Blanching and shocking unpeeled pearl onions are the quickest and simplest ways to get that annoying peel off.

Boil the onions for a couple of minutes, then bathe the hot onions in cold water, cut off the roots, and squeeze the stems to release the unpeeled onions from their skins.

When onions are blanched by boiling, the heat breaks down the structures in the onions' cells and softens them, loosening their skin quicker than a knife ever could.

The second step, shocking, which involves bathing the onions in cold water, will stop your onions from cooking. After that, all you have to do is cut and squeeze.