Pickling takes the bite out of cocktail onion, leaving it a perfect match for a deviled egg with creamy mild savory flavor.
Deviled Eggs with Pickled Pearl Onion
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
My recipe of the day is for deviled eggs made with pickled pearl onions (also called cocktail onions) in anticipation of the glut of hard cooked eggs always available around the Easter holiday.
Pickled cocktail onions can be a bit tricky to prep if you aren’t used to them. You won’t be peeling those as you do other onions as the skins on them are extremely thin and difficult to remove. Far better to trim the ends open, drop them into boiling water for a quick blanch, then running under cold water. A gentle squeeze afterwards will push them out for the most part. You might find blanching is the best method for removing skins from all sorts of difficult produce besides pearl onions. Among those are tomatoes and peaches. Blanching might seem like a pain on first glance, but it makes life a whole lot easier.
But as I said- I like using these onions in a great many things. In fact, it is the secret ingredient in my homemade tartar sauce.
Pickling removes a lot of the harsh flavor you usually expect from onions. And of course, we all are aware, I am sure, of how great they are in making mixed drinks such as martini or bloody mary.
I’ve also included my tried and true method for cooking the eggs- this always works well for me, leaving no green ring on the yolk.
As for having eggs easy to peel, use ones you have bought about 5-7 days ago. Perfectly, if you place one in a cup of water, it should gently rise a little bit on one side. Discard any that float (those have gone bad). Sinkers that stay flat on the bottom are very fresh and are the ones you should prefer for making poached eggs.
Of course, what you are measuring there is the air inside the egg. As eggs age, it builds up as the whites start to become more watery and helps separate the membrane from the shell, making them easier to peel. Of course, the very freshest ones will have almost no air at all and the whites will be very tight- keeping them compact and nice looking for poached. You may have wondered why when you fry an egg, some spread out so much and some don’t? This is the reason.

Deviled Eggs with Pickled Pearl Onion
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs hard-cooked
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 4 small pickled pearl onions cocktail onions, minced
- salt and black pepper
- optional garnish: red pepper flakes and/or finely minced fresh Italian parsley
Instructions
- Cover eggs in a saucepan with cold water and bring to a boil; simmer for ten minutes, then remove from heat.
- Drain hot water off and cover with ice water until cool, then peel.
- Split eggs, and mash yolks with a fork in a small bowl.
- Mix in the mayo, Dijon, minced pickled onions, salt and black pepper until smooth.
- Fill cavities and garnish as you like.
Here’s my recipe for pickled pearl onions, aka cocktail onions. You can use them in eggs, in tartar sauce, in cocktails, however you like. Since they are pickled, they keep a good while in the fridge, but not being water-bath canning processed as such, are not suitable for keeping at room temperature., even with the high acidic content.
If you want a recipe for that, I am sure someone has one posted somewhere – check the extension sites for canning at Universities.
Pickled Pearl Onions
Allow time to refrigerate (several days)
Ingredients:
- 10 ounces fresh pearl onions (red or white)
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Method:
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Trim ends from the onions.
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Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and add onions; boil one minute then drain under cold water.
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Slip off the outer skins by squeezing gently or use a paring knife to assist.
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Whisk together the remaining ingredients and add onions.
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Refrigerate until needed; the longer they sit, the better.From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
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You know just how much I love a deviled egg…and these sound so yummy! Funny…I’m planning on possibly doing something with pickled onions with my deviled eggs this year too! Thanks so much for sharing my recipe as well! It’s always nice to have options when it comes to deviled eggs!!!