Stuffed onions

Trim the ends off the onions, and then create an incision in each to cut out and remove a wedge. Boil a pan of water and add the onions for 8 minutes. Remove from the water and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F/180°C fan (or 200°C conventional). Once the onions have cooled, peel and remove the outer layers so you have around 15 layers in total.

Mix the Greek yogurt, fresh breadcrumbs, lamb mince, beaten egg, ground cinnamon, ground cumin, and ground coriander in a large mixing bowl. Then shape into 15 meatballs. Around each meatball, place an onion layer and roll it tightly.

Pour a little of the olive oil into a casserole dish, and arrange the stuffed onions in a tight layer. Drizzle any remaining olive oil over the onions and bake for around 50 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm from the oven and garnish with fresh parsley. 

Tips & tricks

When stuffing onions, make sure you fold them tightly. You don’t want the stuffed onions to fall apart when cooking, and if you can stuff the onions evenly with meatballs of the same size, this will help to ensure the stuffed onions cook at the same rate as each other. We’ve recommended boiling the onions prior to stuffing as this helps to soften the layers and brings out a little sweetness to pair with the savory stuffing. For other ways to cook onions, have a look through all the different techniques. Large yellow onions will work best in the recipe above, but there are so many different types of onions to choose from. If you wish to explore and experiment with other varieties, this is certainly possible too.

In this recipe we’ve outlined how to create stuffed onions using the layers to wrap the meatball stuffing. But other chefs will literally stuff the onions. If you prefer to try making your stuffed onions this way, instead of peeling the onions apart, you’ll want to roast the onions first in foil in the oven. After roasting, remove the skin, and scoop out the insides. Then you can place your filling directly into the onion using it as a vegetable-style ramekin. Both ways create tasty results, but you may prefer to use this method if cooking for guests at home, as this provides an enticing visual presentation.

We’ve used lamb mince in the recipe above, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t make this dish entirely plant-based. Other recipes will use ingredients like rice or quinoa to give the stuffed onions structure. If you have a few leftover onions in your kitchen after cooking this meal, then we have plenty more onion-based recipe inspiration available, including the comfort food favorite, onion rings.

How to serve them

Stuffed onions are delicious alongside roasted vegetables and tasty rice-based dishes. Enjoy as part of a tapas-style meal, or on top of a plate of freshly steamed rice.

Storage

Any leftover stuffed onions can be kept in the fridge for up to three days in an airtight container. You can reheat stuffed onions covered at a low temperature in the oven before serving.