How Long Can Onions Last

You lot come up home with a big bag of onions you lot desire to go the nigh out of. How long practise onions last?

Or perhapsyour onions tend to rot or spoil style earlier than you'd call up they should. And you lot desire to learn what you're doing wrong or how tin you amend your storage practices.

If that sounds familiar, you lot're in the right place. Keep reading.

In this article, I talk near dry onions – the most popular kind of onions out in that location. The communication below works for both yellow and red onions.

How To Store Onions

Shop whole onions in a absurd, dry, and well-ventilated place, and peel them right before using. In one case yous chop or dice an onion, keep the leftovers in an closed container in the fridge.

That'south the gist of it. Permit's talk about all of that in a lilliputian more detail.

First, permit's cover temperature and storage place.

The optimal temperature for storing onions is betwixt 45 and 55°F (nearly 12°C to 15°C) ([ONOA]). If you happen to take a cold cellar or pantry that maintains similar conditions, healthy. If you lot don't, a pantry or a cupboard in the kitchen is the side by side best thing.

Also warm storage conditions may result in the onions sprouting. Onions that have sprouted are safe to consume, though.

Next in line is how yous store these root veggies.

You lot should continue your onions dry out, so it'due south best to keep them in a mesh handbag, a wire basket, or a ventilated bag. Some even utilize onetime nylon stockings for that, tying a knot betwixt each onion.

And while we're at information technology, go on onions abroad from produce that release wet, like potatoes ([ONOA]).

Don't store onions in plastic bags, as these limit air circulation and trap moisture ([ONOA]). Or, at the very least, open the top and poke some holes to let the air broadcast.

Finally,if you lot take a agglomeration of onions in storage, inspect them every couple of days and discard ones that are starting to spoil.

When it comes to cutting-up onions, all they need is a cold temperature and a good seal. An closed container in the refrigerator provides precisely that.

How Long Do Onions Last?

Onions last between a couple of weeks and a couple of months, depending on the cultivar and storage conditions. If you proceed them in the pantry, they last nearly two weeks in warm months and up to a month in common cold months.

Chopped or diced onions concluding up to a week in the fridge.

On most websites, yous can read that onions last for two to three months. That's truthful, but simply if you lot store them in the ideal conditions I described higher up.

If you go along them in a ventilated handbasket in the kitchen or pantry, that storage time is cut in half. Or at least that's been my feel.

Sliced onions and kielbasa — Making lecho: sliced onions and kielbasa

Because of that, I switched to buying iv or v onions every week or so instead of buying large bags of onions.

Avoid stocking up on onions and buy only equally much as you lot demand in the side by side two weeks or so. Specially, if your onions tend to go bad quickly because of and then-and then storage conditions.

Some other thing is that some onion cultivars are practiced keepers, while others not then much ([ISU]). And since you lot neither know which 1 you're buying nor desire to memorize a storage time chart, it's best to stick with one rubber period.

How To Tell If an Onion Is Bad?

Throw out onions that:

Are rotten. Please notation that onions sometimes outset to rot from the inside. Considering of that, it's all-time to cutting old ones in half just to make sure they're okay.
Have large patches of black or gray mold. Mold is rarely a skillful thing, except possibly in some cheeses.
Are soft or slimy. If the veggie has lost a lot of water, it's no expert.
Smell off. If your onions have a putrid smell, or the odor is much stronger than usual, they're done for.

You can cutting off the spoiled areas if they're small (with some extra), but at a certain indicate, y'all accept to take your losses.

Some loose skins on the outside are fine ([ONOA]). The aforementioned is true for sprouting, just similar sprouting potatoes are safe to swallow.

Summary

Shop onions in a cool, dark, and well-ventilated place. If possible, keep the temperature between 45 and 55°F (about 12°C to 15°C).
If you keep onions at ambient temperature (e.g., in the pantry), they last well-nigh 2 to maybe three weeks in warm months, and about a month in cold months. If they sit in your kitchen, where it's quite hot at times, the storage period is even shorter.
Transfer leftover chopped or diced onions into an airtight container and put it in the fridge, where they can sit for up to a calendar week.