cooking

What You Need to Know About Onions, From How to Pick 'Em to How to Pickle 'Em

We're going all in on alliums.
Image may contain Plant Onion Food Vegetable and Shallot
Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by D'mytrek Brown

Like rainy days and sad songs, onions will make you cry. And yet imagine a world without them. We'd have no scallion pancakes, no French onion soup, no pierogies, no Greek salad, no chicken yassa, no sour cream and onion potato chips. Now that is something to cry about.

It's easy to take onions for granted when they're available in grocery stores year-round in abundance, but they're a special ingredient, featured in savory dishes the world over and revered since ancient times for their medicinal properties. What's more, onions aren't just one thing. The bulb many of us think of as an onion is a member of the Allium genus, of which there are hundreds of different species, many of which are wild, ornamental, and/or highly seasonal. (Hellooo, spring onions!)

Given this vast array of alliums, today, we'll be focusing on some of those that are most common in the U.S. (and in BA recipes). Funyuns do not make the list. Here’s how to pick, store, slice, and use onions. (Breath mints recommended.)

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    Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by D'mytrek Brown
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    Meet the onion family.

    Onions are members of the Allium genus, which includes pungent plants like garlic, leeks, chives, ramps, and hundreds of other species. Since we can’t possibly cover all alliums (all-iums), we’ve divided just a fraction of those we reach for the most into three unofficial categories: storage onions (pictured above), softies, and little guys.

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  • Photo and Food Styling by Emma Fishman
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    How to cut an onion…

    Cutting an onion can feel like trying to escape a maze, blindfolded. One wrong turn—or slice—can send you swiftly down the wrong path. And then there are all of the different verbs—you can slice an onion, chop an onion, dice an onion, cut an onion… What is all what?! 

    We say: Enough already! Let these step-by-step photos show you how to cut an onion, once and for all. Whether you need half-moons or slivers (scroll down to see the difference!), a rough chop or a fine one, we've got you covered.

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    …without bawling your eyes out.

    Pick from one of two major strategies—either stymy the release of the chemical compound or protect your eyes themselves. (Or, when you're really afflicted, you can do both.) 

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    Keep them cool, dark, and dry.

    Everything you need to know to extend your onions' lives for as long as possible.

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    How to make silky, sweet caramelized onions on the stove.

    Anyone who says you can caramelize onions in 15 minutes is lying. It takes low heat, plenty of patience, and the better part of an hour—try 40 minutes, minimum. Start with thinly sliced yellow or red onions, then follow these tips: 

    • Use a wide skillet or Dutch oven. With more space to spread out, each slice can have contact with the pan, which means more even cooking and more room for moisture to evaporate.
    • Grab a lid. For the first 10–15 minutes, keep the heat on low and cover the pan. The onions will steam so that they tenderize throughout instead of browning solely on the bottom.
    • Sweeten with sugar. When onions caramelize, their natural sugars oxidize. But a pinch of the good old granulated stuff can help speed up the process.
    • Resist the urge to turn up the heat. Even when you uncover the pan and start stirring every few minutes, keep the heat on medium to avoid scorching the onions before they reach a uniform chocolaty brown.
    • Deglaze as needed. If you notice stickage or premature browning, pour in a couple tablespoons of water and scrape—those stuck-on bits are a source of flavor.
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    Or turn on the oven and save yourself from stirring and sweating.

    While caramelizing onions in the oven produces alliums with a bit more variance—some pieces will be browner than others—it doesn't require as watchful an eye as caramelizing onions on the stove. It also frees up your hands (and stove) for other tasks, like simmering pasta or rice, which makes multitasking possible.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by D'mytrek Brown
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    Turn them into a goes-with-anything accessory.

    An instant wake-up for tacos, grain bowls, savory oats, sandwiches, steak, salad, even chili, these low-effort pickles will keep in your fridge for at least 2 weeks. To make them, mix together, ½ cup vinegar (apple cider, red or white wine, rice), spices and seasonings of your choosing (bay leaf, oregano or thyme sprig, orange peel, dried hibiscus, chile flakes, mustard seeds), 1½ tsp. kosher salt, 1 Tbsp. sugar, and 1 cup water. Pour mixture over 1 thinly sliced red onion. After about an hour or so, the acidic vinegar will soften the onion by breaking down its cell structure while simultaneously taking on some of its flavor and losing its own bite. (If you’re in a rush, heating the vinegar and water will speed up the process.)

  • Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Pearl Jones
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    A grate tip!

    When you’re looking for onion pieces that will disappear into a sofrito or bialy filling, skip the painstaking dice and grab your box grater. In mere minutes your halved, peeled onions will turn into fluffy shreds. Run your knife through the pile to eliminate any larger pieces that escaped the grater, then get cooking. Because the grater breaks down the onion more aggressively than a knife would, your pieces will reach a jammy, melting consistency faster.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by D'mytrek Brown
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    Make onions the headliner.

    To turn a whole heap of onions into a vegetable side, leave them large—whole if small, halved or wedged if bigger—and dress them with something assertive like agrodolce (sweet and sour sauce), miso-butter, or fiery chutney. Try Andrew Tarlow’s Roasted Onions With Vinegar: Roast a mix of small and medium onions (in their skins!) at 400° until totally tender, 30–40 minutes. Let cool, then halve through root ends, peel, break apart into petals, and drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste. Who needs greens?

Sarah Jampel is a writer, editor, recipe developer, and food stylist based in Vermont. She was a senior staff writer and stylist at Food52 before joining Bon Appétit as senior cooking editor in 2019, which entailed heading up the Basically vertical, editing and developing recipes, and writing about everything from her [favorite... Read more
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