You Need Crispy Fried Onions Year Round

Crispy fried onions are a holiday icon, but their savoury, allium-y crunch can bring one joy all year. Even if you’re not a year-round casserole cook, these salty strips of fried goodness can elevate almost any meal, from salad to snack mix.

Start your day off right

Onions may seem like a bold way to start the day, but I’d like to ask you to consider the onion bagel, and then I’d like to ask you to add even more onion to that bagel by sprinkling some of these on your cream cheese. Eggs also benefit from some onion-y love, whether you finish a scramble with a small handful, or fry the things directly into the whites of the egg. Not an egg eater? Don’t fret; they’re quite delicious on a breakfast salad, or in a bowl of cottage cheese.

Add crunch to lunch

Serious sandwich eaters know the benefits of putting potato chips in a sandwich, extra crunch and flavour being among them. Adding crispy fried onions does the same thing, and it does it harder. Fried onions are wonderful partners for your deli salads and cold cuts, and they absolutely own in a grilled cheese or melt. They’re also a pretty efficient leftover perker-upper and — at the risk of repeating myself — make any salad just a little more delicious.

Make super snacks

Add crispy fried onions to hot, cheesy dips, use them to coat a cheeseball, or toss them in a homemade snack mix. If you want to pack your onion dip with even more onion, finish it with some of these fried bois. (Or if you’re feeling extremely lazy, crumble them directly into sour cream with a few dash of Worcestershire sauce.) Crispy fried onions also make a great deviled egg topper, should you grow weary of paprika.

Treat your kitchen like a steakhouse

There is no component of the steakhouse experience that is not improved by the addition of a crispy fried onion. A wedge salad? Better with crispy fried onions. (Usage note: I’m not telling you to omit the red onion; I’m telling you to supplement.) A potato, either baked or mashed? Better with crispy fried onions. The steak itself? You guessed it — it too is better with crispy fried onions. The only thing I wouldn’t add the onions to is dessert. (I won’t say I wouldn’t try a chocolate chips and fried onion cookie if it was offered — I’m just saying I personally wouldn’t make one.)