If you love cooking with onions, you know that preparing them can take quite a bit of time. You will have to peel and chop onion in order to cook with it, which can add up to extra time when you are cooking.
And then if you have to prepare your onion in any way, you might need to add the cooking time for your onions into the process.
This can mean that your entire cooking process including onions can be a lot more time-consuming than you might prefer.
If you have been discouraged from using onions for cooking because you really just don’t want to dirty any more dishes or take a lot more time to get your food ready to eat, you might want to learn to soften onions in the microwave.
Onion is more delicious when it is tender and flavorful, and this is a great, easy way to make sure that your onion is ready to be enjoyed right off.
If you are ready to learn how to soften onion in the microwave, you need to keep reading.
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Softening Onions in the Microwave
You will still have to chop up your onion or slice it before you use the microwave to prepare it. Make sure that you are storing your onion before it is used in the right container so that it is fresh and flavorful when you need it.
You can also use a food processor to chop up your onion if you want to save even more time!
- Peel the onion and cut it into two halves lengthwise.
- Put the halves onto a cutting board with the cut side down. Slice them again from top to bottom and make sure that you slice them into even segments. The onion will cook better if it has been sliced thinly and into regular-sized pieces.
- Put your chopped onion into a microwave-safe bowl and drizzle some olive oil onto it. Add salt and pepper to taste, and then toss the onion to make sure that all of it is coated.
- Cover your bowl with its lid and microwave your onion on high for 5 to 7 minutes.
- You can toss the slices and check if they have cooked through at this point. If they have not, cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. They will be tender and limp when they are done cooking.
Onion that has been softened in the microwave can be used for a variety of different kinds of recipes and cooking needs.
This is a quick way to cut out some cooking time and preparation time for any recipe that includes softened onions. You might not go back to cooking your onion in any other way once you see how simple this process is!
Tips For Softening Onion in the Microwave
If you are going to be using your softened onion for something besides adding it to a sauce or for topping salads or sandwiches, you might want to skip the steps related to seasoning and just add the oil to the bowl.
If you try to soften your onion without some kind of oil on them, it will burn or get dried out.
Also, make sure that you are careful about the kind of bowl that you use for the cooking process.
There are many microwave-safe bowls out there with lids that close securely, but you can also use a microwave-safe bowl with some paper towel over the top of it to lock in the moisture that is created when the onion is cooked.
Just make sure that you are not using a metal bowl or a bowl that you cannot cover adequately. Without a cover on the bowl, your onions will not soften much and might get dried out as well.
Always be careful that you handle the onions cautiously when you take them out of the bowl, as they might have gotten quite hot.
The steam that comes out of the bowl when it is uncovered can also scald you, so be careful about this as well. Onion can get quite hot when it cooks in any kind of container, so you should always be careful not to get burned as you transfer it from one container to another.
Sweet onions or other varieties that are naturally softer, to begin with, might not need to be cooked in the microwave for very long before they will be soft.
Make sure that you start out slowly and check frequently if you think that your onion might get overcooked using the above cooking times.
Taking the time to chop up your onion and then overcooking it can be a real disappointment that you will want to avoid.
Cooked onion that is made in a pan and cooked onion made in the microwave will look the same texture-wise, so you should have no trouble seeing that your onion is cooked enough.
Softening Onion in the Microwave is Easy and Fast
If you have been discouraged from using onion for cooking in the past because of the preparation time that it requires, you will be glad to know that you can easily prepare your onion in the microwave when you need it.
If you have been storing your whole onion carefully in the right storage container, you should be able to simply chop up some onion fairly quickly.
Softening the onion that you have cut in the microwave spares you from having to clean up another pan and makes it fast and easy to get cooked onion on hand for your favorite dishes.
Make sure that you always use caution when you are opening the container that you have cooked your onion in so that you do not get burned.
Also, make sure to reduce the cooking time if you are using yellow or sweet onions.
Softening onion in the microwave is a really simple way to make sure that you have onion on hand when you need it without all the preparation time and cooking time added to your meal creation process.
I am Brianna, a self-published author with a passion for sharing my knowledge and expertise on various topics with people looking to find the perfect items for their needs. I love ensuring that the right informative content is available to people looking for the right information. I am an avid horseback rider and reader when I am not writing.
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