Make Your Own Sweet Onion Sauce

A Healthy Alternative to Store Bought Dressing

My family has a thing for sweet onions. We buy them by the bag, and they are by far our preferred onion. We always have a lot of them in the pantry.

There is one drawback to sweet onions. They just don’t last long as a fresh onion.  They bruise easily and you have about 3 weeks tops, then they’ll start to go bad. This week I have several that need to be used or I will lose them. I’ve decided to make sweet onion sauce as a replacement for an expensive salad dressing that we typically purchase.

This sweet onion sauce recipe does not have any preservatives and is a healthy alternative to store-bought salad dressing. Allowing for onion cooling time it will take about and hour to make.

Related Post: Storing Sweet Onions

This recipe uses an onion that is cooked in the microwave and then cooled. You can get around the wait time by cooking and then freezing several mashed onions for future salad dressing needs.

If you choose to freeze some of your sweet onion, you will only want to use them for cooking. Once they’re thawed they will be soft and not good for fresh eating or salads. Onions stored this way can last for at least 6 months and maybe even longer.

Sweet Onion Sauce Recipe

Ingredients: Makes just shy of 2 cups

• 1/2 medium-size sweet onion
• 1/2 cup vegetable or olive oil
• 8 tablespoons white vinegar
• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar (or more to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoons mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or granules
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Cut off half an inch from the top and bottom of the onion and remove the papery skin.
2. Place the onion in a microwave safe dish and make several slits in the sides with a knife.
3. Add a bit of water to the dish, cover and microwave for 4 minutes. This will make the onion soft.
4. Uncover and allow the onion to cool completely.
5. Cut the cooled onion into 4 large pieces and place it in a blender or food processor to pulverize it.
6. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until the sweet onion sauce is smooth.
7. Taste, adding extra sugar as needed.
8. Place the sauce into a covered jar and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the spices to mix and reach their peak.

This sweet onion sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week. It makes a refreshing addition to our nightly salad and it also makes a wonderful marinade for chicken. Enjoy!

NOTE: I’ve updated this post and reduced the amount of onion to 1/2 a medium sweet onion. After making it a few times by family decided it was a bit too “oniony” and they wanted fewer chunks.

How does sweet onion sauce taste?

Since onions have a slightly sweet yet pungy taste to them, they can be used to successfully enhance the flavors of almost anything you can imagine. In certain countries, onions and sauces based on onions are used in numerous foods. For example, India uses onions in curry and in salads as well. Since Subway introduced the sauce, it has become a global favorite, with many people worldwide, even in China, using tremendous amounts of it.

Is sweet onion sauce healthy?

Yes, the sweet onion sauce is healthy to a far greater extent than many other sauces out there. As far as calories go, a 21-gram serving has around 40 calories. It’s also free of all fat whatsoever, so you don’t have to worry about gaining weight from using the sweet onion sauce.

When it comes to sodium intake, you’ll be glad to hear that’s another thing that the sweet onion sauce does right. A full 21-gram serving of this sauce contains just 85 milligrams of sodium. That’s roughly 6% of the maximum recommended daily intake for a healthy adult. If you restrict your sodium intake, you’ll also flatten your chances of developing heart problems.

However, do be careful as the sauce contains a significant amount of sugar. A 21-gram serving of sweet onion sauce contains about teaspoons of sugar, which is just one third or the recommended maximum of six teaspoons of sugar for women, and nearly a quarter of the maximum nine teaspoons for men.

Conclusion

Now you don’t have to go to Subway or to the store even to feel the tasty satisfaction of sweet onion sauce.

Instead, you can use this method to do it yourself or give the recipe to someone dear so they can enjoy it as well. Depending on the freshness of the ingredients and your skill level, it might come out even better than the store bought version.