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Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,107
Registered: ‎03-28-2010

I plan on making a recipe from Ina Garten that calls for spanish onion.  Problem is, I haven't come across any.  Is there something I can substitute with, like a plain yellow onion?  It's a pasta dish, penne alla vecchia bettola, and it's part of the sauce that gets all put in a blender.

Super Contributor
Posts: 347
Registered: ‎03-06-2017

Google will tell you to sub. a yellow onion.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,510
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Use a yellow onion.

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,432
Registered: ‎05-15-2016

Good to know as I've never come across one either. 

Super Contributor
Posts: 255
Registered: ‎09-20-2017

Spanish onions are red onions 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,864
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Spanish Onion Question

[ Edited ]

 

Too bad you don't have a selection in your area. We always have a variety from which to choose: Spanish, yellow, cooking, white, red, Vidalia...

 

I always use Spanish onions for Spanish rice. They're large and have a stronger flavor, though they mellow somewhat as they cook. For almost everything else (except for cold salads when DH likes red onion), I use cooking onions. They're mild, but still tasty. 

 

I don't know the flavor profile your recipe, but if you don't want a strong flavor, cooking onions won't overwhelm your dish. Yellow onions are good, too, but they tend to get sweeter as they cook. They're yellow in color, like Spanish and cooking onions, but they're different varieties--that's why they're marked differently in supermarkets.

 

This is a Spanish onion (not a red onion--they're two different varieties, too):

 

Yellow-Sweet-Spanish-Onion-Seeds.jpg

 

 



What worries you masters you.
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,113
Registered: ‎09-30-2010

@ScrapHappy According to Bon Appetit Spanish onions are yellow onions.  

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,719
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Spanish onions are large, sweet, and juicy, with colour ranging from yellow to red. Their flavour is mild, and they are used raw and sliced for salads and sandwiches and as a garnish.Italian onions, or cipollini onions, are flat, with red colour and mild…

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,609
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Spanish Onion Question

[ Edited ]

@ScrapHappy :   

Spanish onions are a type of yellow onion and are often displayed as “yellow onions” by many supermarkets. That's the key to substitute: if you don't see Spanish onions in your market's allium section, grab yellow onions.

 

BTW, I don't believe they are red onions, as someone stated.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,421
Registered: ‎03-19-2014

Learn something new every day....I always though Spanish and Yellow Onion were the same thing.  For some reason, I always buy and use red onions regardless of what I'm making.

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, but Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.
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