Good afternoon, dear readers of my culinary blog. This year, the summer onion harvest was absolutely stellar. But storing it in its usual form is not very convenient. In addition, it can deteriorate over the winter. Therefore, preparing onions for the winter is my priority. I decided to share with you how to prepare it and keep the vegetable fresh longer.
There are a variety of ways to preserve onions. These include drying, canning, freezing and pickling.
You can make incredibly flavorful caviar. All the preparations are quite simple and will not take much time. And the result is worth it: the whole family is provided with a quick and tasty snack for any meal. My husband especially loves it in canned form as an appetizer for stewed potatoes with chicken fillet. In the article I have collected for you all the information on how to salt, dry and freeze this vegetable.
How to freeze onions in bags in the refrigerator for the winter?
A rather unusual storage method for me is freezing vegetables. This option is as simple as possible, since to implement it you only need bulbs and a little free time. The preparation can be used when preparing roasts, soups or side dishes. Their main advantage is that the vegetable does not lose its nutrients, taste and aroma.
Required Products:
- onion.
How to cook:
1. Clean the heads and cut them into medium cubes.
2. Place the peeled onions in small bags and place in the freezer. Each freeze should be one serving for preparing a dish.
If necessary, remove the bag from the freezer and place the product in the pan without defrosting. The vegetable will become golden brown, but the taste will not be lost at all.
How to preserve onions
Typically, in winter, onions are stored as is, simply drying the heads and placing them in a cool, dry place. However, there are recipes in which it is used not in its pure form, but as an ingredient.
Onions can be stored in winter:
- whole heads, properly dried and placed in suitable conditions;
- frozen - however, this is a pure lottery; in addition, after defrosting, the onion loses most of its taste;
- when pickled, it is no longer a vegetable, but a separate seasoning.
Preparing onions for the winter - a recipe for pickled onions in jars
This preservation will be a great addition to a cozy winter dinner or your favorite salad. It’s not at all difficult to prepare, so stock up on ingredients and hurry to marinate.
To prepare, take:
- small onions;
- 1.5 liters of water;
- 3 tbsp. Sahara;
- 1 tbsp. salt;
- 0.5 tsp citric acid;
- 125 ml vinegar 6%;
- 2 sprigs of dill;
- 6 carnation inflorescences;
- 2 bay leaves;
- 10 peas of allspice.
How to cook step by step:
1. Peel and rinse the bulbs thoroughly.
2. Place a sprig of dill, bay leaf, cloves and pepper into two sterilized jars. Place the cleaned heads there tightly.
3. Boil 1 liter of water, add citric acid, stir. Pour water over the jars for 20 minutes.
4. For the marinade, bring 0.5 liters of water to a boil, add salt, sugar and vinegar to it. Boil the marinade for 2-3 minutes.
Drain the sour water from the jars and fill them with the prepared marinade. Roll up the jars and turn them upside down. Cool and store in a dark place.
Three colors
This pickled onion recipe will make the dish much more beautiful with its bright colors. It’s not difficult to prepare even for those who don’t particularly like to cook.
Ingredients:
- water - 1 liter;
- onion - 1 kilogram;
- vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons;
- salt - 1 tablespoon;
- 9 percent vinegar - 1/2 cup;
- turmeric - small amount;
- beets - 0.150 kilograms;
- sugar - 1 tablespoon.
How to cook:
Small onions must be doused with boiling water and chopped into rings. To prepare the marinade, add ocet, salt, sunflower oil and sugar to cold water. Chopped onions are placed in the first jar and filled with marinade. The chopped beets are placed in the second container and also poured with marinade. Onion rings are placed in the third, which are then sprinkled with turmeric and poured over with marinade.
Once the marinade has cooled, place the jars in the refrigerator for several hours for best results. The product will be ready for use the next day. And if the containers are closed with nylon lids, then the onion rings will last all winter and will not deteriorate.
Read how to prepare green onions for the winter.
Onion caviar for the winter at home
The aroma when preparing this dish is simply amazing. The vegetable caramelizes and becomes almost sweet. Tomato paste balances the taste, and chili pepper adds a special piquancy. You should definitely try this!
You will need:
- 1-1.2 kg of onion;
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste;
- 6 tsp twisted chili pepper;
- salt to taste;
- vegetable oil for frying
Cooking steps:
1. Peel the onion and cut it into medium cubes. Place everything in a frying pan with oil and fry over medium-low heat until brown, stirring constantly.
2. Add tomato paste and chili pepper to the dish. Mix thoroughly. Add salt to taste and stir again.
Place the hot caviar into jars, cool and place in the refrigerator.
Onion dressings and sauces
Ready-made dressings make life much easier in winter.
For example, an option for soup. Need to:
- onions, carrots and bell peppers – 600 g each;
- tomatoes and parsley roots - 100 g each;
- greens – 400 g;
- salt – 500 g.
Vegetables and herbs are finely chopped with a knife or in a blender, then salt is added and the mixture is thoroughly mixed. The finished mass is sealed with plastic lids.
Dressing for borscht:
- onions, tomatoes, sweet peppers, carrots - 1 kg of each type;
- greens - 600 g of at least three types;
- salt without iodine – 1000 g.
The carrots are grated, the remaining vegetables are chopped with a knife, meat grinder or blender, everything is mixed with salt and sealed.
The same method is used to prepare the dressing, which is universal for all soups. Grammations for her:
- onions, peppers, tomatoes - 1000 g each;
- dill greens – 300 g;
- non-iodized salt – 800 g.
The best recipe for pickling onions in jars
This cooking option is very fast and does not require much energy. Yes, and you only need any food here. But the pickling turns out very tasty and beautiful! Suitable both as a snack and for decorating dishes.
Ingredients:
- 2 medium red onions;
- 3 tsp vinegar 30%;
- 400 ml water;
- 2 tsp salt;
- 2 tsp Sahara;
- 4 bay leaves;
- 8 black peppercorns.
How to cook:
1. Peel the onion heads and cut them into rings.
2. Place 2 bay leaves and 4 peppercorns at the bottom of the jar. Place the chopped onion on top, and the remaining pepper and bay leaves on top.
3. Boil the water. Add salt, sugar and vinegar to it. Stir the marinade thoroughly. To get 30% vinegar, dilute 1 part 70% vinegar essence in 1.5 parts water.
4. Pour liquid over the workpiece, close the lid and place in a warm place.
You can enjoy the finished preserves in just 4 hours. Bon appetit!
Honey feathers
Onions in this recipe are only an additional ingredient, but it is difficult to imagine many meat dishes without them.
To prepare feathers, you will need the following products:
- water - 0.3 liters;
- feather onion - 1.5 kilograms;
- natural liquid honey - 0.05 kilograms;
- dry white wine - 0.3 liters;
- salt - half a teaspoon;
- thyme - a couple of sprigs.
Preparation:
Pour water into the pan, add honey and coarse table salt. The composition is thoroughly mixed and left to boil for several minutes. Place chopped feathers in half-liter jars and place thyme branches between them. You can place them at your discretion - horizontally or vertically.
Then the contents of the jar are filled with boiling marinade. The container is rolled up and sterilized in a water bath for ten minutes. After turning off the fire, leave the workpiece to stand for a few more minutes in a warm place. This is done to increase its shelf life.
Useful tips
For pickling, they take not only vinegar, but also lemon, mustard, and soy sauce . Each of these ingredients gives the product a completely different taste.
When drying onions in the fresh air, make sure that they do not become covered with mold - small black dots. This happens if the vegetable is left outside on a cool night or if it becomes saturated with moisture from the air after rain.
To get rid of bitterness, use the following methods:
- pour boiling water over the vegetables - a small part of the bitterness will come out;
- pour chopped turnips with water for 2 minutes;
- Blanch - this way the onion will lose its bitterness completely.
Pickling with herbs
Resourceful housewives have learned to preserve onions by salting them . To give this preparation a fresh aroma, additional ingredients are usually used in the form of parsley and dill umbrellas.
Products needed for cooking: onions (1 kg), table salt (120 g), fresh parsley (1 kg), water (1 l), dill umbrellas (2 pcs.), black peppercorns (to taste).
Then salting is carried out as follows:
Harvesting wild garlic
Compound:
- winning variety (leaves and stems) - 1 kilogram;
- sea or table salt (coarse) - 0.7 kilograms.
Preparation:
The wild garlic is washed well and then left in cold water for thirty minutes. After this, the greens are rinsed again and watered with boiling water. Next, the vegetable is laid out in layers in jars, covered with a large amount of table salt. The container is filled to the very neck so that juice begins to flow out of the compacted wild garlic. The jar is closed with a lid and sent to a cold place.
