These flavorful stuffed onions are a novel and straightforward facet dish! Tender, candy onions get crammed to the brim with sizzling Italian sausage, juicy tomatoes, and cheese, and baked within the oven.
I really like making stuffed onions as a enjoyable riff on stuffed peppers. For an additional simple variation, give my stuffed tomatoes a attempt, subsequent.
I feel 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 at present 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 one in all my go-to vegetable facet dishes at any time when we entertain. They give the impression of being spectacular on a plate, however they’re SO easy to make.
- A lot of taste. If you happen to 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 personal. You’ll be able to swap the filling with totally 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 Elements
Enjoyable truth: Hunt’s® Diced Tomatoes have been the unique inspiration for this recipe, and I’ve tweaked it right here and there over time. The substances are tremendous easy, and I’ve included some notes beneath. Scroll all the way down to the recipe card after the put up for the printable recipe directions and full ingredient quantities.
- Onions – The perfect 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 do-it-yourself tomato sauce (my favourite remains to be Hunt’s®). Marinara sauce or passata additionally works properly right here.
- Italian Sausage – Candy or sizzling Italian sausage, whichever you favor. I take advantage of lean turkey sausage, however it’s also possible to use one other form, like pork.
- Garlic – Contemporary cloves, chopped.
- Diced Tomatoes – You’ll be able to go away these undrained.
- Cheese – Be at liberty 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.
Methods to Make Stuffed Onions
I’ve a form of obsession with stuffing. Not Thanksgiving stuffing (OK, possibly that, too), however stuffing meals with much more scrumptious substances! I’ll stuff absolutely anything, from jambalaya stuffed peppers to eggplant and mushrooms.
Whichever veggie I select, the strategy is kind of the identical. Right here’s easy methods to 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 somewhat 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 fastidiously minimize 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 all the things collectively.
- Stuff the onions. To stuff your onion shells, spoon a little bit of filling into every onion. It’s tremendous if somewhat 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.
Ideas and Variations
- Use the proper 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 should definitely choose onions related in dimension. This manner, they’ll prepare dinner by way of evenly.
- Steam in batches. Use a microwave-safe dish, and microwave the onions in batches. Make sure 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, hen, floor beef, or pork. If you happen to’re utilizing common floor meat, I like to recommend including in a couple of pinches of Italian seasoning to style, to spice up the flavors. You could possibly additionally borrow the meat mixtures from my pork meatballs and air fryer meatballs.
- Totally different cheese. Any melty cheese works nice on this recipe. If you happen to don’t have an Italian mix, substitute it with shredded cheddar, Monterey Jack, Gouda, or Swiss cheese. I feel a French onion soup-inspired variation full of savory floor beef and topped with Gruyère cheese can be scrumptious!
- Extra add-ins. Customise the filling any means you’d like with mix-ins like capers, olives, pine nuts, spinach, and herbs like oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, and Italian seasoning. If you happen to 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 incredible facet dish or appetizer for any event, however I particularly love making these when we’ve got buddies or household over. Stuffed onions go nice with hen chasseur or hen 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 in the course of the holidays!
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Refrigerate. When 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 below foil for 15-20 minutes till they’re sizzling all through. The microwave is another choice, simply reheat in 30-second intervals.
Extra Vegetable Aspect 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. Reduce 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, fastidiously 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 dimensions 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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Prepare dinner the sausage. Warmth a big nonstick skillet over medium-high warmth. Add sausage; prepare dinner 4 to five minutes or till crumbled and not pink, stirring often. Drain the surplus grease.
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Make the filling. Add the reserved 1 cup of chopped onion, then garlic, and prepare 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 by way of. Take away from oven and sprinkle the remaining ½ cup cheese on prime of the onions. Afterward, serve the stuffed onions with somewhat 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 fluctuate based on the substances and instruments used. Please use your most popular dietary calculator for extra detailed information.
