Good sweet Vidalia onions are often plentiful and cheap in the late spring and into the summer in the American South. Vidalias are a specific set of onions grown around the small city of Vidalia in the southeast-central part of the state of Georgia. The onions, which I find to have a strong flavor when eaten raw and much sweeter flavor when cooked, have been Georgia’s official state vegetable since 1990.

Vidalias are a specific set of onions grown around the small city of Vidalia in the southeast-central part of the state of Georgia.

There’s so much we can do with onions in the kitchen, from topping sandwiches to adding flavor to a number of breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes. My mom recently gave us several Vidalias accompanied by this recipe for savory Vidalia Onion Pie, a quiche-like dish that packs a lot of flavor. You can absolutely eat this as a standalone dish or as a side item for a larger meal.

Here’s what you need:

2 cups roughly chopped Vidalia onions or other sweet onions (about 1 medium onion)

2 tablespoons butter (for cooking onions)

5 tablespoons melted butter (for mixing the crust)

1 ¼ cups butter cracker crumbs (about 1 sleeve, and we used vegetable-flavored crackers, which we found offered an extra punch of flavor to the crust)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup milk

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 teaspoon paprika (optional)

Here’s what you do:

1. Chop and cook the onion in the 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan over medium heat until the onion begins to soften. You want a little bite left in the onion, so don’t cook it too long. We cooked ours about 10 minutes.

2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

3. Lightly grease a pie plate. We actually used just a little bit of butter.

4. Crush your crackers and mix the crumbs with the 5 tablespoons of melted butter.

5. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate.

6. Spoon your chopped onion atop your crust.

7. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper.

8. Pour the egg-milk mixture over your onion pieces.

9. Sprinkle cheese and paprika (optional) over the top of your filling.

10. Bake for 30 minutes, until the cheese begins to brown on top and the filling is set.

My goodness, this recipe turned out phenomenal for us. It was a flavorful, sweet and savory taste of summertime in the South. My wife Molly was certain there were potatoes in this dish, and neither of us detected a particularly overbearing onion flavor, so we think most anyone will enjoy it, even kids. Let us know how yours turns out!

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