One Redditor says they've found a way to take advantage of sales and make cooking more convenient with precut frozen onions.
The hack appeared in May on r/Frugal, where members share ways to save money, as well as time and effort. Easy and inexpensive meals are frequently featured on this subreddit as users try to minimize waste and improve their lifestyles.
"Being frugal has me literally in tears," the poster joked. "My local grocery store had 3-pound bags of yellow onions on sale for one dollar. I bought three bags."
The deal was clearly too good to pass up, but most households won't use 9 pounds of onions before some start to go bad. However, the original poster had a strategy in mind.
First, they diced the onions, using a food processor to make this step quick and easy. They then measured out portions with an ice cream scoop to create "pucks," which they flash-froze. "I've got two gallons of pre-chopped onions in the freezer for cooking!"
They had only one tiny complaint about this hack. "My house reeks of onion and I don't know if my eyes will recover," they joked. But a few tears were a small price to pay for this kind of convenience.
Commenters loved the idea, and some offered possible tweaks. "I carmelize them in the crock pot and freeze," said one user.
Another Redditor went a step further. "French onion soup in the crockpot," they said. "Caramelize the onions in the crockpot, add broth, and then you can freeze leftovers for meals later."
Other commenters were curious about how well this hack actually works. "How are they when you take them out of the freezer?" asked one user. "Can you eat them as is, or do you have to cook them in something?"
Another commenter replied, "Frozen onions should only be used for cooking because freezing changes the texture."
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