It’s Sunday, and you’re ready to make a large batch of ragu bolognese, but the recipe calls for 6 finely chopped onions. The thought of all that chopping might make you want to give up before you even start.
If you’re like many home cooks, your knife skills might be a bit slow, and the idea of spending so much time chopping onions is unappealing. Fortunately, there’s an easier way.
Chefs in professional kitchens have discovered a time-saving trick: using a food processor to chop onions. Instead of spending countless minutes chopping by hand, you can achieve similar results in a fraction of the time with a food processor.
The Food Processor Onion Chopping Method
After spending years chopping onions by hand in professional kitchens, Rhoda Boone, commander of all things Epi Test Kitchen, wondered if the onions really needed to be chopped by hand. The team found that there’s no reason you shouldn’t be using the food processor to chop onions.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone
In tests comparing hand-chopped onions to food processor-chopped onions, the team found little difference in the final product. What would take the average home cook 10 minutes and tears to accomplish by hand took less than 30 seconds with a food processor. While the food processor-chopped onions might look a bit rougher, they perform the same way in recipes.
When to Use a Food Processor for Onions
While using a food processor for onions is a great time-saver, it’s not always the best option. Here are some scenarios where using a food processor might not be ideal:
- Small Quantities: If your recipe only calls for half an onion, cleaning the food processor afterward might not be worth the effort.
- Precise Cuts: If you need extremely fine and uniform cuts, such as in a three Michelin-starred French restaurant, hand-chopping might be preferable.
- Grated Onions: The shredding disk on a food processor can turn onions into a watery mess, so it’s best to avoid using it for grated onions (unless you’re making latkes, where you’ll be draining excess liquid anyway).
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/optawccjHszQv3ynlWcxkZu9Jdb3V8GZvrB-1620×1146-DifferentOnionCuts-Hero-63a464b339574688a5c5f8171f674383.JPG)
Different cuts of onion.
Tips for Chopping Onions in a Food Processor
To get the best results when using a food processor to chop onions, keep these tips in mind:
- Cut into chunks: Before adding the onions to the food processor, cut them into smaller chunks. This will help ensure that they are evenly chopped.
- Pulse, don’t puree: Use the pulse function to chop the onions, rather than running the food processor continuously. This will give you more control over the final texture.
- Don’t overfill: Avoid overfilling the food processor, as this can lead to uneven chopping. Work in batches if necessary.
- Drain excess liquid: If the onions release a lot of liquid during chopping, drain it off before using the onions in your recipe.
Enjoy Your Time Savings
Now that you know how to dice onions in a food processor, you can save time and effort in the kitchen. Use the extra time to focus on other aspects of your recipe or simply relax and enjoy the process of cooking.
