The Best Type Of Onions To Cook With Pot Roast

When it comes to cooking a pot roast, we know one thing for certain: There is no such thing as too many onions. There's something about the way they turn soft and elevate the flavors of everything around them that makes onions simply magical. While you can use any variety you want, there's one type that is the best for pot roasts, and that is yellow onions. The great thing about yellow onions is that they are not a specialty ingredient. They do, however, have a particularly distinct profile that makes them the most versatile and popular onion in cooking.

Yellow onions have a unique flavor. They begin with that classic onion astringency, with a hit of spice and sharpness. There's a gentle sweetness that comes later, which is even more pronounced when the onions are cooked for a long time. Yellow onions bring that wonderful depth of flavor to your favorite pot roast, all while becoming sweeter and softer. In fact, the onions should be completely tender and brown by the time the roast is finished cooking.

Often referred to as the general cooking onion, yellow onions account for 90% of all storage onions produced in the United States. They get their strong flavor from a high sulfur content. White onions, by contrast, are much sweeter and mellower due to their high water content. You can cook with white onions, but they tend to fall apart. Yellow onions are far starchier, and better retain their shape and texture when exposed to intense heat. One of the best things yellow onions are used for is caramelization, which will increase the flavor of your pot roast even more. This is because of their high natural sugar content, which is what allows them to turn sweet as they are heated, achieving that characteristic caramelized consistency and taste. They also don't turn an awkward shade of blue when they're cooked, like red onions do.

It's easy to see why yellow onions are preferred by chefs and home cooks. So, unless otherwise stated, when someone tells you to use onions in a recipe, especially for a pot roast, they mean yellow onions. They have a zing and a sweetness that goes a long way towards elevating a dish, and you would certainly notice their absence.