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Jammy Onion and Miso Pasta

4.9

(23)

Bowl of Jammy Onion and Miso Pasta on blue gingham tablecloth with glass of white wine.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Thu Buser, Prop Styling by Heather Greene

This simple, flavorful bowl of spaghetti starts off in the same way a French onion soup does: with lots of onions. Instead of spending the better part of an hour getting cooked down in a skillet to get the same sweet-savory depth, these onions get kissed with umami-rich miso to achieve big flavor fast. The miso-caramelized onions melt into the stock, resulting in a silky sauce that coats every inch of the pasta. We love spaghetti for this, but any long noodle will work just fine.

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What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Yield

    4 servings

Ingredients

2

Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

3

Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided

2

large onions, thinly sliced

Kosher salt

4

garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1

Tbsp. white miso

1

cup low-sodium beef or chicken broth or water

Freshly ground pepper

12

oz. spaghetti

2½

oz. Parmesan, finely grated, plus more for serving

¼

cup 1½"-long chives

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil and 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter in a large high-sided skillet over medium-high. Add 2 large onions, thinly sliced; season with kosher salt. Cook, stirring often, until onions are softened and brown around the edges, 10–14 minutes.

    Step 2

    Add 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, to skillet with onions and cook, stirring constantly, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 1 Tbsp. white miso and cook, stirring constantly, until browned and beginning to stick to bottom of pan, 1–2 minutes. Pour in 1 cup low-sodium beef or chicken broth or water, scraping up any browned bits stuck to bottom of pan, and cook, stirring, until miso is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Season generously with freshly ground pepper. Reduce heat to low and keep onion mixture warm until pasta is ready.

    Step 3

    Meanwhile, cook 12 oz. spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, about 1 minute less than package directions.

    Step 4

    Using tongs, transfer pasta to skillet (a little water coming along is okay). Increase heat to medium and add 2½ oz. Parmesan, finely grated, remaining 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, and �� cup pasta cooking liquid. Cook, tossing often and adding more pasta cooking liquid by ¼-cupful as needed, until cheese is melted and sauce clings to pasta, about 2 minutes.

    Step 5

    Divide pasta among bowls and top with ¼ cup 1½"-long chives and more finely grated Parmesan; season with pepper.

Explore Bon AppétitDinnerMainQuickEasyWeeknight MealsPastaSpaghettiPasta & NoodlesMisoChiveOnionVegetableVegetarianNut-Free
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Reviews (23)

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  • My dad said this is one of the best pastas he’s ever had! It so easy to make with such a deep flavor.

    • Anna

    • Omaha

    • 1/9/2024

  • Is it really important to measure the length of the pieces of chives? I just roughly chopped them, and I couldn't taste any difference whatsoever. I'm in the smaller-is-better camp when it comes to garnishes, although I like the green, leafy parts of green onions just as well as chives. I also like a scant splash of heavy cream added right at the end and stirred in. I do this routinely if I happen to have some cream on hand in the fridge.

    • Anonymous

    • CT

    • 1/3/2024

  • ratios work fine with a 16oz box of pasta. cooked with onions for waaaay longer (~30-40 minutes) as others did. added half cup white wine to onions before adding broth. would make again.

    • NKM

    • Santa Fe, NM

    • 12/28/2023

  • Pretty good, but definitely needs more cooking time for the onions. Also this recipe has my number one recipe-writing pet peeve: it calls for 12 oz of pasta. Pasta comes in 16 oz boxes , so why not just scale the recipe to the standard pasta box size?? So annoying

    • Anonymous

    • New York, NY

    • 12/17/2023

  • SO GOOD!! The chives don’t need to be in the spears though.

    • Matt

    • California

    • 10/19/2023

  • Made this after hearing it on Kitchen SOS coupled with using the Jovial brown rice pasta and it was a pretty good weeknight. I paired it with seared scallops and a side of roasted zukes which turned out tasty. Going to experiment with maybe blending the onion mixture to avoid the strings/fibers? of the onions or maybe stirring it into a mac and cheese-style casserole. My onion mixture never got as dark as in the pics and paired with the brown rice pasta, it was all sort of monochromatic until I added the chives and parm lol. Will endeavor to caramelize it more next time. And there will be a next time!

    • Anonymous

    • Los Angeles, CA

    • 8/31/2023

  • This was really lovely, and I'll be making it again. It's a great reminder that when in doubt, just put miso in it. I'm writing this in August, which is all about zucchini population control, so I added a big one sliced in half-moons along with the raw onion. It cooked down into the same browned and jammy consistency as the onion. I also added Aleppo pepper when that step was done. I used chicken stock to deglaze and next time I think water would be fine (all are mentioned in the recipe), there's a lot of salt from the miso and the salting step with the raw veg. I am one person but made the recipe as written because I anticipate this freezing very well for a lazy day.

    • Anonymous

    • Raleigh, NC

    • 8/17/2023