A Simple Solution

Our little ones love meals with onion in them. Still, one of our kids but went through a phase of hating the sight of onion in food.

The offending onion was in many family favorite meals:

• slow cooker butter chicken
• homemade sloppy joe
• Cincinnati style chili
• hamburger sliders
• beef enchiladas
• cream of chicken and wild rice soup

We could not let this phase dictate our family menu.

Less Mealtime Tears

I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of chopping onions. My eyes sting and I start crying…almost immediately.

Running water next to me while I chop helps but feels wasteful.

Wearing my husband’s safety goggles helps, but I rarely grab them from the garage before chopping.

All this to say, I was willing to find a solution that allowed

• our family staples to stay on the monthly menu
• reduce mealtime stress
• limit the stinging in my eyes when chopping onions

Our Solution

I buy yellow onions in the 3 lb bag ($3.09/ bag) from Aldi then purée and freeze them.

Puréeing the onions reduces my contact with the onions (less stinging eyes for me!) and eliminates the sight of onions in our family favorites (win, win)!

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions
• 2-3 tsp. olive oil
• 1 clove minced garlic

Materials

• 1-quart glass measuring cup or mason jar
• Ice cube tray
• Immersion blender

Method

The easiest way I have found to do this is as follows:

1. Roughly chop 2 onions
2. Place the roughly chopped onions into a mason jar (what I tend to use) or large glass measuring cup.
   • A glass measuring cup is best since it has a lip for pouring.
3. Add olive oil
   • I don’t measure the olive oil, but I would estimate I add 2-3 tsp.
4. Add minced garlic, just for fun.
   • Again, I don’t measure the garlic, but I would estimate I add the equivalent of one garlic clove.
5. Use your immersion blender to purée the onion, olive oil, and garlic together.
6. Once purée, pour or spoon the puréed onion mixture into an ice cube tray
   • 2 onions (all the purée) typically fill a standard ice cube tray
7. Place the filled ice cube tray in the freezer for 2-4 hours or until onion cubes are completely frozen.
8. Once frozen, pop the onion cubes out of the tray and place in a freezer safe bag or container.
9. Use onion cubes instead of chopped onion in various dishes. This change will save you from frequent tears. If your kids are like one of mine, it also spares your kid(s) from the offending sight of chopped onions.

A Note

• 6-8 frozen onion cubes equal one medium onion.