What to do with all those bulk onions? I almost always buy my onions in the 3 lb. bags, but used to end up on the losing end when half of them went bad. I've found a solution to that!
I dice up all the onions that I'm not going to use right away and put 2/3 cup of the chopped onions into ziplock bags. These bags go into the freezer until the onions are needed. I make a lot of soups and gumbos so the slightly limp texture is fine, and the taste is the same as fresh.
I too cut up extra onion to freeze. It's real handy to have it already diced to add to soups, casseroles, etc. Sometimes I thaw out ahead and other times I can throw in frozen and it doesn't matter.
Ann - I'm also from New Orleans. I take it an extra step and chop up my onions, celery, bell pepper and sausage and add a whole bayleaf. Put it in a ziplock bag and freeze. Doing this once a month or so, gives me a convenient packet to throw in Monday Red Beans with only one knife and cutting board to wash.
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Tip: Freeze Chopped Onions to Avoid Waste (08/17/2009)
If you like cooking with chopped or diced onions but don't like spending extra money buying prepared onions, try making your own.
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Tip: Freeze Chopped Onions to Avoid Waste
Archived on 08/17/2009
If you like cooking with chopped or diced onions but don't like spending extra money buying prepared onions, try making your own. Wash, peel and chop the onion to your preferred fineness. Place in a plastic storage bag and toss in the freezer. When you're ready to use them, there's no need to thaw first. Just remove the amount you need from the bag. This is a great money-saver for me, since we buy the three-pound bags of white onions but don't always use them before they spoil. (Note: I don't recommend freezing onion you're going to want to eat fresh.) Happy cooking!
Source: This is something I figured out on my own.
By Lelia from Springfield, OH
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RE: Freeze Chopped Onions to Avoid Waste
You can also chop celery and put it in the freezer without blanching. I also cut it in longer pieces sometimes. Like you and the onions I wasted a lot of celery before I discovered this. (11/21/2008)
This is a very good time-saving tip, but freezing the onion reduces the strength of the flavor. Most people don't like strong onions, anyway, so it may be a moot point, but it should be mentioned that the onion flavor becomes milder after freezing. (11/21/2008)
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RE: Freeze Chopped Onions to Avoid Waste
I found that after I dice onions or celery, spread it out on a pan sprayed with cooking spray and put it in the freezer for a little while. Then put in containers. It is a lot easier to separate when you get it out of freezer. Otherwise when you get it out of freezer it is in one big clump. I learned this from my sister. (11/22/2008)
By Mimi in Pensacola
RE: Freeze Chopped Onions to Avoid Waste
This also works for green bell peppers and other colored bell peppers. When the peppers go on sale, I will buy extra, cut into strips and freeze for fajitas or I can cut the strips for diced peppers. Do as mentioned before and freeze on a cookie sheet, then put into a bag. (Don't use these if you need the crunch of fresh peppers, just in your cooking.) (11/22/2008)
