What Is White onion and How Can I Use It?

Here's everything worth knowing about white onion and how to pick it, what it is, how to store it, and what to use instead, plus 200 recipes to cook tonight.

Key Points

White-skinned, white-fleshed onion: sharper and cleaner raw than yellow, with less depth when cooked.
The default onion in Mexican and Latin American cooking; great raw in salsa, guacamole, and tacos.
Cooks quickly and turns lightly sweet; for deep caramelizing, choose a yellow or sweet onion.
Substitute a yellow onion one-for-one in cooked dishes; sweet or red onion for raw use.
Store cool, dark, and airy for weeks; never bag in plastic or beside potatoes.

What is white onion?

White onions have papery white skin and crisp, pure-white flesh. They sit between a sharp yellow onion and a mild sweet onion: cleaner and more sharply pungent than yellow when raw, but with less of the lingering, sulfurous depth a yellow onion develops when it cooks down.

That clean bite is the whole point. Where a yellow onion turns deep and savory, a white onion stays bright and crisp-tasting, which is why it is the default onion across much of Mexican and Latin American cooking.

Cooking With White Onions

Reach for white onions when you want onion flavor that reads fresh and sharp rather than sweet and mellow. Raw, finely diced, they belong in salsa, in Guacamole De la Mixteca, and scattered over tacos.

They cook quickly and turn tender with a faint sweetness, holding up well in a New Mexico Red Chile Sauce or simmered into beans like Santa Fe Spicy Baked Black Beans.

For deep, slow-caramelized sweetness, though, a yellow or sweet onion is the better tool.

The general moves (how to dice without crying, how to tame raw bite with a cold-water soak) live on the /recipes/onions hub.

Substitutes

A yellow onion is the everyday swap and works one-for-one in almost any cooked dish. Expect a slightly sweeter, deeper result and a touch less of that clean sharpness.

For raw use, where the bright bite matters most, a sweet onion gives the gentlest swap and a mild red onion adds color and a comparable crispness. Shallots can stand in for small amounts, milder and more delicate.

Buying and Storage

Choose onions that feel heavy and firm with dry, tight, papery skin and no green sprout pushing through the neck. A soft or spongy onion is past it.

Kept in a cool, dark, well-ventilated spot, whole white onions last several weeks to a couple of months. Do not seal them in plastic or stash them next to potatoes, which speeds spoilage on both. Once cut, wrap and refrigerate, and use within about a week.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 NLEA serving (148g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 47Calories from Fat 1

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 0.1g 0%

Saturated Fat ~ -5%

Trans Fat ~

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 11mg 0%

Total Carbohydrate 11.2g 4%

Dietary Fiber 1g 5%

Sugars 7.4

Protein 1.2g

Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 12%

Calcium 3% • Iron 2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

recipeland.com/nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find white onion: White onion is usually found in the produce section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: White onion is a member of the Vegetables and Vegetable Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese: 白洋葱
British (UK) term: White onion
en français: oignon blanc
en español: cebolla blanca

How much does white onion weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 onion	331 grams
1 NLEA serving	148 grams

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Recipes using white onion

There are 200 recipes that contain this ingredient.

List of all ingredients

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