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Red Onion Recipes

27 recipes with red onion for weeknights, meal prep, and quick ingredient searches. Choose by time, cuisine, and what is in your kitchen.

27 recipes

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Panzanella (Tuscan Bread and Tomato Salad)

🇮🇹ItalyMedium

Salads

Panzanella (Tuscan Bread and Tomato Salad)

Panzanella is a classic Tuscan salad of stale bread and ripe summer tomatoes, dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar, with red onion and basil. It is a summer dish of central Italy (Tuscany and around), and a clear example of cucina povera — a way to use up stale bread, like its relatives Pappa al pomodoro and Ribollita. The name comes from pane (bread) and zanella (a deep bowl), reflecting its humble roots, and the dish goes back to the Middle Ages and the Tuscan countryside. A curious fact: the first panzanella had no tomatoes at all — it was made with bread, onion, and purslane, and the tomato only became the central ingredient in the 20th century. Unlike ordinary salads, panzanella is built on bread as its base: pieces of stale bread soak up the tomato juice, olive oil, and vinegar, turning soft but springy — never soggy when made correctly. The technical keys: stale bread, not fresh; soak and wring it out rather than toasting it (the authentic Tuscan way); ripe seasonal tomatoes whose juice becomes part of the dressing; red wine vinegar, not balsamic; and a 15-30 minute rest so the flavors come together. Served at room temperature as an antipasto or a light summer meal, it is summer on a plate — and best eaten the same day it is made.

30 min280 kcal4 serves

🌱Vegan⚡Quick

★4.6

Insalata di Finocchi e Arance (Sicilian Fennel and Orange Salad)

🇮🇹ItalyEasy

Salads

Insalata di Finocchi e Arance (Sicilian Fennel and Orange Salad)

Insalata di finocchi e arance is a classic Sicilian salad of thinly sliced fennel and oranges, dressed with olive oil, salt, and black pepper, with black olives. It is the contrast of sweet, juicy orange and crisp, anise-scented fennel — bright and refreshing. It comes from Sicily, where most of Italy's citrus is grown, and the orange salad is a legacy of the Arab rule of the island (9th-11th centuries): it was the Arabs who brought citrus into Sicilian cooking. It is a winter dish, since oranges (especially blood oranges, tarocchi) are in season in winter, served as an antipasto or contorno through the cold months. The salad is a fine example of Sicilian agrodolce, sweet and salty: the sweetness of the orange balanced by salty black olives and crisp fennel. Technical keys: peel the oranges to the flesh, cutting away the bitter white pith; slice the fennel very thinly; let the acidity come from the orange, not vinegar; black olives for the agrodolce contrast; blood oranges for the classic Sicilian version; and good fruity olive oil, since there are few ingredients. Save the orange juice that runs out — it is the base of the dressing. Serve at room temperature, the best winter citrus, sliced thin, with excellent oil.

15 min180 kcal4 serves

🌱Vegan⚡Quick🌾Gluten-free

★4.6

Verdure alla Griglia (Italian Grilled Vegetables)

🇮🇹ItalyMedium

Vegetable and Mushroom Dishes

Verdure alla Griglia (Italian Grilled Vegetables)

Verdure alla griglia is a classic Italian dish of seasonal vegetables grilled until charred, then dressed with olive oil, garlic, herbs, and a little acid. It is a summer dish, a symbol of the Italian summer: families gather around the grill, and the vegetables are one of the season's great pleasures. It is served as an antipasto or a contorno alongside meat or fish. The classic grigliata vegetables are eggplant, zucchini, and sweet peppers (red and yellow are best), often with red onion, fennel, radicchio, or mushrooms. The principle is seasonality: use vegetables at the peak of summer, as fresh and ripe as possible. The grill brings out their natural sweetness — the sugars caramelize and a smoky, lightly charred flavor develops. Technical keys: slice the vegetables evenly, about ½ cm; dry them thoroughly, since water is the enemy of caramelization; salt only at the end, never before or during; use high heat and let the char marks form before turning; dress with EVOO, garlic, herbs, and a little acid, before grilling, after, or both; and let the vegetables rest so the flavors come together. Simplicity is the point — a few vegetables, good oil, garlic, and herbs. A celebration of the summer harvest that needs no complicated techniques, served warm or at room temperature.

40 min160 kcal4 serves

🌱Vegan🌾Gluten-free

★4.4

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