PSA: You Should Be Confit-ing Your Spring Onions (Obvi I Used Purple) 

Spring onion confit: bulbs and greens slow-roasted in olive oil until jammy, caramelized, and meltingly tender — 5 minutes of prep and the oven does the rest.

I am an equal-opportunity veggie confit lover — slowly roasting whatever the season hands me in obscene amounts of olive oil until tender, jammy, and deeply flavorful. Garlic, shallots, cherry tomatoes... and now spring onions. Same low-and-slow magic, different veggie.

Spring onions are young bulb onions harvested before they fully develop — which is why both the tender green tops and the small sweet bulbs are entirely edible. Peak season is late spring through early summer, though you can find them year-round.

My relationship with cooked onions as a side began in Mexico City, where my family is from — cebollitas cambray arriving with the salsas at every taquería, charred over open flame until sweet and blistered. This is the olive oil-soaked, low-and-slow (purple) version of that — any color works.

The purple bulbs turn jammy and caramelized; the greens go silky and almost melt into the oil. That infused oil is equally the point — don't you dare throw it out. It usually ends up as the olive oil in my salad dressing that evening, though it's made appearances in plenty of cooked dishes too.

For a little caramelization on top, place the pan on the lowest oven rack. Or finish under the broiler for a few min — 6-8 inches below it, onions still sitting in their oil, metal pan or cast iron only. Checking every couple minutes. It goes from perfect to burnt fast.

Spoon them over eggs, toast, pasta, roasted vegetables, grain bowls. Drag some crusty bread through that oil. You'll keep finding reasons.

If you can turn on an oven and pour olive oil, you can make this.

More alliums, always.

Print Recipe

Spring Onion ConfitSpring Onion Confit

Spring onions slow-roasted in olive oil until jammy, caramelized, and meltingly tender — with infused oil just as good as the onions themselves. 5 minutes of prep, the oven does the rest, obvi I used purple.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time50 minutes mins

Course: Condiments

Cuisine: Californian

Servings: 4

Author: Daniela Gerson

Ingredients

• 2 bunches purple spring onions roots trimmed
• 1 –1.5 cups extra virgin olive oil enough to submerge
• kosher salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300°F.
• Place spring onions in an ovenproof dish in a single layer.
• Pour olive oil over to submerge. Sprinkle with salt.
• Cover with foil and roast until the bulbs are tender and jammy and the greens are silky, 50–60 minutes.
• Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the fridge, completely submerged in oil, up to 2 weeks.

Notes

For a little caramelization on top, place the pan on the lowest oven rack. Or finish under the broiler for 30–60 seconds — 6–8 inches below the element, onions still sitting in their oil, metal pan or cast iron only. Checking every couple minutes. It goes from perfect to burnt fas

More Confit Recipes

Same low-and-slow magic, different veggie. Try these other easy confit recipes — same technique, different personality:

• Garlic Confit — meltingly tender, caramelized, spreadable cloves with fragrant infused garlic oil.
• Shallot Confit — jammy, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth shallots with equally delicious infused shallot oil.
• Tomato Confit — low-and-slow roasted cherry tomatoes until sweet, jammy, and bursting with umami.

If ya try this recipe, I'd love to hear about it — leave a comment below and tag me on IG, @danielagerson, so I can see too.

Let's make waves in the kitchen.