How to Choose Which Onion to Use | Blue Flame Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

How to Choose Which Onion to Use | Blue Flame Kitchen? ›

Yellow Onions: The general cooking onion. Usually relatively cheap and plentiful, they're the go-to onion when cooks get cooking. The flavour is strong but mild, with an onion flavour that isn't overpowering. They often have a bit of sweetness to them, they caramelize nicely and they hold up well when cooked.

And while we prefer yellow for cooking, white for garnishing, and red for pickling, grilling, and everything in between, they're generally interchangeable: Switching between them won't ruin a dish, even if it slightly alters its flavor or appearance.

How to Pick and Store Onions. Choose firm onions with dry, papery skins. Avoid onions that have brown or soft spots or onions with any emerging sprouts. Store whole onions in a cool, dry spot that's out of the sun.

Yellow onions are your go-to cooking onions. This onion has yellow skin and a strong flavor due to its high sulphur content, which mellows out during cooking, becoming sweet and flavorful. Its ability to hold up to heat makes it great for caramelizing and roasting.

For the meatloaf:

¾ cup minced yellow onion.

Onions are an essential part of everyday cooking in India and are found in many local dishes and are the base for curries. Some curries use a lot of onion, others just a small amount but onions are always in there somewhere. The best onions for use in curries are firm white onions.

Basically, if you're going to eat an onion raw, the white onion is what you want to reach for. And while they're pretty mild on their own, you can further tame their flame by slicing one thinly and giving it an hour-long soak in cold water—they'll be so sweet, you can practically eat them like a salad.

SWEET ONIONS: Best Frying Onion

Larger and slightly flatter than yellow onions (they look like they've been squashed), sweet onions contain extra sugar, making them good for caramelizing. Their larger size also make them perfect for making onion rings (my favorite diner dish by the way).

Vidalia, Walla Walla, Cipollini varieties are inherently sweet onions. These varieties have become extremely popular and for good reason. They are good cooked but they are very mild and are excellent eaten raw.

Look for onions with a firm texture and dry, papery skins. Avoid onions that are soft or exhibit brown spots. You'll also want to avoid any onions that are sprouting. Sprouted onions are usually still good to eat, but they won't last as long.

What are the best onions for beginners? ›

Onion sets are small dried onions grown from seed the previous year, but not allowed to mature and instead kept dormant until the following spring when they are meant to be planted. This is the easiest onion to grow for beginner gardeners but the variety of onions are limited to just yellow, red/purple, or white.

Texas super sweet onions have a very mild undertone that makes them not just great raw on burgers but also on salads and by themselves.

Maui onion

Maui onions are a variety of sweet onion grown on the island of Maui in Hawaii. They are known for their unique, sweet flavor and low sulfur content, which makes them less pungent and more palatable when eaten raw compared to other onion varieties.

Best Onion for Grilling

You can cook any onion you prefer on a grill, but my personal preference is a large, sweet onion like the Vidalia onion. These taste amazing when grilled, and they stay sweet and crisp with an added caramelization when grilled. If you can't get a Vidalia onion, any other sweet onion will do.

Whether you slather a thick layer of ketchup on top of the meatloaf before it goes into the oven, add a few tablespoons to the ground meat mixture, or serve extra ketchup on the side, this tangy-sweet, umami-rich condiment balances out the richness of the beef, making it an essential part of the dish.

Yellow is the ideal variety for caramelizing. When you are sauteing onions to build flavor as a base for your dish (soup, tomato sauce, you name it), the yellow onion is your friend. That being said, white onions are a totally acceptable substitute for yellow, especially if you're cooking them.

1. Yellow Onion. Characteristics: Round, with a thin brownish papery skin, yellow onions are the most common type of onion in the United States and are easily the most versatile cooking onion.

Yellow Onions: The general cooking onion. Usually relatively cheap and plentiful, they're the go-to onion when cooks get cooking.

Yellow onions are the most common variety you should cook with. They have thin layers of white flesh and a tough, brownish-yellow skin. They're very astringent — astringency is that sharp, almost spicy flavor that onions are known for — but also have a lot of sugar.

Which onions are best for salads? ›

Red Onions

They're best raw in salads, salsas, and as a toppings on burgers and sandwiches because of how mild they are. They can be used in cooked dishes as well, but the onion flavor isn't nearly as strong when they're cooked.

A yellow onion is sweet and meaty and is generally used for cooking. It offers the most flavor, which generally becomes sweeter and more mild the more it is cooked.

Most people prefer to use sweet white onion in their guacamole recipe. Red or yellow onion tends to give the guacamole too strong of a garlic flavor.

Look for onions that are firm to the touch. If your onion is mushy or soft, it has a greater chance of being rotten inside. Avoid choosing onions with spots or blemishes. As with any fruit or veggie, be sure your onions don't have any unusual or bad odors.

Look for onions with a firm texture and dry, papery skins. Avoid onions that are soft or exhibit brown spots. You'll also want to avoid any onions that are sprouting. Sprouted onions are usually still good to eat, but they won't last as long.

Bulb onions are characterized by an edible bulb composed of food-storage leaves that are rich in sugar and a pungent oil, the source of its strong taste. Among the hardiest and oldest garden-vegetable plants, onions bear a cluster of small, greenish white flowers on one or more leafless stalks.

But sometimes, the onion makes all the difference. Here's our rule of thumb: use white onions raw, yellow onions for cooking and red onions for pickling or grilling.