
- The glazed onions will keep refrigerated 3-5 days.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
How do I reheat them?
You can reheat them in a microwave at low power (power of 2 or 3, about 5 minutes depending on your microwave), or in a covered saucepan over low heat. Add a few splashes of water or broth before either method to prevent the sugar from scorching.
I tried these at my grocers olive bar, and now I want to make my own. The ones I tried were still a little crunchy— do your turn out that way? I don’t want them to be too soft.
Thank you
Hi Neena – If you’d like a bit more crunch, just blanch for 30 seconds instead of 2 minutes. I hope you enjoy them!
Great recipe. The onions don’t get overcooked!
This is a winner. Easy side to accompany any dish. At the end, I quartered the onions and mixed them back in the pot with the glaze and it took them to the next level. I used rosemary and was absolutely excellent. Also I agree with someone you could leave out the sugar if you wanted and they would be just as good.
Can I cut up a large sweet onion instead?
Hmmm, in that case you’d basically be making caramelized onions. I suggest you use 2 large onions, which should weigh close to 1 pound. Slice them into 1/4-inch half moons. Skip ahead to step 3 and sauté the onions in a 12-inch pan with the oil and butter until they become golden brown, which may take up to 15 minutes. From there you can continue with the recipe.
i was just wondering if i can freeze these
Yes, they can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
My late mother always did the caramelized pearl onions at Thanksgiving – your notes talk about this holiday dish served in a “bowl” and having an unappealing texture. I never had her recipe until it was discovered by a cousin last year. In my years of attempts to recreate it, I found frozen pearl onions always had a slimy texture so I switched to fresh and solved it. The other key to success was roasting the pearls in a single layer in a clay tart baking dish. Crispy edges ! If you pm me, I will send you her recipe.
OMG ..so flavorful! I couldn’t stop eating them….
I left out the sugar but followed the rest of your recipe. Wow, just incredible! Can’t wait to make it again, thank you!
Hi Karen:
I made your recipe with a few tweeks of my own. It was wonderful, but not what I remember cooking. Many (!) years ago I lived in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. My Italian mother-in-law introduced me to cippolini. However, the onions which are called by that name aren’t the ones I remember cooking. They were small, brownish/yellow in color and when we cleaned them we did it under running water because they emitted a sticky, slimy juice. They resembled small shallots. You mentioned that in your description of the recipe. I can’t find those anywhere in the U.S. Can you direct me to where I might purchase them. I live about 100 miles south of Chicago. Thanks
Hi Carole – I wish I could taste those! I suggest looking in farmer’s markets in the fall. Also take a look at Etsy for a mail order option for heirloom onions – https://bit.ly/36xt7XZ
I am going to make these with fig glaze and a dash of cider vinegar! You always inspire me to try new things!
I don’t understand the sugar. The idea of caramelizing onions is to bring out the onions own sugar. Especially since balsamic vinegar has sugar as well.
A little sugar just intensifies the process of caramelizing, plus it adds some body to the glaze. Some onions are sweeter than others. You can always leave out the sugar if you enjoy their natural sweetness!
I cut back by half, the sugar but if one uses a good Balsamic, one could cut the sugar out entirely. I have one more batch of onions so will eliminate the sugar next round.
Delicious!! I added mushrooms and sage also and the glaze was perfect not too sweet either. Thank you for sharing!
I only made this because I received those tiny onions from a farm share today. It was delicious and i think i could use regular onion slices in place of tiny onions. So good!!
Yes, you absolutely could!!
My question is that this sweet heirloom onion is “young variety of larger vidalia onion? But closer to garlic/shallot growth?”
It is prepared with balsamic glaze and can be accompanied with porcini mushroom with wine?
Someone made fun of me and told me that onions were not Italian! Ridiculous!