How to Use Stored Onions

by Becky Elmuccio on September 27, 2012

Now that we have grown our own onions, how are we going to use them? 

When we first pulled our onions, I set them out to dry in the sun for a couple of days so that they will last longer in our house. We don’t have a good spot set up for storing them in the basement, so we have had them resting in the garden hod in a low light window for the last few weeks.

Yesterday, Tomato and I set about pulling the outer layer off and snipping off the dried out greens. We have already gone through about ten of them, and I am thrilled that we chose Stuttgarten onions.

Onions are such a versatile vegetable to grow and have been very easy to take care of in our organic garden. We have already used them simply scrambled in with eggs and stirred in with store bought pasta sauce to liven it up.

I also adored the way this Cheesy Chicken Pasta turned out…

…and these Roasted Vegetables have been in heavy rotation.

I also happened upon a divine Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Risotto recipe here and subbed out the shallots for onions. It made enough for us to enjoy for two dinners. These were a great pick for us to grow on our own and I have a feeling we will be using them in a quite a few more recipes.

What’s your favorite way to use onions in recipes? We’re always looking for more ideas!

I’m linking up this week with:
Seasonal Sundays at Natural Mothers Network
The Morris Tribe Homestead Blog Hop at The Morris Tribe
Harvest Mondays at Daphne’s Dandelions
Green Mondays on My Green Living Ideas
Tiny Tips Tuesdays at Nature’s Nurture
Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage
Garden Tuesday at Sidewalk Shoes
Bloomin’ Tuesday on Mrs. Greenthumb Jean
Living Green Tuesdays at Like a Mustard Seed
The Gathering Spot at Mamal Diane
Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways at Frugally Sustainable
Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }

Lindsey September 27, 2012 at 11:45 am

Those are excellent ideas – I have a hard time finding ways to use onions as well, other than obvious recipes.
And I love the way you store them!

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Becky Elmuccio October 4, 2012 at 6:20 pm

I figure if I have them in a glass bowl, then they are present when I plan our menu for the week.

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Harvest Moon by Hand September 27, 2012 at 12:20 pm

Both the pictures of food that you made with onions look delicious!

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Barb @ A Life in Balance September 27, 2012 at 12:54 pm

My dh loves using onions in his risotto. I’ll check out the butternut squash one.

One of my favorites is mushrooms and onions sauteed in butter. The butter keeps the veggies from browning, unlike olive oil.

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JR911 September 27, 2012 at 1:20 pm

The roasted veggies sound great…thanks for sharing this info. julieann r

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annie @ montanasolarcreations September 27, 2012 at 1:47 pm

We have a ton of shallots and no onions this year in our garden but I’ve been using them the same. My favorite recent one was grilled veggie kabobs with chunks of tomato, zucchini and shallots so you can just use onion instead of shallots- yum!

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Amanda McMahon September 27, 2012 at 3:14 pm

great idea. the purple is so vibrant

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Garden, Home and Party September 28, 2012 at 4:02 am

Becky,
Wow, your onions look great. We don’t have a lot of sun in our yard so vegetables are not much of an option, but I’m able to grow herbs, and admire the amazing vegetables at the Farmer’s Market held nearby on Saturday mornings.
Karen

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Corn in my Coffee-Pot September 30, 2012 at 9:11 pm

This is good information.
We had lots of onions…but I guess they didn’t dry long enough…as they spoiled.

The roasted vegetables sounds like a good recipe. and pasta is good with anything!
Pat (via FFH)

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Kathy Mormino October 1, 2012 at 2:02 pm

I like to sautee huge batches of onions and then freeze them in ice cube trays, then pop them out into zip top bags. When ready to use them in a recipe, they thaw very quickly in the microwave!
New follower here! I would love to have you link up with my Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week!
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/09/clever-chicks-blog-hop-2-featured-post.html
I hope to see you there!
Cheers!
Kathy
The Chicken Chick

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Lisa/Fresh Eggs Daily Farm Girl October 1, 2012 at 9:48 pm

I just found you through Homestead Revival. I hope I can persuade you to come link up to my Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest: http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com/2012/09/farm-girl-friday-blog-fest-2.html

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Gretchen Stuppy Carlson October 2, 2012 at 1:40 pm

I love growing onions – these are great ideas. I just started a new hop, and would love if you would link up. http://www.simplejoyfulliving.com/2012/10/backyard-farming-connection-hop-2.html

Gretchen

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Athena at Minerva's Garden October 3, 2012 at 7:01 am

Your harvested onions look gorgeous! I have a few to pick and bring in. And that tray of roasted vegetables–yum–that is one of my favorite foods!

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Pam October 3, 2012 at 11:46 am

It must be wonderful to have homegrown onions!

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ArtMuseDog and Carol October 3, 2012 at 6:12 pm

Great idea for onions and great photos of delicious foods~ (A Creative Harbor)

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Tilly's Nest October 4, 2012 at 1:23 pm

What a fantastic post filled with so many delicious ideas and eye popping photos. I would love for you to link this up to our blog hop. I think my readers would just love it!

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Diane October 4, 2012 at 1:46 pm

I’m a big onion fan. Thanks for the information on storing them. I also appreciate you sharing the type of onion you prefer to plant. Thanks for sharing at The Gathering Spot this week!

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Nicole Robinson @TheBookWormMama August 20, 2013 at 5:57 am

I could go for that Cheesy Chicken Pasta, right now! I love putting onions and bell peppers together. They can liven up any dish.

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Becky Elmuccio August 20, 2013 at 9:23 pm

We love that Chicken dish. It definitely rotates through on our summer meal plan each year.

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Teresa August 20, 2013 at 9:58 am

Hi! I don’t have a “favorite” way to use onions because I use them in so many things. It’s interesting to see how you prep them for storage.

Visiting from SITS. Congrats!

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Becky Elmuccio August 20, 2013 at 9:25 pm

We had a great time growing them last summer and using them throughout the fall.

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ReneeJay August 20, 2013 at 11:29 am

I really don’t cook much; but when I do, onions are a staple for me. I will cut up onions, garlic and bell peppers for any meal that I’d put salt on and that’s the extent of my cooking skills. I wish I had a desire to cook because I would love to be able to try out delicious recipes; but it’s just not my thing and every attempt is disastrous. I did recently grow my own tomatoes and I know exactly what I’m going to do with them: Slice them up and put them a salad, the one dish I can make.

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Becky Elmuccio August 20, 2013 at 9:26 pm

Sautee those tomatoes with your peppers and onions and you’ll have a great pasta sauce!

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misssrobin August 20, 2013 at 11:43 am

Thanks for the ideas. These all look yummy!

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Becky Elmuccio August 20, 2013 at 9:26 pm

Those roasted veggies are one of the favorite things that I make.

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Karma August 20, 2013 at 1:47 pm

Great ideas! Thanks for the great post!

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Rabia @TheLiebers August 20, 2013 at 3:57 pm

We’ve been using onions a lot more often lately. We don’t grow them, but I typically buy a bag, chop them all up and store them in the freezer. Then, when we need onions, I just grab the bag out and dump them in!

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Becky Elmuccio August 20, 2013 at 9:28 pm

I haven’t frozen them before, Rabia. Great idea for keeping them on hand.

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Keia Lee August 20, 2013 at 6:46 pm

I love these ideas! We have soooo many onions this year!
thank you so much 😀
Keia

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Becky Elmuccio August 20, 2013 at 9:29 pm

Hope you can try some of them out. Thanks for swinging by!

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