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Cooking Hacks

We’ve All Been Cutting Our Onions Wrong — This Chef’s Hack Is So Much Easier

Bonus: Fewer tears and less waste!

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We all have routines we fall into when prepping food in the kitchen. Maybe you slice and dice garlic the same way no matter what or chop up that cilantro or basil with an identical method every single night. And what about onions? Many people have a similar pattern when they cut an onion, but what if there was a hack that made that process quicker and less wasteful?

Luckily there is, and it comes from chef and TikToker Sonny Hurrell. Usually when folks cut an onion, they tend to chop off large parts of each end, peel its paper-thin peel off, and then slice the vegetable down the middle. In some cases, you may be wasting as much as a third of the entire onion!

Hurrell says that not only do you end up throwing out many delicious and nutritious parts of an onion by following the traditional method, but it actually takes more time than how he does it. In his case, before he even peels the fragile skin off of the veggie, he slices his knife right through the entire vegetable vertically. He then cuts off the excess peel at the top of the onion and leaves the root on. “Unless you’re going to julienne the onion, why take this [root] out?” he asks in the video.

Hurrell has another reason for leaving the root on if you can: That’s where the onion’s tear gas is located, which makes you cry when you chop! Who knew?

@thatdudecancook

I truly believe this is the only way to cut your onions in half…#tiktokfood #onions #knifeskills #cookingtips #foodie #cook #chef

♬ original sound – Sonny Hurrell

Want to try out other hacks to make the most out of your onions? Peel onions in seconds with this quick trick, and use this method to get rid of that oniony smell on your hands afterwards. Oh, and while you’re at it, don’t throw out those onion shells; use them to brew a healthy tea instead!

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