# When a recipe calls for an onion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [February 5, 2021, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266 "2021-02-05T14:02:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/41 "2021-02-06T00:12:46Z")
If I can find Walla Walla sweet onions, I buy those. If not, then I just get yellow onions. I use red onions if I am using them raw and want it to be pretty. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/42 "2021-02-06T00:18:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Of course sweet onions are actually sweet. The reason I put in the scare quotes is that all onions are sweet. > > But the point is, the flavor that I want from an onion is precisely the one that Vidalia, Walla Walla, etc, are without. Hear here!! Og save us from hybrid over-sweet fruits and veggies. What’s next, sweet cows? ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/43 "2021-02-06T00:28:30Z")
I usually use white. I find it’s best for Mexican cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/44 "2021-02-06T00:32:33Z")
When a recipe calls for an onion… …do you go for a white or a brown one? Is it sharp, is it sweet? … ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/45 "2021-02-06T04:35:21Z")
One probably shouldn’t be eating _brown_ onions, they’re probably going bad. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/46 "2021-02-06T04:56:52Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > One probably shouldn’t be eating _brown_ onions, they’re probably going bad. (Nah, too many syllables. Also, doesn’t rhyme.) Is it yummy to eat? … ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/47 "2021-02-06T04:58:04Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Yellow for most cooking, white if somehow yellows aren’t to hand, and red for leaving at the store or picking out of restaurant food. brother! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/48 "2021-02-06T04:58:59Z")
I use whatever onions are available. Exclusively. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/49 "2021-02-06T05:26:15Z")
Usually we have yellow onions on hand as a staple ingredient. Sometimes we may have white or red, if they’re particularly cheap, we know we’re doing a lot of Mexican cooking, or they look particularly good. Shallots are something we try half-assedly to keep on hand- it’s kind of a crap shoot whether we’ll actually have them at any given time. But 90% of the time when a recipe calls for “an onion” or “half an onion”, they mean half of a garden-variety, generic yellow onion. So that’s what we always have handy. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/50 "2021-02-06T05:34:46Z")
Yellow for stews and casseroles. Never use white, they’re probably best for salsas and the like Shallots are great in stir fries and omelettes. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/51 "2021-02-06T05:47:16Z")
… Geez, this thread is not such a fun one. [flounce] [unflounce] (Actually, it’s plenty fun, but given the thread title I was really expecting more limerick.) ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/52 "2021-02-06T06:10:29Z")
I have had Vidalia (sp?) where I could eat raw like an apple. A surprising experience. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/53 "2021-02-06T11:09:50Z")
Dehydrated Onion flakes work great. I use onion powder in some recipes. I don’t really like onion. Fresh onion needs to be very finely diced. I strongly dislike dishes with large pieces of onion. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/54 "2021-02-06T14:22:09Z")
With a good sense of timing, this recipe for [onion dip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtEoWggY-0U&t=365s&ab_channel=FoodWishes) showed up on Food Wishes yesterday. It uses yellow onions, green onions, red onions, chives and shallots. ETA: and dried onion flakes. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/55 "2021-02-06T14:29:36Z")
I default to (what are called here) brown onions (which I think are what you guys all call yellow onions). I avoid red onions anywhere that the colour might matter (for example if they’re going into a pale coloured sauce or soup) ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/56 "2021-02-06T15:16:11Z")
My mother had a bad habit of not cutting onions small enough, particularly the ends where layers would stay as one piece. So I’d get a chunk of onion with 5 or 6 layers still stuck together. Urrrk! I think that’s where my dislike of onions comes from. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/57 "2021-02-06T16:13:51Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > One probably shouldn’t be eating _brown_ onions, they’re probably going bad. Some “yellow” onions are really more brown than yellow. On the outside, anyway; but then, most onions shouldn’t be yellow on the inside, either. > [@Kimstu](#): > > given the thread title I was really expecting more limerick. When a recipe calls for an onion The thread really should be such a fun one That Kimstu can see (according to me) That it could be as good as a pun one. ---
**Author:** ![FriendlyCurmudgeon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friendlycurmudgeon/32/5786_2.png) [@FriendlyCurmudgeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriendlyCurmudgeon)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/58 "2021-02-06T17:05:21Z")
They’re different here. Spanish onions are more bulbous in shape, and slice easier than yellow onions. As far as the taste difference don’t know as its usually one of many ingredients. Only raw onions I eat are the ones in salads. Usually purple . ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/59 "2021-02-06T17:31:22Z")
A cursory internet cite shows that some people in the U.K. and Australia call yellow onions “brown onions”. I don’t think the poster in question is from either of those places. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266/60 "2021-02-06T17:49:01Z")
Does it matter? It was just for the purposes of a little ditty. FWIW, in some ethnic markets here in Chicago I have very occasionally seen them labeled as brown onions. Because, most of the time, they are more brown than yellow. My mother used to use the onion skins to dye eggs brown (with a wax resist for nice patterns) for Easter when I was a kid, as well as for dying her hair. I always wondered why they called them yellow onions when the flesh is white and the skin is brown, but then I’ve seen some varieties with thinner, more golden skin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-recipe-calls-for-an-onion/932266.md?page=4)