by Jessi Wohlwend
Break out the grill for summer and learn how to grill onions! These are so delicious and the easiest side dish for all your summer nights.
We love grilled onions in our household; whether they’re slices for sandwiches and burgers, or wedges for snacking on, grilled onions are our favorite summer grilling recipe! It’s super easy to cook onions on the grill, so today I’m going to show you the best way to grill onions in both slices and wedges!
We have a gas grill, so that’s what the instructions in this grilled onion recipe are based on. But if you have a charcoal grill, I share tips for grilled onions on a charcoal grill as well in the instructions below. The printable version of the recipe is at the bottom of this post.
If you love summer grilling, check out these other great grilling recipes:
How To Grill Onions
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 20 to 40 minutes
- Total time: about 1 hour
Ingredients
- sweet onions
- olive oil
- salt
Supplies
- gas grill or charcoal grill
- wooden skewers
- chef’s knife
- grill tongs
The Best Way To Grill Onion Slices
Prep
For perfectly grilled onion slices for burgers or sandwiches you want to start with sweet onions (Walla Walla or Vidalia onions are the most common, but any sweet onion will do).
Peel the skin and one outer layer off the onion, then trim off the top so you have a flat surface.
Push a wooden skewer all the way through the onion, about ¼ inch from the flat surface you just cut. Make sure to push the skewer all the way through the onion so that only about an inch of the back of the skewer sticks out of the onion.
Cut a ½ inch slice off the end of the onion so that the skewer is in the cut off slice. Then cut or break the skewer, leaving about an inch protruding from the onion. Then you can use the sharp half of the skewer to skewer the next slice of onion.
A large onion should yield 4-6 slices when sliced this way.
Coat both sides of each slice in olive oil and a dash of salt.
NOTE: We’ve never had a problem with the wooden skewers catching on fire while grilling, but if you’re worried about it you can soak the skewers in water for 15 minutes before prepping your onions so they don’t burn.
The Best Way To Grill Onion Wedges
Prep
You want to use sweet onions for grilled onion wedges as well; the sugars caramelize perfectly on the grill to make delicious grilled onions!
Peel the skin and one outer layer off the onion, then trim off the top so you have a flat surface.
Place the onion flat side down and cut it in half, right through the root.
Then cut each half of the onion into wedges, again slicing right through the root. The root will hold the onion wedges together so they don’t fall apart on the grill.
A large onion should yield 6-8 wedges when sliced this way.
Coat the wedges in olive oil and a dash of salt.
How To Grill Onion Slices or Wedges
Gas grill:
Preheat your gas grill for about 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to medium. You want to cook the onions on a medium heat so they can cook for longer (and get caramelized!) without too much charring. If you like your onions a little softer and more caramelized, lower the heat and cook them a little longer. If you like your onions just gently charred, but still firm, you can increase the heat so the outside of the onions will cook faster.
Charcoal grill:
For a charcoal grill, start your coals, then when they are ready, pile them all the way to one side of the grill to create a tall hill of heat.
For both grills:
When the grill is ready, put the onions on the grill. (For a charcoal grill, put the onions on the opposite side of the grill from the hill of coals.) Cover and cook for 10 minutes and then flip them over. Cover and cook again for 10 more minutes.
Keeping the grill covered is important because it will help the center of the onion cook as well as the outer surfaces.
The onions are done when they have a light golden color on all sides. You can pull them off the grill after the first 20 minutes, or flip them one more time and cook a little longer if you want them more caramelized and brown. The onions should be done after 20-40 minutes, depending on how soft/caramelized you want them.
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