Grilled Sweet Onions

Tender and sweet Grilled Onions are a perfect side dish or topping for your next BBQ! They are simple to make and taste oh-so-good!

These are the perfect complement to so many meals that you can count on making them every time you grill.

They only take a few minutes to grill, so they won’t hold up meals while you wait a long time for them to finish up. We serve these up with our Cornish Hens, Cowboy Steaks, and Caramelized Onion Chicken.

🧅 Ingredients

Look for a good, sweet onion.  Hands down, the sweet varieties will caramelize and cook the best.

• Walla Walla Sweet Onion – I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and each summer, when these became available, we would buy quite a few for our cooking.  They are wonderful. It is harder to find these out of season and out of the Northwest, but if you see them, make sure to grab them.
• Vidalia Onion – This is the most readily available onion on the market. It is quite common to find these at almost every grocery store. Interestingly, these are grown in one of 20 counties in Georgia and uses a granex seed variety.
• Maui Sweet Onion – As the name indicates, this onion variety is grown in Hawaii.  It is definitely more difficult to get in mainland America, but definitely grab some if you get the opportunity.  It is one of the sweetest onions in the world. You will find these under the “Kula-grown” trademark.
• Texas 1015 Onion – This is an extremely large and mild variety that is usually only available through special order.  The size of these onions alone make them awesome for grilling.

🔥 Instructions

Step One: Slice the onions into half-inch slices, place the palm of your hand over the onion, and carefully push the skewer through. Make sure not to slip and accidentally poke your hand. Trust me, that hurts!

Note: Err on the side of cutting too thick. If you slice these too thin, they will be hard to get the skewer through, and it will make it harder to turn them over on the grill.

Alternatively, you can stick the skewer through when the onion is whole, and then slice on either side of the skewer, but I thought that was more cumbersome than gently pushing it through after slicing.

Step Two: Mix two tablespoons of olive oil with a little bit of kosher (or sea) salt and coarse ground pepper in a small bowl. Brush the olive oil mixture on the onions. Always do this AFTER you put the onions on the skewer. If you try to do this before, they become too slippery and it is hard to keep a grip on the onion and you could end up poking yourself. Let’s not ask me how I know that, ok?

Step Three: Grill these between 20 and 30 minutes. I set them on direct heat at 300 degrees for 10 minutes and then turned them over for another 10 minutes. The onions are done when they are golden brown and a bit soft to the touch. Don’t worry if the edges get a little charred. That part tastes the BEST!

💡 Expert Tips

Use Flat metal skewers.  These are much easier to push through the center of an onion slice than round or wooden skewers. Plus, the flat skewers eliminate the onion from spinning when you lift it. That makes it much easier to turn over.

Brush both sides of the onion with the olive oil mixture to minimize the chances of sticking to the grill. You don’t need a lot of oil. A little bit will go a long way.

Use the GrillGrate to get those beautiful charred lines. This is my single favorite grilling accessory. Spoiler Alert: This is well worth every penny!

If a slice is too thin, or you are not able to get the skewer through, place it on a non-stick copper mat and grill. 

Serve these with steaks, chicken, or pork! Top off a thick juicy burger for a great treat!

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