Make It Yourself: Frozen Chopped Onions

Do you know that you can buy frozen, pre-cut onions in the grocery store?

I have to admit that that really strikes me as lazy.  You can't cut your own onion?  Really?  Has the world really come to this?

I suppose it is convenient, but certainly more expensive then cutting your own onions.  And they probably add preservatives of some sort.

Well, take this convenient frozen prepackaged onion makers:  Did you know that you can freeze your own onions?  

Yep.  No secret to it - just chop them up (perfect for tacos, spaghetti sauce, casseroles and the like) or slice them (for stir-fry, fajitas, etc.) and freeze 'em.  

Here is what I did:

I purchased three bags of onions on sale for $.99 bag at Aldi.  I cut off the outer papery layer and chopped most of the onions.  The other onions I sliced by cutting the onion in half and slicing each half of onion.  I cried more than when I sent my oldest off to kindergarten.  But that is OK, because I only have to do this twice a year - two times a year I cry while cutting the onions, my hands smell like onions, I wash up the onion-smelling knife and cutting board.  That beats having to battle the onion a few times a week!  Not to mention all the time I save by doing it at once for 10 minutes verses a minute or two 3 times a week all year long!

Spread the onions on a single layer on a cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap (to contain the smell) and put in the freezer for a few hours or until frozen (in the winter, you can just set them outside if you live in the frozen Tundra, like we in MN do).

Take them out of the freezer, break them up with a spoon or spatula and scoop them into freezer bags.  Put the smaller freezer bags of onions into larger freezer bags (double bagging) and store in the freezer.  

Since you froze them individually (instead of bagging them right after chopping them), they will not be frozen into a large clump and you can easily just grab as much as you need for your recipe.  No tears involved!