30% Of People Prefer This Type Of Onion On Burgers, Per New Survey

With summer in full swing in the Northern Hemisphere, we're willing to bet that plenty of people all around the world are regularly chowing down on that cookout classic, the burger. This iconic dish of some kind of meat patty that's grilled, seared, sautéed, or broiled before being piled onto a bun with all kinds of toppings is a perennial global favorite, but is especially beloved by Americans. According to Reader's Digest, which analyzed Grubhub data from more than 4,000 cities across the U.S., cheeseburgers ranked as Americans' second-favorite food.

We don't know about you, but when we're preparing a hamburger or a cheeseburger, we really like to go to town on the rest of the sandwich's ingredients, carefully selecting and cooking not only the ground meat but the sliced vegetables and spreads. One of our very favorite burger toppings is the humble root vegetable, the onion, which can bring sweetness to a burger when it's caramelized, sharpness when it's raw, and brininess when it's pickled. 

We love all three of these ways to enjoy onions on a burger — and more — but we were curious how our readers like to pair the two together. So we asked 588 survey respondents to tell us what type of onions they choose to top their burgers with, and there was a clear winner.

How do you like to top your burger? According to a YouGov poll of more than 9,000 Americans, the most popular burger toppings are, in order, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, and onions. And there's no denying that the last one, onions, is a popular choice at all kinds of burger joints as well as in home kitchens, where chefs both pro and amateur load burgers with caramelized, raw, grilled, sautéed, and pickled onions — depending on their personal tastes.

Among a survey of 588 Tasting Table readers, caramelized onions were the most popular onion choice, with more than 30% of respondents — 177, to be exact — saying that they reach for the sweet, long-cooked onions as a burger topping most often. Nearly 26%, meanwhile, like to throw slices of raw onions onto their burgers, which can provide a nice textural contrast as well as some bite.

How about grilling some onion rings right next to your burger and then enjoying the two stacked together? Nearly 23% of respondents go this route, which can lend both sweetness and smokiness to a burger (via Simply Recipes). About 12% of respondents like to sauté onions for burgers, which can be a good option if you're staying in the kitchen and not heading outside to the grill, while only about 9% reach for pickled onions — a minority which frankly surprises us, given how delicious a crisp, acidic pickled onion can be perched atop a juicy lamb burger.