What To Do With Sprouted Onions?

I love onions, and can easily go through 4-6 onions in a week.  Last fall we decided to buy a 50lb sack of onions.  For the same amount we spent each month on onions, we were able to buy 50lbs worth from a local farm.  I figured, even if some went bad before we could eat them, it was still worth the money.

We kept the onions in the garage where it stayed very cool all winter.  However, over the last few weeks, as the temperatures warm up, several of them had begun to sprout.  We still have plenty of good ones to eat, but with the amount that sprouted, it got me wondering.  What should I do with the sprouted onions?

Last weekend, I chopped up the still good parts of the bulb to cook with, and then I cut off the green onion part and stuck it in a cup of water.  I used the green onions as I would any other green onions.  A tasty garnish!  It’s actually fun having a glass or green onions sitting on the dining table.  It’s honestly got me thinking about creating a “bouquet” of green onions and fresh herbs along with some scissors next to it.  Then we could garnish our own plates with the greenery of choice!  Hmmmm, I really need to remember that idea!

Anyways, back to the onions.  Today I finally pulled all the sprouted onions out of the bin I had them in, and figure out what to do with them.  Why not try growing them? I already knew most would have layers that were still good for eating, so I decided I should dissect each onion and separate the good, the bad, and the yummy.   AHAHA, like my play on words for that one?!  If you have no clue what I just semi-quoted, then you need to watch some Clint Eastwood.

I created one pile for the sprouts (good). I had one pile for the dry paper-like layers and any rotted layers (bad).  And a bowl to put the white onion layers that I could slice up for cooking later (YUMMY!!!).   The onions were not that difficult to separate, but boy were they still strong!  Both Will and I were dealing with burning eyes and a sniffley nose.  I finally had to crack a window for some fresh air!

Just an FYI, if you decide to try the same, I recommend carefully slicing a few layers into the onion on opposite sides of each other.  Peel off those layers, and from there, slice into another layer or two.  You don’t want to slice into the sprout, so just take it slow until you get a feel for it.

The layers that are still good for eating, I went ahead and sliced up so they are easy to toss into anything I cook over the next few days.  For example, some will be sautéed and tossed into our eggs tomorrow for breakfast.  The rest will likely be used up between the lamb stew I’ll make tomorrow and roast beef the following day.  As a side note, I really recommend only using these bits in cooking, rather than consuming raw.  Because you are dealing with semi-rotted onions, cutting through moldy layers, and who knows what else, you are likely transferring some of the bad parts onto the good parts.  So it would be smart to at least wash before consuming the good scraps raw, or just not risking it and reserving these scraps for cooked dishes only.

The sprouts I took out back where I dug out a tote we had no use for.  I poured some soil in the tote (about 5″ give or take a few), and buried the white part of the sprouts.  My hope is that I will be able to grow onions from these sprouts.  I will update later in the year as to weather or not I am successful.  I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t, but I honestly have never grown onions before.  So we shall see what happens!

Comment below and let me know if you’ve tried something similar!  Are there other fruits or veggies you’ve brought home from the grocery store but had to “repurpose” some how due you not using it as quickly as it needed to be used?  Or maybe it wasn’t due to food going bad but you’ve still found a way to repurpose scraps from it?