I Finally Figured Out How Not to Cry While Chopping Onions

This comments section is so funny – who would have thought that there were so many tricks to avoid onion tears? I’ll add my own trick, which is to turn the hood vent on and cut onions at my stovetop. Not sure how this strategy works against the ones that others shared (wetting your knife would seem to be the easiest?), but it’s fun to get a glimpse into everyone’s cooking practices!

I don’t eat onions. However whenever I cook for my family and need to chop onions I cut to the chase and wear swimming goggles since my teenage years. I honestly think it’s the best effective and fuss free way of handling onions!

I’ve always thought a good old fashioned pair of swimming goggles should be a staple in every kitchen.

I may try the candle! What I do now is put my cutting board on my stovetop (induction so it’s flat), turn my range hood on full blast, chop those bad bunnies, and just vent that gas right out of there. I leave them under the hood for a few minutes after I’m done as they off gas. That has fixed it for me! Weirdly, I got the idea from the hospital pharmacy where they mix chemotherapy drugs under a hood to protect the techs.

Are you the kindest neighbor ever for not cooking salmon for 8 years?? I read this part and was like, WHAAAAT?!?!

Just wet the knife. Apparently, whatever onions release is attracted to moisture, which is why it ends up in our eyes. If you wet the knife, it’s supposedly drawn to that water instead—no more crying! 🧅

Sweet! Onions are supposed to be a good anti-inflammatory.

I wear onion goggles, they’re a staple in my kitchen! https://www.surlatable.com/product/onion-goggles/527622

Since lasik I get really painful crying from onions, so my husband bought me a little chopper thing and it’s a GAME CHANGER https://www.walmart.com/ip/Aonhom-Vegetable-Chopper-Food-Slicer-15-1-Multi-Function-Food-Chopper-Onion-Veggie-Cheese-Grater-Vegetables-Cutter-Large-Container-Kitchen-Gadgets-Wh/16840153753?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1600

I cut the ends off, peel it, cut in half then stick it in the freezer for maybe a minute. Seems to work. Not sure where I heard it.

This mujaddara recipe is a great way to use caramelized onions and the spiced yogurt is delicious too. Looking forward to making it again once it cools off a bit here. https://food52.com/recipes/8565-mujaddara-with-spiced-yogurt

Swim goggles! I finally tried it after one of my teens kept saying, “Mom, pleeease just try it. Your eyes hurt so much when you chop onions!”

Wow! 95 comments and no one mentioned the easiest solution-cut the root end off first. It works.

french onion soup!

Keeping a cracker, a toothpick or matchstick between my lips works for me!

Smitten Kitchen’s French Onion Baked Lentils are delicious: https://smittenkitchen.com/2024/01/french-onion-baked-lentils-and-farro/ Also, I chop my onions at the very last minute they are needed, no lingering on the counter making people cry or cringe . And I use the Barkeeper’s Friend powder on my cutting boards to erase the allium scents from onions, garlic, etc.

This is my favorite recipe for using up a lot of onions! I admit I have never hunted down the greek cheese and have only ever made it with pecorino. It’s really good and most of the ingredients we usually have in the house anyway! https://food52.com/recipes/24867-diane-kochilas-pasta-with-yogurt-caramelized-onions

I haven’t read through all the comments, so someone may have already mentioned: refrigerate your onion for a bit (get it solidly cold, a half hour??). The cold helps keep the fumes from being intense. It works for me every.single.time.

Glasses don’t work for me, but contact lenses do. i almost never cook with my glasses on anyway.

Michael made me wonder how Aminatou Sow’s search for a partner is going… :)

Oh and my version of what’s called mujahara is a fantastic base for caramelized onions. It’s super comfort food. I learned it with only lentils, (no rice to interfere with the texture), a TON of deeply caramelized onions and the essential, do not miss at all: sour cream. Or greek yogurt if you must. But enough to go with every bite. SO good. Here’s a picture of properly caramelized onions. So many times I see reputable recipe sites show photos of barely carmelized onions, limp, yes brown but not nearly enough Maillard reduction. They should be on the verge of crispy but totally soft and thoroughly brown, virtually no transluscence left. It takes forever, like maybe a solid 30 mins on low heat with a ton of olive oil and a tiny splash of balsamic. But it’s the only way, imo. Use a large skillet and a mountain of onions and get a tub of sour cream. This is amazing warmed up the next day or several days. The lentils should be cooked perfectly creamy without being disintegrated if possible. Hope you try this, it is better than the individual components sound. https://www.theendlessmeal.com/caramelized-onions/

Where are you getting your man friends? I’ve tried to have male friends over the years and they all refuse to participate, wanting a sexual relationship instead. How is it done? Thx in advance.

My husband keeps his *dirt-biking* goggles in the kitchen for when he chops onions! It always makes me laugh to walk into our little kitchen and find him standing there, chopping an onion in those giant goggles. I love him so much.

Onions don’t make me cry, but they do make me sneeze. When I was a student on a very tight budget I used to make a recipe called “Spaghetti with Onions” from one of the Moosewood cookbooks. Decades later it is still such a comfort food meal for me.

I use swim goggles. I keep them in my silverware drawer. Works like a charm!

The ultimate hack is wearing contact lenses! Not that anyone should wear them just for this purpose of course, but it’s one of the few benefits of having to wear them. Good to know that a candle helps too! Which Flamingo Estate candle is that? Wondering which candles people like for the autumn season?

This recipe for Alsatian ham, onion, and cheese tart is really easy and tastes a LOT better than it sounds! Use a prepared pizza crust, any ham you want (sliced into little strips), and mix ricotta cheese, sour cream, sliced onion, and thyme in a bowl. S/P to taste. Spread the onion cheese mixture over the crust, then sprinkle the ham around. Bake per crust directions. It’s weirdly yummy!

1) Onion goggles. They’re real and they work! They sell them for like $14 on Amazon. 2) I use the Ninja mini chopper and just whizz it very fast. Then wear the goggles while I cook the onions.

We make salmon often…in the oven (I have a simple marinade that can’t be beat). I have never noticed a strong lingering smell…other than a delicious reminder of the marinade (fresh ginger chopped in a mini processor, soy sauce and sesame oil, scrape off most of the ginger before baking). Never making salmon for 8 YEARS? You are very nice, but that seems an excessive accommodation to me!

I switched to buying pre-chopped frozen onion and haven’t looked back. My sensitive eyes used to sting terribly! No problems now when I just throw frozen chopped onion in a pan.

Michael’s amazed face is worth zooming in on. Haha best part of the post!

Even with my glasses on, I still cry 😂 But someone once told me to keep the onions in the fridge, take a big gulp of water, keep it in your mouth while chopping, and breathe through your nose. It actually works! I haven’t cried while chopping onions since.

Indian food! There used to be a “coriander and orange scented red lentil soup” on the Splendid Table’s website, and it is delish! It uses three onions. If you google it, a food blogger reposted the recipe and her notes. She thinks it is too orange-y, but I beg to differ. Oh how my husb. and I loved it, in all its orange-y, coriander-y, deliciousness.

For awhile there, I thought I was special and didn’t cry when chopping onions until I realized it was only when I had my contacts in. 😆

My trick is sticking my tongue out a bit while I’m chopping. Sounds crazy but it works.

I wear glasses but it’s not enough, so I take a piece of plastic wrap and fashion goggles over my glasses. Smooth it over your lenses, stuff the excess above and below to seal off the eye areas, and tuck the ends around your ears. I can comfortably caramelize a big batch of onions while looking ridiculous and squinting.

Also works: chop the onion on a cutting board under your stove vent!

Onion Bread Soup with Sausage from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons cookbook. It is perfect for sweater weather and makes a TON! The sausage is optional for vegetarians. I never was a fan of French Onion soup until I tried this. Hmm. Starting to drool. Think I know what I’ll be doing this weekend…

Wet a paper towel with cold water until damp (not soaking), place the damp paper towel on your cutting board, and cut your onion atop the damp paper towel. Revolutionary, people! I have heard it works if you just place the damp paper towel next to where you are cutting, but I am too risk-adverse to try now that I have the on-top solution!

Keep your onions in the fridge and use a very sharp knife. It’s science. If you are chopping lots of onions keep moving them to a covered bowl and wipe down the chopping board. Some onions are stronger than others.

Pulse them in a food processor for a few minutes. I love the manual chopper for this purpose. I just suffer through it though – most of my savory recipes start with an onion. I cannot imagine avoiding them!

My son taught me that if you hold a piece of bread in your mouth, you won’t cry. I was sure he was kidding but he’s absolutely right :)

Hold an unlit matchstick in your mouth by the wooden tip. No tears! It works very time!

“Now that I’m a free woman” 😂 I love it! One of my favorites is an onion pasta recipe that Molly Wizenberg posted years ago. I think it was from James Beard? It involves a sauce made of long-cooked onions and a fortified wine (Madeira? Marsala? Are those fortified wines?). Anyway, it’s so delicious!!!

I once read that holding a piece of bread in your mouth while you cut helps… it does, sort of, but then you’re also eating yummy bread so it all kind of evens out. LOL

We love tinned fish and recently have discovered this brand and their smoked salmon is amaaaaazing -we make farro, broccoli and then mix it all together with either some furikake or everything but the bagel seasoning. Perfection!! https://eatfishwife.com/products/new-smoked-atlantic-salmon-3-pack?_pos=2&_fid=990ded841&_ss=c

Hi! I am just curious what Jo meant by, “Now that I am a free woman”? Have I missed something recently or is this a new hip expression with an unexpected meaning being used in NY? Have a great rest of your week! XO

And…freeze your onion is the final answer. Sensitive eyes here, spent a lifetime holding a match with my teeth wearing goggles next to a wet paper towel and it barely helped. Frozen onion for the win.

I just wear contacts! Never have any issues unless I happen to be wearing my glasses that day!

I’ve tried the candle and glasses trick and no dice. My secret now? I keep old ski goggles in the kitchen and they are my onion chopping goggles.

I am the proud owner of a portable fan. As I approach perimenopause it’s a game changer when I’m getting hot or as an onion blower.

Smitten Kitchen Chicken, Rice, and Buttered Onions

Becoming a contact-wearer is another great hack for avoiding onion tears 🙃

Like, any candle?!

Smitten kitchen short rib onion soup. You’re welcome.

I’m in the refriderated onions camp, too!

My husband’s specialty is onion pakora. I do most of the cooking but he makes this for all special events and school potlucks. In order to safely chop the eight onions, he steals the children’s swimming goggles. I wish I could attach his picture 😂

Put a metal spoon in your mouth as you chop – have no idea re the science of this but I already wear glasses and that doesn’t help but this does!

Onion goggles! They are life-changing for chopping onions, hot peppers, etc.

Usually a bowl of water next to the chopping board does the trick for me. I’m Lebanese and we almost add onions to every meal, so I chop a bunch and freeze them. Then I take a little bit out at a time and sautée!

When my ex-husband was a teenager, he was an outdoor camp counselor. One night he was having the tween boys prepare dinner and one comes up to him totally panicked because his eyes were crying and he didn’t know why! It was literally the first time he had ever cut onions. :) haha. There’s just so much to learn about the world.

I used to think I was a more evolved type of human being because chopping onions never made me cry. But one day I chopped them without my contacts in, and alas, I am but a mere mortal.

My husband makes the most delicious salmon. Outside. On the grill. I have an acute sense of smell and the idea of a lingering aroma of fish while I drink my coffee the next morning is not ideal. So we grill all of the meats and fish OUTSIDE. Bonus, my husband is very sexy when he grills and I get a front row seat from the kitchen window.

Swim goggles! You look silly, but they work better than anything.

Wearing contacts also works! I always forget how eye-stinging onions can be until I happen to cut into a fresh one without my contacts in. Also, like someone else mentioned, cold onions aren’t nearly as hard on the eyes. I never notice them when they’ve been in the fridge.

Put a square of chocolate in your mouth and savor the taste for the duration of chopping. Your senses will ignore the onion. I keep choc in my kitchen for this exact purpose. Also, I’m mystified by those who say that contacts prevent onion weeping–I cry copiously through my contacts if I don’t have chocolate.

What about putting the onion into a mini food processor and pulsing a few times?

I learned the trick to blow air downward as I chop the onions which disperses the onion spritz, and it works beautifully. You could use a fan or, personally, since I’m just cooking for my family, I create the air myself and blow out gently as I chop. I had never heard of a candle as way to avoid crying over onions, so I will add that to my repertoire.

“now that I’m a free woman” lol

Keep your onions in the refrigerator. Cold onions = much less weeping.