I am NOT a fan of onions; I’m not allergic to them and maybe in a fajita I tolerate them, but otherwise I am repulsed. Yet onions are in nearly every recipe I find interesting. What’s the big deal with onions, and more importantly, are there non-onion alternatives to use in recipes?
Simply put it’s a distinctive, versatile flavor that for most people goes well with almost anything. They can be strong or mild, pungent or subtle, crispy or soft, or anywhere in between on all counts.
The deal with onions is that they, like garlic and celery, give a lot of depth to dishes - the taste spreads easily in moisture but it’s not so strong to be over powering. Try making a simple stock or soup without onions or celeriac/celery and you’ll see what I mean.
In general, onions add sweetness and “oiliness”. If I had to do without, I might go for either celery or celeriac (depending on the recipe) and maybe add a pinch of sugar for each large onion to replace. Leeks are also an obvious replacement and probably the best replacement - they can be used pretty much weight-for-weight, with the same preparations in most recipes except for dishes that call for raw onion - but they’re closely related to onion so I dunno if you can stand them.
For dishes/salads that call for raw, sweet/red onions, you may want to try fennel (not too much, though!).
I can’t stand raw onions, but I couldn’t imagine many cooked dishes without them, usually in combination with some other aromatic vegetable: carrots, celery, bell pepper, garlic.
I was afraid of cooking with onions for the longest time, but I learned from my wife that the key to using them as an aromatic (which would be most dishes) is to dice them small, and saute or sweat them with other veggies for a while in butter or olive oil to bring out the savory notes, blend the flavors of the other ingredients, and mellow the “oniony” pungent flavor.
I love onions, but I do understand how you could hate them. People taste things differently due to genetics. Most of the recipes you mention might taste good to you without the onions. Try them and see.
Onions are the most versatile ingredient I cook with. Everything savory tastes bland without them.
My brother and sister-in-law mislike onions, too. And yet they’ll use them (sparingly) in recipes, because even they think the food doesn’t “taste right” without the onions. Usually finely diced, and probably reduced in quantity.
You could also try swapping shallots for onions – the flavor profile is similar, but shallots tend to be milder and sweeter.
I’m not sure if there is a onion substitute, outside of milder or stronger varieties of the Allium family, like Leeks or Ramps…
Maybe asfoetida? It is a spice that I think is used as a substitute for onions in some styles of cooking… although if you whiff it in its raw form I think you will probably be more offended by it than onions (asfoetida is sometimes also called devil’s dung.)
I love onions, raw or cooked, but understand how someone may dislike them. To the OP: how do you feel about garlic? I can picture someone hating onions to also hate garlic.
“It’s hard to imagine civilization without onions.” - Julia Child
I had a bad onion experience when I was a kid (got some kind of stomach bug and vomited, coincidental to eating onions, but the taste came up with and associated in my head), such that I couldn’t tolerate the taste of onions. These days I’m fine with onions that are chopped small and well-cooked with other foods. Raw onions are still awful to me - way too sulfurous.
I spent a lot of time easing myself into being able to eat even the onions that I do eat. By that, I mean working over a year or more, but not as a daily thing. Garlic chives, chives, leeks, and shallots (the latter two both cooked well) helped me get used to an onion-y flavor.
If you’re finally used to the flavor of cooked-down onions but still averse to the texture, puree them in a blender or small food processor/chopper, then blend them into the sauce.
antonio107: I still loved garlic, even at the height of my onion hatred. Onions are much more pungent, I think.
Do you hate onion flavor or onion texture? I have an issue with the texture of onions (and people constantly tell me “oh, this recipe makes them really soft/small, you won’t be able to tell they’re there”, which is almost always a lie). You can buy onion juice in the spice section of most supermarkets, or there’s always onion powder. Otherwise you could do what my husband does (when he’s being nice and cooking for me) and saute the onion in your butter/oil or what-have-you, then toss it out.
Of course, if it’s a flavor issue none of that will help.
I’m not the OP but I can’t stand onions but really like garlic.
I can’t tolerate raw onions, they make my stomach upset for hours and hours, but cooked onions are the secret of life and good health! If someone can’t take the texture of cooked onions try blending the cooked onions into the sauce or gravy or whatever with an immersion blender. if a fresh, raw taste is required, I substitute fresh chives. Chives have never upset my stomach.
I generally substitute leeks or shallots when I don’t want a strong oniony taste in cooked food.
I think it’s raw onions that turn me off; I can eat onion rings, or onions as part of a fajita; i can even eat scallions with little problem. But put red onions on a salad or raw onions on a burger and I won’t eat them. I don’t like onion chunks mixed with other veggies and dislike them in soups.
I do like garlic and use it in almost everything I cook.
She’s right.
Onions & chocolate are the 2 perfect foods – everything you eat is better with one of them added.
Yes, there are non-onion alternatives. Just omit the onions. Problem solved!
Hare Krishna/ISKCON recipes don’t use onions, and they’ve put out a lot of recipe books.
I second that. There is no reason to believe that it is necessary to substitute onions. That would be like learning that your cancer is in remission, and asking what to substitute it with. Just be glad that you’re rid of it. 