Yellow vs White Onion: Difference and Comparison

Onions are used in everything we eat. Onions work like a humble work partner in the kitchen of our house. Onions give a different taste to our food.

But do you know that there are many different types of onions, such as yellow onions, white onions, red onions, etc? You must know the difference between yellow and white onions.

Key Takeaways

1. Yellow onions have a golden-brown skin and a strong flavor, making them ideal for cooking and caramelizing.
2. White onions have white skin, a milder flavor, and a slight crisper texture, making them suitable for raw consumption and milder dishes.
3. Yellow onions are more versatile in cooking, while white onions are better suited for dishes where a mild flavor and crisp texture are desired.

Yellow vs White Onion

Yellow onions are yellow or brown-skinned with a strong fragrance and tang. Yellow onions are sweeter in taste and quite healthy. Yellow onions are used more for cooking. White onions possess a sharper flavour. They are white in color with a soft and thin outer skin. White onions are also used in salads.

Yellow Onion is also known as Brown Onion. Yellow Onion is a type of dried onion with a powerful taste and flavour. Inside the yellow Onion, there’s light yellow, greenish-white, or white.

The papery layers coating on the Yellow Onion are major in color yellow-brown or pale golden color. Various varieties of yellow Onion are grown in the agricultural fields, based on the time of year.

White Onion is also known as Allium Ceps or sweet onion. White onions are a variety of dried onions. White onions have a definite light and lenient flavour profile.

White onions have a high sugar content and low sulfur content, just as in red onions. This level of sugar and sulfur contamination is why white onions have a fairly short shelf life.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Yellow Onion	White Onion
Achievement of Sweetness	More sweetness in yellow onions is achieved when they are cooked for more time.	More sweetness in white onions can be achieved when they are soaked in water for a time being after being finely chopped.
Caramelizing	Yellow onions are considered to be smarter choices for caramelizing.	White onions are not widely preferred for caramelizing as yellow onions are.
Consumption	Yellow onions cannot be consumed by you when they are raw.	White onions can be consumed by you when they are raw.
Texture	Yellow onions are crisper and crunchier.	White onions are softer and milder.
Harvesting Period	Yellow Onions are majorly harvested in late summers and early falls.	The harvesting of white onion takes place between November and January.

What is Yellow Onion?

Every type of yellow Onion varies from each other based on their nutritional values, tastes, etc. However, every variety of yellow Onion tends to contain quercetin, a flavonol.

Yellow onions are available in the markets throughout the year. The growing period of the yellow onions is majorly between spring and fall, and the sorting of the yellow onions takes place for the year left.

Northern Europe is the most common area where yellow onions are grown. The yellow onions grown in Nothern Europe make up about 90 percent of the total yellow onions produced in the whole United States of America.

The yellow onions should be stored at a cool room temperature and in a dark place. Using them for a longer period needs them to be covered in paper and be stored in the refrigerator. Yellow onions have the finest taste of onions.

Yellow Onions are the best for dishes such as stews and braises, shish kebabs, sautéed dishes, French Onions Soup, and other soups as well.

Yellow onions can also become sweet and sticky if caramelized. Yellow onions fall under the finest categories of onions produced in the world.

What is White Onion?

White onions are majorly utilized in cooking various cuisines, such as that of origins of Europe and Mexico. White onions in cuisines are associated with their light nature.

White onions are majorly utilized in the cooking of various dishes to give a fresh, sour, and light taste and flavour to the dishes.

White onions are also added uncooked in various dishes such as salads. White onions are believed to have a different light flavour pattern in comparison to various other varieties of onions in the world, such as yellow onion, red onion, etc.

White onions are less strong and have a light flavour and taste on account of their contamination being fairly high in sugar and lower in sulfur as compared to other various types of onions.

Due to this mild flavour and taste, white onions are preferably used raw in the dishes. The dishes in which white onions are preferably used in a raw manner are salads and sandwiches.

After being finely chopped, if the raw white onion is soaked for about 2-3 hours, a clear sweet taste and flavour add up to the profile of the white Onion.

This addition of the sweet flavour in onion takes place due to losing of astringency, which was earlier contained by the white onions.

Main Differences Between Yellow and White Onion

1. Yellow onions are much more preferred than white onions in the United States of America.
2. Yellow onions are considered to be perfect for cooking stews, soups, etc. In contrast, white onions are considered perfect for tacos, sandwiches, burgers, etc.
3. The skin of the yellow onion is more papery, tender, and thinner as compared to the skin of white onion.
4. Uncooked yellow onions are not widely used, as uncooked white onions are widely used in many dishes.
5. Yellow onions have a great balance of astringency as compared to white onions.

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691503003508
2. https://www.koreascience.or.kr/article/JAKO200909651055654.page

Last Updated : 25 July, 2023