These flavorful stuffed onions are a novel and simple facet dish! Tender, candy onions get crammed to the brim with scorching Italian sausage, juicy tomatoes, and cheese, and baked within the oven.
I like making stuffed onions as a enjoyable riff on stuffed peppers. For an additional simple variation, give my stuffed tomatoes a strive, subsequent.
I believe each delicacies has its personal variation of stuffed onions. There’s Greek salantourmasi and Turkish sogan dolma (each of which remind me of Macedonian sarmi, or cabbage rolls). In the meantime, the stuffed onions recipe I’m sharing right this moment is unquestionably Italian-inspired. We’re stuffing candy onions with a juicy mixture of spicy sausage and tomatoes, topped with a melty Italian cheese mix.
Even my husband, who firmly believes that onions belong in his favourite tomato salad or diced up and hidden in his meals, raves about this entire stuffed model.
What Makes These Stuffed Onions So Nice
- A straightforward facet dish. Together with my roasted eggplant stacks, these stuffed onions are considered one of my go-to vegetable facet dishes at any time when we entertain. They appear spectacular on a plate, however they’re SO easy to make.
- Plenty of taste. In case you love onion rings and Italian sausage, I already know you’re going to like this stuffed onion facet dish! Whereas they aren’t breaded, the onions are candy and tender, full of a flavor-loaded, meaty filling and melty cheese.
- Make them your individual. You may swap the filling with completely different floor meats, veggies, and cheeses to fit your household’s tastes. It’s additionally simple to mess around with seasonings, herbs, and extra add-ins. The sky’s the restrict. I embrace some concepts additional on.
Recipe Components
Enjoyable truth: Hunt’s® Diced Tomatoes had been the unique inspiration for this recipe, and I’ve tweaked it right here and there through the years. The components are tremendous easy, and I’ve included some notes under. Scroll right down to the recipe card after the publish for the printable recipe directions and full ingredient quantities.
- Onions – One of the best onions for stuffing are candy varieties, like Walla Walla or Vidalia onions. These are much less pungent than different onions. You’ll discover them in most main grocery shops. Attempt to discover medium-sized onions, as they’ll be simpler to fill.
- Tomato Sauce – Select your favourite store-bought or selfmade tomato sauce (my favourite continues to be Hunt’s®). Marinara sauce or passata additionally works properly right here.
- Italian Sausage – Candy or scorching Italian sausage, whichever you like. I take advantage of lean turkey sausage, however you too can use one other variety, like pork.
- Garlic – Recent cloves, chopped.
- Diced Tomatoes – You may go away these undrained.
- Cheese – Be happy to make use of a mix of grated Italian cheeses. Good choices are parmesan, pecorino, mozzarella, and provolone.
- Breadcrumbs – I like to make use of panko breadcrumbs since they’re bigger, with a crunchier texture. Common breadcrumbs (seasoned or unseasoned) additionally work.
Easy methods to Make Stuffed Onions
I’ve a type of obsession with stuffing. Not Thanksgiving stuffing (OK, perhaps that, too), however stuffing meals with much more scrumptious components! I’ll stuff absolutely anything, from jambalaya stuffed peppers to eggplant and mushrooms.
Whichever veggie I select, the tactic is kind of the identical. Right here’s put collectively these saucy Italian sausage stuffed onions:
- Trim and steam the onions. Begin by trimming ¼” from the highest of the onions, and trim the underside in order that the onions stand upright. Then, microwave the onions in two batches with a little bit water in order that they steam and soften (in my microwave, it takes about 12 minutes per batch).
- Hole out the center. As soon as the onions are cool sufficient to deal with, use a pointy knife to rigorously lower out the center layers of every onion, leaving about ¼” thickness across the edges. Chop up and put aside about 1 cup of the eliminated onion for the filling. Save the remainder for a stir-fry, salad, or frittata!
- Fill the pan. Now, unfold tomato sauce into the underside of a greased casserole dish. Prepare the onion shells over the sauce. Give {that a} fast season with salt and pepper.
- Put together the sausage filling. In the meantime, brown the sausage in a skillet. Add garlic and the reserved chopped onions, adopted by tomatoes, the remainder of the tomato sauce, ½ cup of cheese, and breadcrumbs. Stir every thing collectively.
- Stuff the onions. To stuff your onion shells, spoon a little bit of filling into every onion. It’s nice if a little bit spills out right here and there, however do your finest.
- Bake. Lastly, cowl the baking dish with the stuffed onions in foil. Bake at 375ºF for 15-20 minutes, and as soon as they’re heat and bubbly, sprinkle the tops of the onions with the remaining cheese. Tada! Baked stuffed onions, able to serve.
Suggestions and Variations
- Use the precise onions. I extremely, HIGHLY advocate candy onions for this recipe. Whereas yellow or brown onions will work in a pinch, the flavors aren’t fairly the identical. Candy onions have a a lot milder taste. Additionally, as regards to onions, you’ll want to choose onions related in dimension. This fashion, they’ll cook dinner via evenly.
- Steam in batches. Use a microwave-safe dish, and microwave the onions in batches. Ensure that there’s about ½ cup of water in every batch in order that they steam.
- Save the pan sauce! All that tomato sauce left over within the baking dish is scrumptious to drizzle over the onions when serving.
- Swap the sausage. Instead of Italian sausage, you should use plain floor turkey, rooster, floor beef, or pork. In case you’re utilizing common floor meat, I like to recommend including in a number of pinches of Italian seasoning to style, to spice up the flavors. You might additionally borrow the meat mixtures from my pork meatballs and air fryer meatballs.
- Totally different cheese. Any melty cheese works nice on this recipe. In case you don’t have an Italian mix, substitute it with shredded cheddar, Monterey Jack, Gouda, or Swiss cheese. I believe a French onion soup-inspired variation full of savory floor beef and topped with Gruyère cheese could be scrumptious!
- Extra add-ins. Customise the filling any method you’d like with mix-ins like capers, olives, pine nuts, spinach, and herbs like oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, and Italian seasoning. In case you like a bit of additional kick, add crushed chili flakes or cayenne.
What to Serve With Stuffed Onions
I serve these stuffed onions heat, drizzled with the leftover tomato sauce within the baking pan. They’re an excellent facet dish or appetizer for any event, however I particularly love making these when we now have buddies or household over. Stuffed onions go nice with rooster chasseur or rooster saltimbocca, and beef dishes like coulotte steak or steak kabobs. I’ll additionally make these as a “fancy” facet to braised lamb shanks and mashed potatoes throughout the holidays!
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Refrigerate. In case you have leftover stuffed onions, retailer them in a single layer in an hermetic container and refrigerate them for as much as 4 days.
Reheat. Heat up these sausage stuffed onions in a 350ºF oven beneath foil for 15-20 minutes till they’re scorching all through. The microwave is an alternative choice, simply reheat in 30-second intervals.
Extra Vegetable Facet Dishes
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Prep. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 13×9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
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Trim the onions. Lower a ¼-inch slice from the highest of every onion. Trim a small quantity from the underside finish so every onion stands upright.
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Microwave the onions. Place half of the onions in an 8×8-inch microwave-safe dish. Add 1/2 cup water and canopy. Microwave on HIGH for 12 minutes, or till the onions are tender. Fastidiously take away onions from the dish and funky barely. Repeat with remaining onions and water.
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Hole out the facilities. When cool sufficient to deal with, rigorously take away the inside layers of the onions with a paring knife, leaving about ¼-inch across the edges. I take away about 3 to 4 layers from every onion, relying on the scale of the onion. Chop and reserve 1 cup of the onion for the filling. Put aside the remaining onion for one more use.
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Fill the pan. Subsequent, unfold 1 cup of tomato sauce into the underside of the ready baking dish. Prepare ready onion shells over tomato sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and put aside.
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Cook dinner the sausage. Warmth a big nonstick skillet over medium-high warmth. Add sausage; cook dinner 4 to five minutes or till crumbled and now not pink, stirring sometimes. Drain the surplus grease.
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Make the filling. Add the reserved 1 cup of chopped onion, then garlic, and cook dinner for two to three minutes or till aromatic. Stir in undrained tomatoes, remaining tomato sauce, ½ cup cheese, and bread crumbs. Stir to mix.
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Stuff the onions. Spoon the sausage combination into the ready onion shells.
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Bake. Cowl the baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 15 to twenty minutes or till heated via. Take away from oven and sprinkle the remaining ½ cup cheese on prime of the onions. Afterward, serve the stuffed onions with a little bit sauce from the dish.
Serving: 1Onion | Energy: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 10g | Fats: 5g | Saturated Fats: 0g | Ldl cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 280mg | Potassium: 473mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 16.7mg | Calcium: 96mg | Iron: 1.3mg
Dietary information is an estimate and supplied as courtesy. Values might range in response to the components and instruments used. Please use your most well-liked dietary calculator for extra detailed information.
