Know Your Onions | Use The Right Ones

Do you know how to choose the right onion? Confused about which onions to use for certain dishes? I’ve never given it a second thought – I simply use the onions I have on hand for whatever dish I was making. But au contraire, as explained below each onion has their own special purpose. Learn how to use the right ones.

Read the information I acquired from Lifehacker and familiarize yourself with the wonderful onion family – it’ll definitely give that dish its well deserved pop.  And while you’re here, check out my post on the ABC’s of the Healthiest Vegetables on Earth – featuring THE ONION.

Yellow and Brown Onions have a sharp taste when raw, but smooth out nicely when cooked. They’re a great choice for almost any dish calling for onions. They also stand up to long cooking times, so they’re great in soups and stews. When in doubt, grab one of these.

Sweet Onions are pretty mellow when raw, making them really good for preparations like salads or sandwiches, where you may not want the sharpness of some onions. They are also perfect for caramelizing and for dishes that feature onion as a primary flavor.

Red Onions have a mild, peppery flavor and are great for raw onion dishes where you want something not so sweet as a sweet onion. Red onions are great for sandwiches and salads that are full of strong flavors.

Green Onion (Scallions) have a mild flavor. The white ends are useful in almost any onion dish and are best cooked. The green ends are mild and are great raw. You can use them as a garnish for soups, salads, or chilis.

White Onions are stronger than yellow onions and much crispier due to a higher water content. That, plus their texture, makes them great for Mexican dishes or anywhere you might want that sharp, raw onion taste.

Shallots are very mild and sweet. Use them in any recipe where you don’t want an overpowering onion flavor. They’re good raw or cooked.

Print out this chart from Onions-usa.org to hang on your fridge or put in your favorite cook book. Enjoy and cheers to your awesome meals 🙂

“Yes, life has many onions.” ~ Skip Coryell