This Southern "Onion Boil" Is the Perfect Side Dish

Though I’d hate to be forced to choose, if pressed, I’d likely name caramelized onions as my favorite vegetable dish. Sweet, savory, and jammy, they complement virtually any dish. So, as an avid onion lover, when I caught wind of the TikTok-famous “onion boil” recipe, I had to see if it was worth the hype.

What Is an Onion Boil?

First off, there is zero boiling in this recipe. “Onion boil” refers to onions that are hollowed out, filled with butter and spices, wrapped in foil, and roasted until tender. It gets its name from the southern seafood boil, where heavily-seasoned butter adorns everything from shrimp to potatoes. This technique results in sweet, tender, juicy onions served in a pool of seasoned melted butter. If you're a fellow onion fan, you’re going to love this easy side dish.

What I Love About This Recipe

• Skip the supermarket. Onion boil relies on common ingredients—onions, butter or olive oil, and spices—so you likely already have everything you need to try it.
• It's budget-friendly. Onions are super affordable and thus a fantastic way to enjoy an extra serving of vegetables.
• It's versatile. You can mix and match the spices according to your own preferences and what you have in your pantry.
• It's easy! There’s no need to babysit the onions because the oven does all the work.
  

My Take On Onion Boil

There are various ways to make this dish. Some recipes instruct you to stuff the onion cavity with plain cold butter, then melt additional butter separately, stir in the seasonings, and drizzle the spiced butter on top. Other recipes skip the cold butter and fill the cavity with seasoned melted butter instead. Others still stuff the onion with solid butter and stir the seasonings into olive oil.

Since solid butter would melt almost immediately in the oven, I melt the butter, add the spices, and pour that into and over the onions to keep the recipe prep super easy. Feel free to use conventional butter, vegan butter, or extra-virgin olive oil here.

What Spices To Use

Think of onion boil as a blank canvas for spices. A lot of recipes use Old Bay or Cajun seasoning, along with additional individual spices. I personally love the combo of smoked paprika, garlic and onion powders, dried thyme, and fresh minced garlic.

Play around and note that more is more when it comes to seasoning these onions. Steak seasoning, mushroom powder, oregano, and cayenne pepper would also be fabulous here.