How to use extra onions

Caramelize them

Cooked low-and-slow, caramelized onions achieve that rich jamminess that makes them pretty broadly appealing — even to people who think they don’t like onions. Their sweet, deep flavor makes them an ideal foil for veggie burgers, pizzas or a creamy plant-based pasta, or even just piled on toasted crusty bread and dotted with goat cheese.

The slow way: When it comes to technique, traditionalists favor the more time-consuming method of cooking thinly sliced onions in butter (or another fat) over low heat until the onions are meltingly soft, sweet and dark brown; this usually takes at least 45 minutes. Some people add a pinch of brown sugar or a splash of balsamic to heighten the sweetness.

The shortcut: Folks looking to skip the scenic route might try caramelizing onions using the baking soda hack: Adding a bit of sodium bicarbonate increases the onions’ pH and speeds up the process by increasing the Maillard reaction. This method cuts the time down to about 15 minutes, and is great for caramelized onions destined for onion jam (see below) because it encourages the onions to break down more, too. A nonstick pan is usually recommended for this technique – a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet will fit the bill.

Pickle and preserve them

Quick pickles: Quick pickled onions are, as their name suggests, quite quick to make, and they add bright tang and supple crunch to everything from black bean-sweet potato tacos to avocado toasts. You can use any onions you have on hand, but red onions are ideal: They blush pink as they sit in the pickling liquid, which makes them a pretty visual contrast to less vibrantly colored dishes. The acidic pickling liquid also tempers the onions’ sulfuric bite, and can make them easier to digest for people who typically can’t tolerate them raw. Generally speaking, quick-pickled onions will keep for about two weeks in the fridge.

Onion jam: A kissing cousin to caramelized onions — onion jam is another pantry multitasker. It adds sweet, mellow onion-ness to sandwiches and burgers, cheese platters and breakfast sandwiches – pretty much whatever you can think to slather it on.

Use them to enhance flavor and color

Dressings and chutneys: Finely chopped onion is an excellent addition to homemade dressings and marinades; coarsely chopped, it can be used to make a spicy onion chutney that adds interest alongside simpler foods like dal and rice.

Broths: Yellow and white onions — and their peels — can add flavor and color to basic broths.

Don’t forget the peels: Speaking of peels, they have even more uses: Save them to make homemade onion salt or onion powder, which are excellent for seasoning tofu and meats, stirring into compound butter with some fresh herbs, and sprinkling atop savory oatmeals and risottos, fried and hard-boiled eggs, or a baked potato dolloped with sour cream. Just be sure to use organic onions and wash the peels well.

If, after all of this onion ingenuity, you still have extra onions on hand, there are several ways to preserve them without adulterating their flavor much. Penn State Extension offers some useful guidelines for freezing, dehydrating and canning onions (though inexperienced canners should proceed with caution given the bulbs’ low acidity). Oh, and by the way – in case all of this onion talk has you craving yet more allium flavor, you can plant the scraps and start harvesting green shoots in a few weeks’ time.