Make The Best Tennessee Onions With This Winning Combo Of Alliums

Tennessee onions, once a sweet Southern secret, have become a viral social media sensation. This simple side dish disappears in a flash at potlucks, but it's easy and inexpensive enough to serve alongside a quick weeknight meal, too. In fact, you probably already have everything you need to make a classic Tennessee onion casserole in your kitchen — a couple of onions, plus butter, shredded cheese, and seasonings. But if you're looking for a next-level nosh, try this tip from our Tennessee onion medley recipe by developer Tess Le Moing.

Vidalia onions, from nearby Vidalia, Georgia, might be the gold standard for your grandma's Tennessee onions, but for maximum oniony goodness, Le Moing recommends an assortment of alliums to show off the complexity of these versatile vegetables. For the perfect Tennessee onions, you'll need one sweet onion — Vidalia, if you can get it — one red onion, one shallot, and garlic. Sure, the coveted Vidalia onion is hard to beat on its own, especially once it's been caramelized in butter, but the slightly spicy red (or purple) onion and subtly sweet onion and garlic notes of the shallot round out the flavor profile of the dish in a way that Vidalias alone cannot.

If you want to take your Tennessee onion casserole up a notch, give your dish a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to brighten it up and mellow out the intense onion flavor, which can get a little overwhelming when it's the main ingredient. Or try swapping out the shredded cheddar for your favorite gooey cheeses. Gruyere, for example, adds a nice creaminess to the dish, while parmesan gives it a subtle nutty crunch. "Virtually any cheesy combination would work well with versatile onions," Le Moing says. For an unexpected twist, add a few thin tomato slices before roasting, broil mozzarella on top, then sprinkle with ribbons of basil and drizzle with balsamic. Just don't tell Tennessee what you did.

However you tweak your Tennessee onions, you've got a dish so good it could convert the most devout onion hater you know. You can serve them up as a side dish at dinner or your next potluck, but there's really no limit to what you can do with Tennessee onions. Scoop them on top of a burger, scatter them over your hash browns, omelet, or scrambled eggs at breakfast, float them on top of French onion soup, or add them to anything that could benefit from some caramelized onions and cheese — and let's be honest, that's pretty much everything.