Discover the magic of Grilled Sweet Onions, a simple yet flavorful side dish that will elevate your BBQ experience! Delight your taste buds as the natural sweetness of the onions is enhanced by the smoky notes from the grill. Fire up the grill and add a touch of sweetness to your outdoor feast!

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Summer Grilling Recipe
During the summer, everyone loves to fire up the grill and make their favorite steaks, hotdogs, and burgers. Grilled onions are one of the best accompaniments to your grilled favorites because they're so sweet and tasty. Summer is a sweet season, and these grilled whole onions make it even sweeter.
Why You Should Try This Easy Recipe for Grilled Whole Onions
This grilled onions recipe is so easy to make and so tasty. Although grilled onions can be made with regular white or yellow onions, using sweet onions will convert you. Everyone will rave about them!
These easy grilled onions are the perfect complement to so many meals that you will get into the habit of making them every time you fire up the grill.
While onions can be pungent, bitter, and sharp when raw, they are sweet and savory when given time to cook and caramelize. Grilling onions turns them into an almost entirely different vegetable, and sweet onions are the most kid-friendly!
Grilled Onions Recipe - Ingredients You Will Need
- Sweet onions
- Worcestershire sauce
- Butter

What Is the Best Onion for Grilled Onions?
Sweet onions are perfect for grilling, but you may not know they come in many varieties, including the popular Walla Walla, Vidalia, and 1015 onions. Sweet onions cook up much sweeter than other onions, such as your standard yellow and white ones. They also tend to caramelize better due to their higher sugar content.
- Walla Walla: Hard to find when not in season and outside of the Pacific Northwest, but if you see them, make sure to grab some.
- Vidalia: This variety is grown in a 20-county production region in the state of Georgia. It is the most readily available sweet onion and can be found in almost every grocery store.
- Mayan: A Peruvian cousin to the Vidalia and a super sweet onion.
- Oso: Originally grown in Chile to substitute for when Georgia Vidalias were not in season. These Oso Sweets are now grown in the Imperial Valley of California.
- Maui: This variety is grown in Hawaii and is more difficult to find in mainland America. It is one of the sweetest onions in the world and comes with the Kula-Grown trademark.
- Texas 1015: A very large and mild variety you can usually only buy through special order. The size of these onions makes them awesome for grilling.
- Sunbrero: A sweet onion grown in Texas and distributed by the Sweet Onion Trading Company in Florida.
How to Make Grilled Onions
Grilled whole onions are not difficult to make. Here’s what you do:
- Peel each onion, slice off the top and bottom, and cut an X halfway through the top.
- Brush each onion with Worcestershire sauce, dot with butter, then wrap in aluminum foil.
- Roast on hot coals and or on a covered grill.
- Quarter the onions before serving.




Recipe Variations
Instead of Worcestershire Sauce and butter, you could brush them with the following:
- Your favorite BBQ sauce.
- Olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme. You could also opt for basil or dill.
- Go simple with olive oil and salt and pepper, or use something more flavorful like Italian seasoning, steak seasoning, or Cajun seasoning.

What to Serve With Grilled Whole Onions
This easy grilled onions recipe gives you tender, sweet onions with lots of delicious caramelization. They will surely be your new favorite summer side dish and can be used in many ways. Here are a few ideas:
- A piece of crusty bread, a small salad, and these grilled onions in foil, and you've got a great light meal.
- Serve as a side for a perfectly grilled ribeye or on top of a juicy burger. And don’t forget the hot dogs! They also go great with chicken or pork.
- Perfect to accompany sausage and peppers.
- Add them to savory frittatas or scrambled eggs.
- Add them to crepes along with scrambled eggs and shredded cheese.
- Grill slices of baguette or a hearty bread and make grilled onion crostini with olive oil and goat cheese.
- Mix them into roasted or sautéed vegetables.
- Leftover grilled sweet onions can be chopped up and used in sauces, soups, and on sandwiches for lunch.
How to Store Leftover Grilled Sweet Onions
Sweet onions are more perishable than white, yellow, or even red onions, so it's best to keep them in the refrigerator.
Make Ahead: Grilled onions in foil can be prepared 3 days ahead and then served cold or rewarmed in the microwave.
Storage: Allow the onions to cool down thoroughly, then place them in an airtight container, or plastic freezer bag and refrigerate them for 3 to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

More Side Dish Recipes
Grilled Sweet Onions
Ingredients
- 2 sweet onions such as Vidalia
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Instructions
- Peel the onions, slice off the tops and bottoms, and cut an 'X' halfway through the top of each onion.
- Place each onion on a separate sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil, large enough to enclose the onion. Brush the onions with Worcestershire sauce and dot with butter or margarine. Bundle the foil around each onion.
- Place the foil-wrapped onions in hot coals and roast for 45 to 60 minutes or cook in a covered grill over indirect medium heat for 50 minutes, opening the packet during last 5 minutes. Quarter the onions and serve.
Leave a Reply