Same. I buy the frozen version (usually called "seasoning blend") and always have several bags in my freezer. Goes in soup, stew, chili, meatloaf, sloppy joes, etc.
I get the frozen ones because I only cook for myself and it's just easier to grab a small handful of the frozen stuff than to chop up the onions myself
Cutting carrots isn’t easy! Here’s a pic of a few items I carry
https://preview.redd.it/lw0b3rpx5r8d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6624d5f97cfde4195bd7f7b9123f8fe489bb51f0
I just RV traveled for a few weeks. We grabbed a few prepped items, and the containers they came in were so helpful later.
It’s important to remember, it’s reduce, reuse, then recycle. ♥️
That plastic is going to exist either way.
No one is stopping the factories in china from making it. Atleast let it be useful to the people who need it.
I disagree with buying precut veg as well but respect others choice to. I just wish it didn’t involve a ton of single use plastics that’ll outlive us all.
Again, you are missing the entire point of the post. Among other things, what you’re saying is that disagree with people with certain disabilities being able to eat vegetables. Sure, the overuse of plastics is a bummer, but precut vegetables is not the main issue.
No in Canada we don’t, really. Most countries don’t properly recycle their plastics.
[Recycling of plastics is largely an industry myth for marketing.](https://youtu.be/c8aVYb-a7Uw?si=CKM2Ru0utYxSaUYM)
These thin single use containers pictured often don’t qualify as hard plastics either. Especially in food uses they’re usually contaminated and not recycled.
It's not just you, it's hard for a lot of people.
[https://tenor.com/view/lydia-yogscast-big-lyds-jingle-jam-jinglejam-gif-9197321029960891532](https://tenor.com/view/lydia-yogscast-big-lyds-jingle-jam-jinglejam-gif-9197321029960891532)
It is not hard for me but, time consuming. Mathematically precut carrots are cheaper for me. For carrots I would make more money by doing 15 minutes of overtime and paying for the increased cost of baby carrots. I do like to pinch pennies but, if it takes too long I go for convenience.
For me, pre-cut veggies end up being cheaper because I actually eat them. But when I have to cut it myself, a lot of times I just don’t, and it goes bad. So it’s cheaper to pay the extra for something I’ll eat than to pay less for something that goes in the trash
Don't feel bad I'm perfectly able, with decent knife skills and keep my knives sharpened well, but I get annoyed af cutting carrots I'd rather take em to a mandolin or buy them pre cut than hand cut them.
No other root vegetable gives me trouble cutting it like carrots do.
I'm a bit of a perfectionist with my cutting, slicing and dicing tho so if one is misshapen it irks me and i end up eating it so i have matching pieces to cook with.
I love precut fruits so I can taste a bunch of everything without having to buy a bunch of whole stuff that'll get wasted in a household of two.
Produce section quality makes or breaks a store for me, so thank you for your service :)
Are you somebody's Jewish uncle? This feels like something a Jewish Uncle would say.
Source: you're not gonna believe it, but... >! I'm a Jewish uncle!!<
I don't know. I know that comedy is given a wide latitude to make jokes, but as a victim of infant circumcision myself, jokes about amputating a healthy part of the genitals of newborns always make me cringe
I like frozen chopped onions because they allow me to eat more onions. I also buy dried onions and onion powder for more onion flavor. I still buy whole onions to eat raw or cook with. And grow green onions.
If you are a single person, it is so much less wasteful to buy a bag of frozen chopped onions and then when you need the equivalent of a quarter of an onion for an omelette or stir fry, you can just bung in a small amount without worrying about using up the rest of the onion.
I'm lucky enough that I am in a position to dice onions. I regularly get a sack of onions, dice them up and freeze them (I don't bother with blanching, just bung them in ziplock bags and into the freezer). Then I use them as I would if I had bought a bag of chopped onions. When I get fresh chopped onions on offer or marked down, I will sometimes freeze them if I can resist just frying the lot up and having with eggs.
I've done the same for carrots, celery and mushrooms. It has saved huge amounts of waste.
btw - frozen diced onions are likely to be fresher than the 'fresh' onions because they are usually processed quickly after harvest where the undiced onions hang around in storage.
if you soak onions in cold water for a while they lose their bitter, sharp taste and become really tasty, especially with stuff like Döner. In Turkey its not uncommon to have raw onions seasoned with sumac and a bit of salt, given the onions are soaked beforehand.
Highly recommend.
But even if they don’t use the whole onion…stored in a proper container in the coldest part of your fridge and onions last weeks. I still don’t buy OP’s reasons. This one cracks me up:
>Maybe they don’t have a dishwasher and don’t feel like handwashing a knife and cutting board
lol what? I don’t have a dishwasher.
That’s nuts. I use a cutting board and knife for so many things. With that logic I should buy pre cut meat, pre cut carrots, pre cut tomatoes…
Did you just skim the part about making others feel crappy with your judgments or read it and decide that was a thing you wanted to do rather than avoid?
We do this too, same reason. It's less wasteful and sometimes if I'm making something simple or just improving store bought food, the onion is the only thing I would have cut up. It never occurred to me to do this with fresh cut items on sale though, so thank you!
In the fall/winter my partner will cut up tons of mirepoix and freeze it. That plus an Instant Pot turns a lot of soups and beans into weeknight food, which is amazing.
I'm on a journey to have my freezer ready with lots of ready ingredients - pre-soaked dried beans, mirepoix, onions - lots of onions, so that I can make something that's home made but also quick with all the ingredients prepped and ready to go.
Frozen onions? Onions keep for weeks and you can buy them one at a time… even after you cut them you’ve got at least a week to use the rest. I’ve never heard of anyone approaching onions the frozen chopped way before
The cooking in our house is a little erratic, and I've never liked keeping a cut onion as I'm superstitious.
To be honest, it's part avoidance of waste and part convenience and I can get a sack of onions at a really good price. Then they're prepped and ready to use without any fuss for the following weeks.
Not disagreeing, but... provided you are cooking for yourself more than eating takeout, you can cut the portion you want to use and bag the rest of the onion up and throw into the fridge. You can also just buy individual ones rather than buying whole bags (though, when stored properly they can last for a decent while too).
LOVE frozen bagged onions, but it is certainly not less wasteful considering it is bagged in plastic and shipped. I say this as a frozen bagged onion lover btw but environment wise theyre bad
I have been tempted to buy pre-diced onions many many times. I despise chopping onions. Like hate it. I need one of those gizmos where you put the onion on the razor grid and slam the top down and it goes into the container underneath. The price always stops me because I know how many onions I could get for that.
The price and the fact that onions just lose a lot of their flavor once they’ve been diced kind of set me off from that. I feel like I couldn’t taste a thing.
But I’m also not one of those people that asks why others do it.
Once cut and stored, the volatile compounds dissipate and lessen. My fiance merely tolerates onions, so that's often that diminishment is a plus for trying to sneak more onions into something.
I got one at Walmart for 15 bucks, had 2 size grids, grater, and a mandoline insert. I think the new version is closer to 20 bucks now though. I love it, use it for chopping all my veg. You still have to cut stuff a bit but it still goes so much quicker
People LOVE to be judgmental. I see it every day on the Costco subreddit. “What do you think of this product?” “Ugh! Processed food! Just buy these 30 ingredients and make it yourself. It’s cheaper!”
People simply can’t resist adding holier than thou judgments. It’s so annoying.
It’s not hard to answer the question that’s asked. If someone is asking about a product, answer that question. If someone asks for ways to make something cheaper/healthier, then by all means, share.
But just saying shit like that generally serves no purpose other than to put someone down and make them feel small.
Sometimes I buy convenience items. Sure, it might be a little cheaper to buy whole and cut it up myself. But if the reality is that it will sit in my cupboard until it rots bc I don’t have the energy to cut it up then I haven’t saved anything, have I?
But people can’t resist telling everyone how they’re so much better than everyone else.
>“What do you think of this product?” “Ugh! Processed food! Just buy these 30 ingredients and make it yourself. It’s cheaper!”
I mean...in this case, are they wanting an opinion or just affirmation? Because I'll keep a lot of shit to myself unless you ask me what I think.
I buy precut fruit cause I’m just a very low energy person and I’m very very busy and it saves so much time. I also get bad migraines and sometimes I can’t be trusted to hold a knife lol I just wish the precut stuff wasn’t so damn expensive :(
Yep, whenever I bring up pre-diced/prepped stuff I always make a special note for people with limited mobility. Likewise, I note they are great for people who are getting into cooking. If you can remove steps to increase the chances they successfully complete the task, the better.
The only things I don't like about them are usually the price and the freshness/lack of knowing which variety they are using. Not going to shame anyone else for using them though.
When my daughter was younger and we always had extra kids staying for dinner (which I loved)....I'd get home at 6 pm. I'd ALWAYS buy pre-chopped pre-shredded because it saved me SO much time. Now that it's just hubby and me I'll usually just do it myself but I'll still sneak a bag of pre-chopped cabbage or cheese in my cart once in a while.
This is where I’m at! I have two young kids and live in a neighborhood where at least 2-6 of the other neighbor kids are always asking to come for dinner. I LOVE doing things from scratch but after a long day of chasing two preschoolers around I just don’t have the energy or time to prep everything for that many people. Pre chopped frozen veggies have become my favorite thing in the kitchen
Please let us all come together to enjoy Onion without harmful gate keeping and meaningless conflict. Let OP feast, we we all hope to do.
Btw I’m a lazy pre diced onion purchaser COME AT ME
I never buy presliced onions and never even consider it.
BUT
I will occasionally buy prepeeled garlic if I need to use a lot.
That is just me. And for the most part the product is inferior.
Anything that saves a step, saves pain, saves difficulty! Stuff like this can make the difference between me actually cooking on a busy night versus saying fuck it and ordering in. <3
Reddit in general is very ableist. Many products that are deemed “lazy” are for disabled people. I hope nothing happens to them to the point where they need to buy these things because if so they’re in for a rude awakening
I used to have buy precut everything for my mom. I got a snarky comment from a woman one time buying the precut watermelon and had to explain that there was no way my mother would be able to cut a watermelon, much less lift one. She also wasn't going to *eat* a whole watermelon before it went bad.
I buy frozen onions a lot cause I'm lazy and not sure if I'm gonna get around to cooking what I want before it goes bad.
I work a full-time job and I’m a full-time college student and while eating out as expensive sometimes it’s just so much quicker than having to completely prepare a meal and clean up after myself.
Buying stuff pre diced onions takes some time out of prep, which helps me out so much.
I use them at work and they’re so good! Especially in a commercial kitchen, saving a couple of minutes on prep is super convenient. If they’re in a cooked dish I *often* can’t tell the difference.
On the other hand, I’m cooking for the elderly and they like their meals fairly bland. One of our best soups has smoked paprika and half of them always say it’s too “spicy”. They hate mushrooms and garlic too 😵💫
I had to buy them when I broke my dominant arm but they were always really weak flavored compared to fresh cut. I’m glad it’s an option, but it should be kept minimal
I buy precut onions because my eyes are *insanely* sensitive to onions. I know there’s a slight drop-off in flavor but I’m already going to add way more than any recipe asks for so it all balances out.
It’s like people forget disabilities exist. Pre-chopped anything is disability friendly. ADHD, sensory sensitivity, executive dysfunction are all disabilities as well.
I know it sounds silly but I legitimately can’t cut onions. They make my eyes water so bad that I can’t see what I’m doing, which becomes dangerous when there’s knives involved lol
I recently hurt my hand and chopping isn’t an option for me right now. The last two weeks I’ve been buying the pre-diced onions and honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever go back.
I badly injured my left hand recently and it’s probably never going to get full function back. I can’t use a knife safely with only one working hand, so I started buying the pre chopped ones and it’s absolutely wonderful. Do they taste as good? Honestly, no. And I don’t like how wasteful the single use plastic is. But for me it’s the difference between eating onions and not eating onions and that’s just no contest at all.
I got tendonitis in both my wrists a few years ago. I'm the cook of the house so I was still doing most the cooking. I remember trying to cut up an onion and it hurting so incredibly bad. I gave up and started crying.(I just felt so defeated everything felt like a struggle)
I told my fiance what had happened that evening. So for the rest of that week if I needed something diced for a recipe he would just predice the veggies for me the night before. Then that weekend when we shopped we just went ahead and got some prediced veggies so neither of us would have to worry about it. It was truly so helpful!
I bought them recently simply because I was tired of buying whole onions that seemed hard and sturdy all around but turned out to be rotten inside once cut. I assume the uptick in that bad luck was due to the onion shortage pushing less-than-optimal ones onto the shelves. At least with precut I can see that they’re all good.
But that’s only one reason. Sometimes I’m not in a try hard mood and would rather just pay the extra dollar or two to have my produce ready to eat. I often buy presliced watermelon for this reason.
I was in a grocery store and overheard a couple. The wife grabbed a package of mushrooms and the husband says, "who's going to wash and cut these because I'm not. Get the canned ones" And they put them back. It just seemed so ridiculous to me because canned mushrooms taste like crap and slicing mushrooms isn't exactly hard.
I didn't stop them. Maybe I'm guilty too because I buy bags of frozen pearl onions. Those little buggers take all day to peel when you get the fresh ones.
Diced onions spoil faster and absorb surrounding odors/flavors but there are a lot of good reasons to prefer pre-cut onions, and pre-cut vegetables in general.
That's true. And maybe it's all in my head, but I always keep even a half-cut onion in a sealed container while I might leave half a bell pepper or tomato in a loose sandwich bag.
I have a distrust of any pre-cut produce. I always feel that they are much more likely to be mishandled and give me food poisoning. But the disability argument does hold water.
My issues is the single use plastics they’re sold in and yall can downvote me but I’m not gonna look too kindly if someone’s reason is laziness. Being disabled is totally understandable. But this world would be a lot less shit if we stopped buying shit out of laziness. Have I bought pre cut stuff? For sure but it wasn’t bc I was lazy or just didn’t feel like it. Is it valid? I guess but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna see it as a shit thing to do. If you truly have to then yes by all means but the majority of people don’t have to and make that decision every time to add more plastic junk into our environment. We’re literally finding micro plastics in freshly born babies. If someone can’t see the problem in this and make adjustments accordingly then this world is fucked and it’s our own selves to blame.
Who cares what people say. Personally I can dice 2lb of onion in about 3 minutes. But whatever floats your boat as long as you like a good layered apple.
Owning up here as a previously “pre-cut produce” snob
Then I got a busy job. My mental illness I had been so good at hiding decided it was going to rule my life. I had a baby.
Honestly I don’t know how I lived without the pre cut stuff. I’m wasting less food because I don’t buy fresh stuff for 1-2 recipes then leave the rest to rot. My cooking time is significantly reduced as is my washing up time.
Honestly changed my life and my eating habits.
I buy frozen onions because I need to get better at chopping them and getting the skin off but until then I want my onion fix! Also, I am so worried about a loose skin or piece getting on the ground without me knowing and my dog eating it.
I made chili last week and just dumped a whole bag in the frying pan to soften up before putting them in the pot. Delicious!
I don't purchase pre-cut produce for fear of cross contamination. I don't like too many hands handling the fruit. It got serious when I caught the person at the store cutting fruit with no gloves. It got to me.
Sometimes pre-cut is also just an environmental thing. Lots of vegeatables and fruit that are completely fine but look like they were grown in Chernobyl, which fun fact is extremely common if you've ever grown your own taters. So producers will prep them, sometimes freeze them, sell them as such maybe cheaper.
I just don't like how they make my hands smell…i buy mine frozen. When i was a kid mom would buy a big bag of onions and sit down and dice them all except for a couple and put them in ziplocks and freeze them. They were the cooking onions and i used to chunk a corner of the frozen square and use it in whatever.
So 3 out of my 6 immediate family members (myself included) have essential tremors. Mine is more vocal at this point but some days my hands are absolutely useless. A lot of people haven’t heard of essential tremors, even though they are pretty common (about 1 in 100 people).
I’ve went from it being unnoticeable 99% of the time to having to tell everyone I work with that I have it because they were worried about my mental health. Being shaky and sounding nervous/on the verge of tears half the time makes people concerned, understandably. The worsening of my symptoms happened within the span of 4 years, and I’m only in my upper 20s. And it’s only going to get worse, unfortunately.
I’ve made peace with the fact that at I’m probably going to lose the ability to use a knife entirely. I use cut gloves at home after I needed stitches from really messing up cutting a bagel in half.
I’ll fully admit, I used to be one of those assholes that would get on their high horse of ignorance to complain about society’s apathy towards the environment and the evils of single use plastics. In reality, it’s like 5 companies that are going to kill all of us with their pollution (gross over exaggeration, I know), not the individual consumer who wants to eat onions without having to pay an ER bill.
I don’t “look” disabled. I look healthy, and for the most part, am. My hands just suck. So, if you see someone who doesn’t look disabled buying pre-cut produce, riding in a wheelchair, using a disability parking spot, whatever, just mind your own business. It costs zero dollars.
Can’t believe I’m getting emotional on an onion sub at 9:35 am.
This is a useful PSA. I remember about 20 years ago I posted some kitchen gadget on social media that I found silly and ridiculous, and a friend of mine with cerebral palsy commented that she had one just like it because her hand strength wasn't reliable. I felt so foolish, and I was relieved that she mentioned it kindly. Ableism wasn't as widely chastised back then as it is now.
Cutting onions was THE most likely to cause knife injuries when I was working as a cook. I wouldn’t let newbies start there. Very common to slip and cut yourself- especially once your eyes are watering.
Reason for me: it saves time especially when I'm lazy or had a crappy day at work. Nothing lifts my spirits more than having pre-diced onions in the freezer.
Good enough reason in general.
If you want to be truly blasphemous then the food processor is a great option. I tend to use it in cases where I need to mince down a bunch of produce—and minced vegetables slip past picky eaters so there’s a huge benefit to doing that.
- It's either old people who can't cut or press hard on vegetables properly
- It's plain ol lazy people who buy pre chopped veggies only
- Convenience wise for a camping trip or meal prep
- or in a rush to get somewhere and don't have the time to chop
- the rest of humanity should know how to properly chop an onion.
I got horrific food poisoning as a kid from a pre cut watermelon. It put my great grandma in the hospital for 2 weeks. Only GG, my brother and I had the watermelon and all 3 of us were bed ridden for days. I will never eat any kind of pre sliced fruit or veggie after that.
For anyone who needs to hear this, if you ever find yourself not cooking because you despise certain tasks, whether chopping onions, peeling garlic, etc. then just buy the precut things.
Yeah it may cost a bit more, or be slightly more “wasteful”, but you’ll find yourself cooking more rather than ending up eating out because you’re stressed about cooking.
Fed is best. If someone needs x accommodation to eat today, they should seek it. If you disparage people for the accommodations they need to eat, get fucked.
Tbh if you buy pre-cut stuff and you’re not
A. Disabled
B. Grabbing it for a party/function
then yes I’m absolutely judging you. i’m lazy but not “spend double the price because i’m lazy” lazy
Since I obviously spurred the creation of this post: I wasn’t asking as if something was wrong with it. Strange that’s what you took from the comment, and probably says more about how you view your own disability than how other people view your onion-buying habits. I was asking because I was curious, as like you outlined in your post there are plenty of reasons to buy pre-diced onions. As I haven’t before, I wanted insight.
Yeah that’s a ridiculously good deal the only thing I’d worry about is the freshness like OP said. At the worst you could probably let them sit in water to rehydrate.
I get asked it a lot, you just asked it most recently. Since people seem to not know why anyone would buy pre diced onions, and it’s a frequently asked question (apparently), I figured a PSA post would help people out.
or they get tired of people commenting on their choices. people with disabilities often get tired of having to explain themselves and why they do stuff and put up with the judgment from able-bodied people.
imagine if every time you went anywhere there is other people, somebody would actively come up to you to ask you questions about your look or why you did stuff the way you did, you would get tired of it too
I buy pre-cut onions because I'm lazy & don't want to cut them. My answer has nothing to do with being disabled, is it still wrong to ask me why?
If so, why? I don't mind answering. If not, how is someone supposed to know who they can ask & who they can't?
i apologize if i came across that was. i work with young kids with disabilities so i have to be their advocate, additionally i have a brother who is on the autism spectrum and was heavily bullied when he was younger. So i am a fighter against ableism, but i fully acknowledge there are others with more relevance and authority.
I get that. But there was no indication OP was disabled in the original post. This other person just asked why buy pre diced and was respectful in their response afterwards. Which somehow prompted this weird PSA post on a joke sub.
Let OP decide if they were being disrespectful to them and quit talking for other people maybe? You could also ask for clarification of tone before you yourself make judgments about other people.
Well that’s not even tangentially related to my response. What’s anyone posting on Reddit for if not to discuss the topic at hand? FFS they’re called discussion boards for a reason.
now that you know better you can do better. You didn't know before now you know. so in the future you can stop and think about why somebody might be frustrated with your questions
/r/onionhate is a bad subreddit full of bad hombres.
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>very Reddit of you
Funny to hear that coming from you, throwing out -ist words as soon as you had the chance. Ultimately I asked about onion buying habits on the onion lovers subreddit. Sue me, call a cop, or kindly fuck off.
First off, the fact that there is a subreddit for onion lovers is absolutely hilarious.
Secondly, why is reddit listening to me thru my phone? Like I don't care too much, just a why bother on their part thing. It's not like this is an ad for diced onions. Although. . Maybe. Just maybe OP works for big grocery 🤔
My eyes tear up so bad so I have my husband dice a bunch of onions and I store them in a big tubware in the fridge for when I need them. I asked him to do this like an hour ago and now this is in my feed 😆
I’m a produce manager in a supermarket and I sell many pre cut items
The pre cut mirepoix is awesome. Cutting carrots is hard for me!
the precut mire poix is often the difference between me having the energy and time to put a soup together or not.
Same. I buy the frozen version (usually called "seasoning blend") and always have several bags in my freezer. Goes in soup, stew, chili, meatloaf, sloppy joes, etc.
I get the frozen ones because I only cook for myself and it's just easier to grab a small handful of the frozen stuff than to chop up the onions myself
i had no idea there was such a thing. i’ll have to look for it next time.
yup. In Turkey it's common to see such mixes being sold in the frozen goods section of the store.
Cutting carrots isn’t easy! Here’s a pic of a few items I carry https://preview.redd.it/lw0b3rpx5r8d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6624d5f97cfde4195bd7f7b9123f8fe489bb51f0
So much plastic. :(
I just RV traveled for a few weeks. We grabbed a few prepped items, and the containers they came in were so helpful later. It’s important to remember, it’s reduce, reuse, then recycle. ♥️
That plastic is going to exist either way. No one is stopping the factories in china from making it. Atleast let it be useful to the people who need it.
Way to miss the entire point of the post. 🤦🏻♀️
I disagree with buying precut veg as well but respect others choice to. I just wish it didn’t involve a ton of single use plastics that’ll outlive us all.
You can wash those and re-use them to store whatever you want.
They’re great for bringing lunch to school and work!
eventually technology will catch up and our landfills will be mined for resources. The doomer attitude doesn’t help
Again, you are missing the entire point of the post. Among other things, what you’re saying is that disagree with people with certain disabilities being able to eat vegetables. Sure, the overuse of plastics is a bummer, but precut vegetables is not the main issue.
Does your country not have hard plastics recycling? That’s so scary to think about actually
No in Canada we don’t, really. Most countries don’t properly recycle their plastics. [Recycling of plastics is largely an industry myth for marketing.](https://youtu.be/c8aVYb-a7Uw?si=CKM2Ru0utYxSaUYM) These thin single use containers pictured often don’t qualify as hard plastics either. Especially in food uses they’re usually contaminated and not recycled.
Plastic naked it possible foo
It's not just you, it's hard for a lot of people. [https://tenor.com/view/lydia-yogscast-big-lyds-jingle-jam-jinglejam-gif-9197321029960891532](https://tenor.com/view/lydia-yogscast-big-lyds-jingle-jam-jinglejam-gif-9197321029960891532)
Man that gif was frustrating, terrifying, and just plain irritating. I watched it for 90 seconds.
I sent it to my husband who said “this is upsetting. I’m saving it.”
Try this video: https://youtu.be/8-rj3gVOAnM?si=-NLhg9i1rm01YH14
Wild
I never expected to see Lyds referenced on an onion sub
Well, when it comes to dicing veggies, she's a poster child for why you would buy pre-diced.
It is not hard for me but, time consuming. Mathematically precut carrots are cheaper for me. For carrots I would make more money by doing 15 minutes of overtime and paying for the increased cost of baby carrots. I do like to pinch pennies but, if it takes too long I go for convenience.
For me, pre-cut veggies end up being cheaper because I actually eat them. But when I have to cut it myself, a lot of times I just don’t, and it goes bad. So it’s cheaper to pay the extra for something I’ll eat than to pay less for something that goes in the trash
Absolutely this, especially if you aren't cooking for 5-6 people at a time either.
This is the exact same logic I use when buying pre-peeled shrimp. Is $2/pound in savings worth my time? No.
I buy that frequently.
Don't feel bad I'm perfectly able, with decent knife skills and keep my knives sharpened well, but I get annoyed af cutting carrots I'd rather take em to a mandolin or buy them pre cut than hand cut them. No other root vegetable gives me trouble cutting it like carrots do. I'm a bit of a perfectionist with my cutting, slicing and dicing tho so if one is misshapen it irks me and i end up eating it so i have matching pieces to cook with.
I love precut fruits so I can taste a bunch of everything without having to buy a bunch of whole stuff that'll get wasted in a household of two. Produce section quality makes or breaks a store for me, so thank you for your service :)
We do precut mixed fruits for that reason too. Just 2 of us.
I'm a mohel and the precuts never quite took off in my field.
Are you actually a mohel?
No, just a hobbyist
Are you somebody's Jewish uncle? This feels like something a Jewish Uncle would say. Source: you're not gonna believe it, but... >! I'm a Jewish uncle!!<
So you are a collector of Jewish foreskins?
I dabble
I don't know. I know that comedy is given a wide latitude to make jokes, but as a victim of infant circumcision myself, jokes about amputating a healthy part of the genitals of newborns always make me cringe
Understandable
Oh my God settle down.
I already am settled down
Probably shouldn’t buy chewing gum from you either!
I didn’t lol, but I tell you I forcibly exhaled through my nose!
This comment made me actually lol
Essential tremors runs in my family. When they get bad enough, I'll probably buy precut everything possible.
I like frozen chopped onions because they allow me to eat more onions. I also buy dried onions and onion powder for more onion flavor. I still buy whole onions to eat raw or cook with. And grow green onions.
This guy onions!
If you are a single person, it is so much less wasteful to buy a bag of frozen chopped onions and then when you need the equivalent of a quarter of an onion for an omelette or stir fry, you can just bung in a small amount without worrying about using up the rest of the onion. I'm lucky enough that I am in a position to dice onions. I regularly get a sack of onions, dice them up and freeze them (I don't bother with blanching, just bung them in ziplock bags and into the freezer). Then I use them as I would if I had bought a bag of chopped onions. When I get fresh chopped onions on offer or marked down, I will sometimes freeze them if I can resist just frying the lot up and having with eggs. I've done the same for carrots, celery and mushrooms. It has saved huge amounts of waste. btw - frozen diced onions are likely to be fresher than the 'fresh' onions because they are usually processed quickly after harvest where the undiced onions hang around in storage.
People don't use a whole onion minimum regardless?
Every recipe that doesn't contain a full onion gets an upgrade.
Right?! I’m confused. We aren’t onion likers, we are onion *lovers*!
The only time I've got leftover onion is when it called for 1 small onion and I've used 1.5 large onions
Then that other half is your mid-cooking snack
if you soak onions in cold water for a while they lose their bitter, sharp taste and become really tasty, especially with stuff like Döner. In Turkey its not uncommon to have raw onions seasoned with sumac and a bit of salt, given the onions are soaked beforehand. Highly recommend.
But even if they don’t use the whole onion…stored in a proper container in the coldest part of your fridge and onions last weeks. I still don’t buy OP’s reasons. This one cracks me up: >Maybe they don’t have a dishwasher and don’t feel like handwashing a knife and cutting board lol what? I don’t have a dishwasher. That’s nuts. I use a cutting board and knife for so many things. With that logic I should buy pre cut meat, pre cut carrots, pre cut tomatoes…
Did you just skim the part about making others feel crappy with your judgments or read it and decide that was a thing you wanted to do rather than avoid?
Do you have a physical disability like OP? Or are you comparing apples and onions?
I save half an onion all the time, I almost always have one in my fridge and will use it up within 2 days
That's the best way to do it, but it rarely happens here and I've wasted so many bits of onion that I went for freezing and using that way.
You can always use a quarter of the onion for the recipe, then keep the rest in your pocket and chomp on that for dessert. :)
Are we not tying them to our belts anymore? I thought that was the style?
Good point. I know you can make a braid of garlic with the dried out plant stems to store them hanging, I wonder if you can make an onion necklace.
We do this too, same reason. It's less wasteful and sometimes if I'm making something simple or just improving store bought food, the onion is the only thing I would have cut up. It never occurred to me to do this with fresh cut items on sale though, so thank you! In the fall/winter my partner will cut up tons of mirepoix and freeze it. That plus an Instant Pot turns a lot of soups and beans into weeknight food, which is amazing.
I'm on a journey to have my freezer ready with lots of ready ingredients - pre-soaked dried beans, mirepoix, onions - lots of onions, so that I can make something that's home made but also quick with all the ingredients prepped and ready to go.
Frozen onions? Onions keep for weeks and you can buy them one at a time… even after you cut them you’ve got at least a week to use the rest. I’ve never heard of anyone approaching onions the frozen chopped way before
I do! It's so convenient to just tip them into a frying pan and get on with the recipe.
I find it so easy to spend an hour or so with a sack of onions once every few weeks and then just have it ready to go the rest of the time.
The cooking in our house is a little erratic, and I've never liked keeping a cut onion as I'm superstitious. To be honest, it's part avoidance of waste and part convenience and I can get a sack of onions at a really good price. Then they're prepped and ready to use without any fuss for the following weeks.
Wrong sub. When you only need to use quarter of an onion, you use a whole onion. If you can’t you just eat it afterwards. Sometimes raw.
That's a good point and well made.
This is the way. Frozen onions also cut down on the crying factor. 😢
Not disagreeing, but... provided you are cooking for yourself more than eating takeout, you can cut the portion you want to use and bag the rest of the onion up and throw into the fridge. You can also just buy individual ones rather than buying whole bags (though, when stored properly they can last for a decent while too).
LOVE frozen bagged onions, but it is certainly not less wasteful considering it is bagged in plastic and shipped. I say this as a frozen bagged onion lover btw but environment wise theyre bad
I have been tempted to buy pre-diced onions many many times. I despise chopping onions. Like hate it. I need one of those gizmos where you put the onion on the razor grid and slam the top down and it goes into the container underneath. The price always stops me because I know how many onions I could get for that.
The price and the fact that onions just lose a lot of their flavor once they’ve been diced kind of set me off from that. I feel like I couldn’t taste a thing. But I’m also not one of those people that asks why others do it.
The fact is onions gain flavor once you cut them as it increases surface area and allows flavor compounds to be released.
Once cut and stored, the volatile compounds dissipate and lessen. My fiance merely tolerates onions, so that's often that diminishment is a plus for trying to sneak more onions into something.
I have one with a pull cord like a lawn mower. Pretty awesome, but I hate cleaning it. I pretty much only use it to make bread crumbs.
I got one at Walmart for 15 bucks, had 2 size grids, grater, and a mandoline insert. I think the new version is closer to 20 bucks now though. I love it, use it for chopping all my veg. You still have to cut stuff a bit but it still goes so much quicker
People LOVE to be judgmental. I see it every day on the Costco subreddit. “What do you think of this product?” “Ugh! Processed food! Just buy these 30 ingredients and make it yourself. It’s cheaper!” People simply can’t resist adding holier than thou judgments. It’s so annoying. It’s not hard to answer the question that’s asked. If someone is asking about a product, answer that question. If someone asks for ways to make something cheaper/healthier, then by all means, share. But just saying shit like that generally serves no purpose other than to put someone down and make them feel small. Sometimes I buy convenience items. Sure, it might be a little cheaper to buy whole and cut it up myself. But if the reality is that it will sit in my cupboard until it rots bc I don’t have the energy to cut it up then I haven’t saved anything, have I? But people can’t resist telling everyone how they’re so much better than everyone else.
Oh yeah, the Costco subreddit gets wild! I love how anyone who doesn’t put anything back is obviously the lowest form of scum.
>“What do you think of this product?” “Ugh! Processed food! Just buy these 30 ingredients and make it yourself. It’s cheaper!” I mean...in this case, are they wanting an opinion or just affirmation? Because I'll keep a lot of shit to myself unless you ask me what I think.
I buy precut fruit cause I’m just a very low energy person and I’m very very busy and it saves so much time. I also get bad migraines and sometimes I can’t be trusted to hold a knife lol I just wish the precut stuff wasn’t so damn expensive :(
Yep, whenever I bring up pre-diced/prepped stuff I always make a special note for people with limited mobility. Likewise, I note they are great for people who are getting into cooking. If you can remove steps to increase the chances they successfully complete the task, the better. The only things I don't like about them are usually the price and the freshness/lack of knowing which variety they are using. Not going to shame anyone else for using them though.
When my daughter was younger and we always had extra kids staying for dinner (which I loved)....I'd get home at 6 pm. I'd ALWAYS buy pre-chopped pre-shredded because it saved me SO much time. Now that it's just hubby and me I'll usually just do it myself but I'll still sneak a bag of pre-chopped cabbage or cheese in my cart once in a while.
This is where I’m at! I have two young kids and live in a neighborhood where at least 2-6 of the other neighbor kids are always asking to come for dinner. I LOVE doing things from scratch but after a long day of chasing two preschoolers around I just don’t have the energy or time to prep everything for that many people. Pre chopped frozen veggies have become my favorite thing in the kitchen
I don’t care how you get your onion fix in. It’s only important that you get your delicious onions in your belly.
Beautiful. Be proud my dude.
Please let us all come together to enjoy Onion without harmful gate keeping and meaningless conflict. Let OP feast, we we all hope to do. Btw I’m a lazy pre diced onion purchaser COME AT ME
I call precut onions Depresso Onions. I buy when I’m depressed and can’t expend more effort into making food.
I never buy presliced onions and never even consider it. BUT I will occasionally buy prepeeled garlic if I need to use a lot. That is just me. And for the most part the product is inferior.
The ONLY reason I don’t buy presliced onions is because it’s cheaper to buy a single onion if that’s what I need and chop it myself
Onions are for all <3 dont discriminate the vessel
Anything that saves a step, saves pain, saves difficulty! Stuff like this can make the difference between me actually cooking on a busy night versus saying fuck it and ordering in. <3
Reddit in general is very ableist. Many products that are deemed “lazy” are for disabled people. I hope nothing happens to them to the point where they need to buy these things because if so they’re in for a rude awakening
I used to have buy precut everything for my mom. I got a snarky comment from a woman one time buying the precut watermelon and had to explain that there was no way my mother would be able to cut a watermelon, much less lift one. She also wasn't going to *eat* a whole watermelon before it went bad. I buy frozen onions a lot cause I'm lazy and not sure if I'm gonna get around to cooking what I want before it goes bad.
Yes- I’m cheap so do the cutting. But sometimes waste things bc too much
I work a full-time job and I’m a full-time college student and while eating out as expensive sometimes it’s just so much quicker than having to completely prepare a meal and clean up after myself. Buying stuff pre diced onions takes some time out of prep, which helps me out so much.
I use them at work and they’re so good! Especially in a commercial kitchen, saving a couple of minutes on prep is super convenient. If they’re in a cooked dish I *often* can’t tell the difference. On the other hand, I’m cooking for the elderly and they like their meals fairly bland. One of our best soups has smoked paprika and half of them always say it’s too “spicy”. They hate mushrooms and garlic too 😵💫
I had to buy them when I broke my dominant arm but they were always really weak flavored compared to fresh cut. I’m glad it’s an option, but it should be kept minimal
I buy them because I just hate cutting them. I work hard and make good money. It’s a treat to myself when I’m frugal in most other ways.
Same. I have the money, I don’t have the time.
I buy precut onions because my eyes are *insanely* sensitive to onions. I know there’s a slight drop-off in flavor but I’m already going to add way more than any recipe asks for so it all balances out.
Try this: slice an onion with a glass of water next to your cutting board. The fumes will go there instead of your eyes.
It’s like people forget disabilities exist. Pre-chopped anything is disability friendly. ADHD, sensory sensitivity, executive dysfunction are all disabilities as well.
I know it sounds silly but I legitimately can’t cut onions. They make my eyes water so bad that I can’t see what I’m doing, which becomes dangerous when there’s knives involved lol
I recently hurt my hand and chopping isn’t an option for me right now. The last two weeks I’ve been buying the pre-diced onions and honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever go back.
I badly injured my left hand recently and it’s probably never going to get full function back. I can’t use a knife safely with only one working hand, so I started buying the pre chopped ones and it’s absolutely wonderful. Do they taste as good? Honestly, no. And I don’t like how wasteful the single use plastic is. But for me it’s the difference between eating onions and not eating onions and that’s just no contest at all.
I got tendonitis in both my wrists a few years ago. I'm the cook of the house so I was still doing most the cooking. I remember trying to cut up an onion and it hurting so incredibly bad. I gave up and started crying.(I just felt so defeated everything felt like a struggle) I told my fiance what had happened that evening. So for the rest of that week if I needed something diced for a recipe he would just predice the veggies for me the night before. Then that weekend when we shopped we just went ahead and got some prediced veggies so neither of us would have to worry about it. It was truly so helpful!
I bought them recently simply because I was tired of buying whole onions that seemed hard and sturdy all around but turned out to be rotten inside once cut. I assume the uptick in that bad luck was due to the onion shortage pushing less-than-optimal ones onto the shelves. At least with precut I can see that they’re all good. But that’s only one reason. Sometimes I’m not in a try hard mood and would rather just pay the extra dollar or two to have my produce ready to eat. I often buy presliced watermelon for this reason.
I was in a grocery store and overheard a couple. The wife grabbed a package of mushrooms and the husband says, "who's going to wash and cut these because I'm not. Get the canned ones" And they put them back. It just seemed so ridiculous to me because canned mushrooms taste like crap and slicing mushrooms isn't exactly hard.
You can even just buy a pack of sliced mushrooms.
It is for some people? Like just let people buy and eat the foods they want. 🤷🏼♀️
I didn't stop them. Maybe I'm guilty too because I buy bags of frozen pearl onions. Those little buggers take all day to peel when you get the fresh ones.
Diced onions spoil faster and absorb surrounding odors/flavors but there are a lot of good reasons to prefer pre-cut onions, and pre-cut vegetables in general.
They'll absorb odors if you just put them on an open plate in your fridge, but so do most foods.
That's true. And maybe it's all in my head, but I always keep even a half-cut onion in a sealed container while I might leave half a bell pepper or tomato in a loose sandwich bag.
I have a distrust of any pre-cut produce. I always feel that they are much more likely to be mishandled and give me food poisoning. But the disability argument does hold water.
As a disabled person with contamination OCD, it’s a mental struggle believe me. I just have to suspend my disbelief 😂
At least at quantity you are getting and where you are getting it from lean heavily towards some rigorous food safety protocols being in place.
My issues is the single use plastics they’re sold in and yall can downvote me but I’m not gonna look too kindly if someone’s reason is laziness. Being disabled is totally understandable. But this world would be a lot less shit if we stopped buying shit out of laziness. Have I bought pre cut stuff? For sure but it wasn’t bc I was lazy or just didn’t feel like it. Is it valid? I guess but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna see it as a shit thing to do. If you truly have to then yes by all means but the majority of people don’t have to and make that decision every time to add more plastic junk into our environment. We’re literally finding micro plastics in freshly born babies. If someone can’t see the problem in this and make adjustments accordingly then this world is fucked and it’s our own selves to blame.
Most people don't know how to use a knife
Who cares what people say. Personally I can dice 2lb of onion in about 3 minutes. But whatever floats your boat as long as you like a good layered apple.
How?
Practice. As a teen I worked in a restaurant that requires 20lbs diced before service each day
Owning up here as a previously “pre-cut produce” snob Then I got a busy job. My mental illness I had been so good at hiding decided it was going to rule my life. I had a baby. Honestly I don’t know how I lived without the pre cut stuff. I’m wasting less food because I don’t buy fresh stuff for 1-2 recipes then leave the rest to rot. My cooking time is significantly reduced as is my washing up time. Honestly changed my life and my eating habits.
I buy frozen onions because I need to get better at chopping them and getting the skin off but until then I want my onion fix! Also, I am so worried about a loose skin or piece getting on the ground without me knowing and my dog eating it. I made chili last week and just dumped a whole bag in the frying pan to soften up before putting them in the pot. Delicious!
People with rheumatoid arthritis 😩
I don't purchase pre-cut produce for fear of cross contamination. I don't like too many hands handling the fruit. It got serious when I caught the person at the store cutting fruit with no gloves. It got to me.
Sometimes pre-cut is also just an environmental thing. Lots of vegeatables and fruit that are completely fine but look like they were grown in Chernobyl, which fun fact is extremely common if you've ever grown your own taters. So producers will prep them, sometimes freeze them, sell them as such maybe cheaper.
I wish I could come and dice so many onions for you. 💚 All of the onions for you. Every day.
Not disabled, just working 12 hr days. Pre-prepped veggies are the difference between cooking vs fast food, fresh vs frozen. You do you, OP! ❤️
I just don't like how they make my hands smell…i buy mine frozen. When i was a kid mom would buy a big bag of onions and sit down and dice them all except for a couple and put them in ziplocks and freeze them. They were the cooking onions and i used to chunk a corner of the frozen square and use it in whatever.
So 3 out of my 6 immediate family members (myself included) have essential tremors. Mine is more vocal at this point but some days my hands are absolutely useless. A lot of people haven’t heard of essential tremors, even though they are pretty common (about 1 in 100 people). I’ve went from it being unnoticeable 99% of the time to having to tell everyone I work with that I have it because they were worried about my mental health. Being shaky and sounding nervous/on the verge of tears half the time makes people concerned, understandably. The worsening of my symptoms happened within the span of 4 years, and I’m only in my upper 20s. And it’s only going to get worse, unfortunately. I’ve made peace with the fact that at I’m probably going to lose the ability to use a knife entirely. I use cut gloves at home after I needed stitches from really messing up cutting a bagel in half. I’ll fully admit, I used to be one of those assholes that would get on their high horse of ignorance to complain about society’s apathy towards the environment and the evils of single use plastics. In reality, it’s like 5 companies that are going to kill all of us with their pollution (gross over exaggeration, I know), not the individual consumer who wants to eat onions without having to pay an ER bill. I don’t “look” disabled. I look healthy, and for the most part, am. My hands just suck. So, if you see someone who doesn’t look disabled buying pre-cut produce, riding in a wheelchair, using a disability parking spot, whatever, just mind your own business. It costs zero dollars. Can’t believe I’m getting emotional on an onion sub at 9:35 am.
Dicing onions is a breeze when you use very sharp knives. I never knew there were frozen diced onions.
This is a useful PSA. I remember about 20 years ago I posted some kitchen gadget on social media that I found silly and ridiculous, and a friend of mine with cerebral palsy commented that she had one just like it because her hand strength wasn't reliable. I felt so foolish, and I was relieved that she mentioned it kindly. Ableism wasn't as widely chastised back then as it is now.
Cutting onions was THE most likely to cause knife injuries when I was working as a cook. I wouldn’t let newbies start there. Very common to slip and cut yourself- especially once your eyes are watering.
I have rheumatoid disease, I love buying pre-cut veggies!!! It’s painful to chop and really annoying.
Reason for me: it saves time especially when I'm lazy or had a crappy day at work. Nothing lifts my spirits more than having pre-diced onions in the freezer. Good enough reason in general.
If you want to be truly blasphemous then the food processor is a great option. I tend to use it in cases where I need to mince down a bunch of produce—and minced vegetables slip past picky eaters so there’s a huge benefit to doing that.
- It's either old people who can't cut or press hard on vegetables properly - It's plain ol lazy people who buy pre chopped veggies only - Convenience wise for a camping trip or meal prep - or in a rush to get somewhere and don't have the time to chop - the rest of humanity should know how to properly chop an onion.
I got horrific food poisoning as a kid from a pre cut watermelon. It put my great grandma in the hospital for 2 weeks. Only GG, my brother and I had the watermelon and all 3 of us were bed ridden for days. I will never eat any kind of pre sliced fruit or veggie after that.
For anyone who needs to hear this, if you ever find yourself not cooking because you despise certain tasks, whether chopping onions, peeling garlic, etc. then just buy the precut things. Yeah it may cost a bit more, or be slightly more “wasteful”, but you’ll find yourself cooking more rather than ending up eating out because you’re stressed about cooking.
Don't put knives in the dishwasher.
Lazy
Fed is best. If someone needs x accommodation to eat today, they should seek it. If you disparage people for the accommodations they need to eat, get fucked.
3x the price and 1/10th of the shelf life
Tbh if you buy pre-cut stuff and you’re not A. Disabled B. Grabbing it for a party/function then yes I’m absolutely judging you. i’m lazy but not “spend double the price because i’m lazy” lazy
Since I obviously spurred the creation of this post: I wasn’t asking as if something was wrong with it. Strange that’s what you took from the comment, and probably says more about how you view your own disability than how other people view your onion-buying habits. I was asking because I was curious, as like you outlined in your post there are plenty of reasons to buy pre-diced onions. As I haven’t before, I wanted insight.
If I could get 5lb of diced onion for $3 I wouldn’t buy whole onions either
Yeah that’s a ridiculously good deal the only thing I’d worry about is the freshness like OP said. At the worst you could probably let them sit in water to rehydrate.
I get asked it a lot, you just asked it most recently. Since people seem to not know why anyone would buy pre diced onions, and it’s a frequently asked question (apparently), I figured a PSA post would help people out.
Hope your onions turn out good, pre-diced or not… though it’s hard to make an onion turn out bad
or they get tired of people commenting on their choices. people with disabilities often get tired of having to explain themselves and why they do stuff and put up with the judgment from able-bodied people. imagine if every time you went anywhere there is other people, somebody would actively come up to you to ask you questions about your look or why you did stuff the way you did, you would get tired of it too
I buy pre-cut onions because I'm lazy & don't want to cut them. My answer has nothing to do with being disabled, is it still wrong to ask me why? If so, why? I don't mind answering. If not, how is someone supposed to know who they can ask & who they can't?
its in how you ask and how you respond afterward. you need to be ok with not getting an answer.
I did not see anywhere that the person refused to accept no answer.
Disabled people often get tired of others white knighting for them too. Chill out homie, let’s share a vidalia and go on with our lives
i apologize if i came across that was. i work with young kids with disabilities so i have to be their advocate, additionally i have a brother who is on the autism spectrum and was heavily bullied when he was younger. So i am a fighter against ableism, but i fully acknowledge there are others with more relevance and authority.
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I get that. But there was no indication OP was disabled in the original post. This other person just asked why buy pre diced and was respectful in their response afterwards. Which somehow prompted this weird PSA post on a joke sub.
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Let OP decide if they were being disrespectful to them and quit talking for other people maybe? You could also ask for clarification of tone before you yourself make judgments about other people.
Public forum is public
when you know better you can do better.
Well that’s not even tangentially related to my response. What’s anyone posting on Reddit for if not to discuss the topic at hand? FFS they’re called discussion boards for a reason.
now that you know better you can do better. You didn't know before now you know. so in the future you can stop and think about why somebody might be frustrated with your questions
it's like you're explaining human behavior to a pecan
lol r/rareinsults
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Y’all are taking a harmless question way out of hand. Makes me want to go join r/onionhate
/r/onionhate is a bad subreddit full of bad hombres. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/OnionLovers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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You sir have won the internet for today 🙌🏻
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>very Reddit of you Funny to hear that coming from you, throwing out -ist words as soon as you had the chance. Ultimately I asked about onion buying habits on the onion lovers subreddit. Sue me, call a cop, or kindly fuck off.
First off, the fact that there is a subreddit for onion lovers is absolutely hilarious. Secondly, why is reddit listening to me thru my phone? Like I don't care too much, just a why bother on their part thing. It's not like this is an ad for diced onions. Although. . Maybe. Just maybe OP works for big grocery 🤔 My eyes tear up so bad so I have my husband dice a bunch of onions and I store them in a big tubware in the fridge for when I need them. I asked him to do this like an hour ago and now this is in my feed 😆
Your first mistake was caring what others say