You can microwave raw onions, so they are soft onions or crispy onions – and they take just a few minutes!  You might wish to cook them fully, until they’re brown, or just to soften the onions to add to other recipes, such as making a microwave stuffing recipe from scratch, or to serve with microwaved hot dogs.  This is a great way to cook a small quantity of onion without using a hob and pan.

Just 2 Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped, sliced or cut into onion rings
• 1 tablespoon of oil, or a mixture of oil and butter

How to Microwave Onions:

1. Place the onion, cut into slices, onion rings, or diced, in a microwave safe dish.
2. Add oil and/or butter and ensure the onion pieces are coated fully.
3. Cover the dish and microwave on full power (800 watts) for 2 minutes at a time, stirring after each 2 minutes to ensure more even cooking/browning, for up to about 8 minutes, depending on how dark and brown you want the onions to be.  It’s not until about 4 minutes have passed that you’ll start to notice the onions are cooking.

Notes: 

The oil to coat the onions is essential as it keeps the onions moist.  Stirring the onions is important to prevent it cooking unevenly;  stirring ensures the onions will cook evenly and brown more evenly.

Watch the onions while they cook if you want them to brown evenly – and microwave them in 1 minute blasts so you can stir them more often.

Using Microwave Cooked Onions: 

Here are some ways that I use onions that I’ve cooked in the microwave.

• To add to microwave egg fried rice, or to add to microwave chow mein.
• When making a microwave stuffing recipe from scratch I’ll sometimes cook onions in the microwave until they’re a little soft (but not browned).
• I’ll add crunchy onions into a cheese & potato pie sometimes to make it a little different.
• Soften onion to add to a cheese and onion microwave omelette.