How to cut an onion

Publifood November 03, 2021

 

How to cut an onion

Learn how to cut an onion properly with my easy knife tutorial. Diced or sliced, knowing how to cut onions will make food taste better and save you time.

This is a guide for how to cut an onion. Below you’ll find a tutorial on how to slice and dice onions to use in soups, salads, sandwiches, stir-fry, stews and so much more. I’ll share tips on how to safely cut an onion, minimize waste and reduce any tears in the process – yup, it’s possible to cut an onion tear-free!

Across cultures, cuisines, and kitchens, recipes start with chopping an onion. Learn how to cut up an onion the right way and you will master a basic building block of cooking. Onions are high in vitamin C, loaded with fiber and have cancer-fighting properties. The average American will eat 20 pounds of onions in one year. I’m probably above average in this department haha! So let’s getting chopping!



ONION CUTS AND USES:

  • Diced onions: This is the most common way to cut an onion. You can cut into large chunks or small pieces. The chopped onions become part of mirepoix, the onion-celery-carrot flavor bomb for so many soups and stews, or mix them raw in salsa or salad dressings. Their uses are endless.
  • Sliced onions: For thinly sliced onions or even thinly sliced half-moon onion rings, add them to your sandwiches, in stir fries or slow cook them into caramelized onions.
  • Wedge Onions: While not pictures below, this is another popular way of cutting an onion, which is essentially the beginning steps of slicing an onion. Tuck wedges into and around a roasting chicken for extra flavor or make them part of a sheet-pan dinner.


STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL

  • First, use a sharp knife. Really. A dull knife, quite literally, just won’t cut it. Instead of slicing cleaning through the onion, you will unsatisfactorily be tearing and gnawing through the vegetable.
  • Next, cut the onion in half alongside, not through, the root.



Leaving the root  – that grassy- furry end – intact helps contain the enzymes that cause tears. Thank you, Chef Gordon Ramsay for sharing this tip with the world. By the way, other tear-prevention strategies include freezing the onion for 20 minutes prior to cutting or wearing swimming goggles.



  • Next, peel off the onion’s skin, still leaving that root intact.
  • Lay one half onion flat on your cutting board. Now you’re ready to dice, slice or cut wedges with the half onion. If you’re only using half an onion, you can store the half with the root intact in the fridge.

HOW TO CUT ONIONS: SLICING

  • Point the knife towards the root of the onion, and allow your fingers to guide the slicing while your fingers are gripping the onion like a tennis ball. This is the safest way to chop an onion.
  • Slice vertically evenly as close to the root as you can. Space as your recipe dictates, either large wedges or thinner slices. 



Finally, cut off the root and discard it






HOW TO CUT ONIONS: DICING

  • First, lay one half onion flat on your cutting board. Point the knife towards the root of the onion, and allow your fingers to guide the slicing. Slice vertically evenly as close to the root as you can. Again, make sure to grip the onion like a tennis ball, keeping the fingers pointed down.
  • Next, start dicing the onion by making horizontal cuts perpendicular to the ones you just made.
  • Finally, cut off the root and discard it
And just like that, you have properly cut an onion! Keep practicing and you will get faster and faster.



HOW TO STORE CUT ONIONS

  • Once peeled and/or cut, onions needs to be refrigerated.
  • Tightly wrapped onions with plastic wrap or in a silicone bag can be refrigerated for up to seven to 10 days.
  • If you want to chop ahead and freeze recipe portioned sized bags of chopped or sliced onions, make sure to remove all the air from the bag. They will be good for six to eight months.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Should I refrigerate the bag of onions I buy at the store?

No! In a cool, dry, well-ventilated place, onions can last for up 30 days. They get mushy faster in the refrigerator, so don’t refrigerate onions before you cut them.

What size onion should I buy?

Recipes often call for either small, medium, or large onions. Keep in mind, a small onion is about the size of a lemon, a medium onion the size of a large apple, and a large onion the size of a softball. The National Onion Association – yes, there is one – says that a medium onion will come out to about a cup of chopped onion.




Cutting an onion is one of those great skills to master in the kitchen because of the number of recipes that call for onions. If you can learn how to cut an onion, you can apply those knife skills to cutting many other fruits and vegetables. Get chopping!


























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