Pre-chopped onions. In a bag. Am I alone in this?

[Wuldric]

I am prepared to be told that this is my own dirty little secret but still. Pre-chopped onions. Who would not buy?



Still pretty good value. I hate skinning the buggers and chopping them makes me cry. Pre-chopped onions are the way forward!

[Panzee]

I use pre chopped chicken breast, it's great not having to cut slimy chicken.

[Joysmum]

I have a couple of bags in the freezer. I like it for certain family favourites but they boil rather than fry because if the water content and you can't get the flavour you need with them for some recipes. Some dishes require a larger dice too.

[Heartbrokenmum73]

Squeezy garlic in a tube makes the best ever garlic mushrooms!

[mitchsta]

I don't think I've ever cried when chopping an onion. LOVE squeezy garlic in a tube though!

[SlightlyDampWellies]

Never tried them.

On shopping list.

Feels they may transform my life.

Pre-chopped butternut squash has already added value to my life. Chopped onions .... scales falls from eyes.

[Ishy13]

Tesco!

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

Pleased ecstatic about the frozen herbs too. Whenever I try to freeze fresh ones at home, they end up being wet and doggy and brown

[Fillybuster]

Pre chopped onions are utterly fab...I came onto this thread prepared to defend them against the raging hordes of MNers shouting 'shame! shame!' but it appears everyone is sold

I still go through large quantities of fresh onions, too (for roasting, salads, stir fries etc etc) but the pre-chopped ones in the freezer are wonderful for chucking together an emergency spag bol, soup or chili.

I tend to freeze fresh herbs in the summer then grab a handful and just chuck them into everything for the rest of the year but yy to all kitchen-friendly shortcuts!

[TwoStepsBeyond]

And green beans, another thing that sits in the fridge going brown and floppy. Frozen veg is probably better for the environment, less waste etc, as well as being much cheaper.

[MrsCakesPremonition]

Chopped, frozen onions have transformed my life.

Over the years I have been reacting more and more strongly to chopping onions. It is very painful, dangerous (trying to finish chopping the onions for a meal while unable to open my eyes) and time consuming (due to having to stop frequently and go outside until I can open my eyes again) business.

Now I can cook the food I want to cook without having to worry about the crippling onion pain.

[TwoStepsBeyond]

I buy these or the can of sautéed ones (although they can be a bit sloppy, ideal for bolognese etc, but not so good in burgers). I also buy frozen chopped peppers to save having 2 and a half rubbery wrinkly peppers in the fridge every week (I buy fresh with good intentions but only ever use a little bit!) and I buy tubes of garlic purée, grated cheese and cherry tomatoes so I don't have to chop them either.

[IAmTheLordOfRedundancy]

Oh and I buy the massive tube from my local asian shop or the ethnic aisle. Treble the size but half the price.

[IAmTheLordOfRedundancy]

I use chopped onions/peppers/mushrooms/spinach/green beans and rarely buy these in as fresh but squeezy garlic in a tube is my miracle veggie. I love garlic but am crap at preparing it. I'd make so much mess and waste it too. Squeezy garlic stops all that.

[Aniseeda]

Ah Naoko that finally explains the mystery of how my mum used to keep a sack of potatoes in the outhouse for months on end but mine go seedy and manky within a few days. I know to keep them in the dark but never really gave much thought to what the supermarket do with them before I get them. I feel a bit dim now! Must investigate local farms!

[HicDraconis]

Wuldric the teaspoon trick is something my grandmother did. The handle goes in your mouth (for some reason I find it more comfortable under my tongue) and the bowl of the spoon faces down (sort of like this: ---/^\ ). I always assumed that whatever it was that irritated eyes got deflected back downwards by the bowl. Alternatively I'm just extremely suggestible :)

[Naoko]

I think the people who are saying the chopped onions go off faster and are expensive are buying the fresh chopped onions (Asda do them in the chilled prepared veg aisle for example), and the people who are by this are buying the FROZEN chopped onions at £1 for 900g or so, which last for months in the freezer and which are fairly good value.

Whole onions, like whole potatoes, should keep for months if they are fresh off a farm and kept somewhere cool (but not actually chilled because they go manky) and dark, but they don't because if you buy them in a supermarket they've been in storage for months already and not been kept under the right conditions. Which is why my granddad has a 25kg sack of potatoes in his shed that he buys from a local farmer which lasts all winter, and I got a 2kg bag of potatoes from Tesco last week that went moldy three days later.

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

The whole onions I used to buy did not keep for months. I know they should but they just didn't. In my country, not a problem, over here -manky after 10 days.

[BlueSkySunnyDay]

I dont think using frozen veg is bad at all, like you say still contains the nutrients. The baby carrots are lovely (and I could never be bother to prepare small carrots) sweetcorn has to be the finest supersweet stuff though, the standard corn has no taste.

As well as the herbs I freeze I do batches of other things - a nigella recipe I do calls for butternut squash and sweet potato, I will prepare and freeze enough of that to do the meal a few times.

[Blueandwhitelover]

Not only do I use frozen onions, peppers and mushrooms, I often put in a few potatoes to bake when doing a roast then freeze them. Ideal for work when you can't tie up the one and only microwave for long. x

[SoupDragon]

Just leave the hairy end on whilst chopping because that's where the chemical is.

No it isn't. Either that or there is another chemical contained in the rest of the onion that makes you cry. When I chop fresh onions, I was taught to leave the root end on as it holds the onion together when you chop. Still makes you cry!

[SoupDragon]

I buy pre chopped onions. Far less waste and always there when you need them.
Also frozen crushed garlic.

[Lonelygran]

Found this on internet. Maybe frozen are better than chilled? -
The U.S. Department of Agriculture cautions that the more a fruit or vegetable is exposed to air, the more vitamins will be lost, particularly B vitamins like niacin or thiamine and the vitamins A, C, E and K. To minimize vitamin loss, don't cut fruits or vegetables until just before you plan to cook or eat them, and avoid removing the peel whenever possible. Aim to chop or slice produce into large pieces rather than small ones in order to decrease the amount of surface area that will come into contact with air. If you need to prepare produce before you use it, store it in a tightly covered container.

[AmandinePoulain]

Lonely fast freezing means than frozen veg are usually actually 'fresher' and therefore more nutrient rich than their fresh counterparts, that are in reality a few days old before they hit the shelves, then they may be in your fridge or cupboard for a few more days before you eat them.

I've tried the bashing thing, the box just collapses! I think I'll have to resort to the tubes of purée if the cubes are no longer available

[paxtecum]

I'm with LonelyGran: food does loose nutrients when chopped.


Onions keep for months. I used to grow them and they would last right through the winter.