Emma is a former editor for The Kitchn and a graduate of the Cambridge School for Culinary Arts. She is the author of True Brews and Brew Better Beer. Check out her website for more cooking stories Show
updated Sep 8, 2022 Page URL We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing. (Image credit: Kelli Foster) Given that the vast majority of dinners start with a pile of thinly-sliced onions on the cutting board, we here at The Kitchn feel it’s worth taking the time to make sure your onion skills are on point. Confidence is everything when it comes to dinner, am I right? Grab your favorite chefs knife and your onion goggles — I’m about to show you how to cut your onion like a kitchen ninja. (Image credit: Kelli Foster) What We Mean By Thinly Sliced OnionsRecipes are annoyingly inconsistent when it comes to sliced onions. Some say “thinly-sliced” or “thin-cut,” some say “julienned,” while still others call for onions to be “french-cut.” These all mean the same thing: long, thin slices of onions all the same size and length. (Image credit: Kelli Foster) Think of the Onion as a GlobeThink of the onion as a globe with the root end as the South Pole and the top as the North Pole. Running from North Pole to South Pole, you have lines of longitude — once you peel the onion, you can actually see lines in the onion that look just like the longitude lines on a globe. Thanks, Mother Nature! To thinly slice our onion, we want to cut along those lines of longitude, top to bottom. Trim off the tip and the root, cut the onion in half from pole to pole, and then slice each half radially, with your knife slightly angled toward the middle of the onion. Sound tricky? Don’t worry — this is one of those kitchen skills that’s easier done than said. Look through the slideshow gallery of step-by-step photos, and see for yourself. (Image credit: Kelli Foster) Why Bother Slicing Onions This Way?If you’re anything like me, it probably feels more intuitive to thinly slice the onion into rings or half-moons rather than along the lines of longitude like this. But besides making you feel like a proper chef, this way of slicing onions has a few surprising advantages over half-moon slices. First off, these thinly-sliced onions are all roughly the same length. This makes the finished dish look a little more polished, and it also means they’ll cook more evenly and finish cooking at the same time. These onions also have a better texture after cooking — they’ll still have a bit of chew and bite, while rings or half-moons tend to have a softer, somewhat mushy texture. Does it truly matter whether you cut an onion thin julienned sliced or into half-moons if the end result is still spaghetti sauce? Nah, probably not. You’ll be happy with your homemade dinner either way. But does giving your onions a little extra TLC make you feel that much closer to kitchen mastery? Most definitely. 1 / 14 Grab yourself some onions! (Image credit: Kelli Foster) 0 Ratings How To Cut An Onion Into Perfectly Thin SlicesPrint Recipe Show Nutrition
Per serving, based on 2 servings. (% daily value)
Ingredients
Equipment
Instructions
|