For A Bolder Onion Flavor In Recipes, Choose This Variety

Onions are a staple ingredient in many go-to recipes for home cooks, from using them in a mirepoix or the holy trinity as the base to dishes to quick pickling them for a simple acidic topping. Most shoppers opt for red, yellow, or white onions, which are readily available in the produce section of almost every grocery store. But, for home cooks looking to pack more of a punch in onion-based recipes, consider Patterson onions.

Patterson onions are a variety of yellow onion, known for their more pungent flavor and longer shelf-life. Grocery stores typically sell more common yellow onion varieties like yellow globe or Spanish onions, but Pattersons have a slightly sharper flavor, due to their high sulfur content, which can take the base flavors of a dish from good to great. In season during late summer, these bulbous onions are also more shelf stable, lasting between eight to 10 months in the pantry when stored properly. The only downside to Patterson onions is that they might make you cry more when slicing them, especially if you have sensitive tear ducts. Because of their higher sulfur content, when you cut Patterson onions, they create and release more syn-propanethial-S-oxide molecules, the irritant which causes your eyes to water. 

The best way to find Patterson onions is by asking growers at your local farmers market if they carry this specific variety. Considering this onion type is one of the most popular storage onions for farmers, especially in Northern areas of the United States, they should be relatively easy to find at the markets.

For most foodies, when onion-forward recipes come to mind. Yellow onions are the best onion variety for French onion soup, but because of their higher sugar and sulfur content Patterson onions are an ideal pick. When cooked down in recipes, onions provide a deep, sweet flavor profile. As their sauteéing, onions sweat out their moisture, then, their cell walls soften and the sugars within begin to break down, creating a more mellow, caramelized flavor over time. Their extra sugar content will produce great caramelization and they'll retain more of their pungent flavor after being broken down, making Pattersons a great pick for home cooks looking to emphasize the onion's flavor profile in their finished dish. For French onion soup, you can replace standard yellow onions with Pattersons in a 1-to-1 swap, but, if you want a bit less pungency, opt for half Patterson and half yellow globe onions.

Patterson onions are also a good choice for pasta dishes like penne alla vodka or spaghetti Puttanesca, which frequently utilize yellow onions. Aromatics provide the base flavor in these dishes, and Patterson onions will provide an extra bite and complexity from the first step of the recipe. Again, a 1-to-1 swap should work fine here, though you can do a mix with milder onions as well. 

But these are just a couple of options. For almost any of your onion needs, Pattersons will get the job done, and do it with a bit of added flavor.