TikTok’s ‘onion boil’ isn’t boiled. It’s so good it doesn’t matter

When it comes to culinary drama, onions are typically relegated to a supporting role. They re the reliable, fade into the background foundation for so...

When it comes to culinary drama, onions are typically relegated to a supporting role. They’re the reliable, fade-into-the-background foundation for so many tasty sauces and soups - but they rarely get top billing. That’s changed in a big way, thanks to a TikTok trend that has given the humble allium its breakout part since that bloomin’ appetizer came along.

Videos of people making "onion boils” - a misnomer, since the dish is actually a whole, peeled onion that is hollowed out, stuffed with butter and baked - have been watched tens of millions of times. The dish began showing up on the platform this summer, but it seems inescapable of late. (Of course stuffed, baked onions have been around longer than TikTok, and we know there is absolutely nothing new under that sun of ours. The videos and rebranding have definitely boosted them, though.)

After watching a handful of these clips, it’s easy to understand the appeal. First off, it has that dash of the unexpected that stunt-food-crazy social media loves (you mean you’re really going to eat an ?). There’s a visual transformation - the vegetable goes from a hard, white globe to a silky, bronzed concoction swimming in a pool of sauce, right before viewers’ eyes. And it’s wildly accessible: Most people probably have everything they need to make it on hand. The whole operation involves an onion, a knob of butter, whatever seasoning you have around and a scrap of aluminum foil.

And now that I’ve tried it myself (#influenced), I know that it also has the benefit of being pretty delicious. Which came as no surprise. I love onions, I love butter and the two make a great combination. I followed the super-basic steps, trimming the top and bottom of the onion and using a paring knife to carve out a well (being sure to not cut too deeply because you don’t want to puncture all the way through). Some people also make an X-shaped cut on top and stuff pats of butter in the slits - I didn’t do this on my first try, and I think it would improve the dish by giving butter more crevices to sink into.