Kitchen Basics: Prepping Pearl Onions

Although pearl onions are not common in home cooking, we used a lot of them at the restaurant. They are perfectly sized for great restaurant presentations in which you can leave them whole for aesthetic reasons.

To do this requires that you peel them and if you don't know a simple trick, they can be a bear to peel. There's a reason why a lot of produce houses have custom cut divisions that supply already peeled pearl onions in large quantities. They can be labor intensive.

Slice off the Root End

Boil for Two Minutes

Squeeze from the Stem End

Slice off the root end of each little onion. Put the onions in boiling water for two minutes. Remove and cool them to the point where you can handle them. Squeeze from the stem end and the onion will pop right out of its skin. You may need or want to trim the stem end a bit.