How to prepare an onion or shallot
Onions and shallots are widely used in the recipes on this site, generally finely chopped. Here is a method to do it quite easily with a simple knife.
182 K 4.0/5 (20 reviews)
10 min.
Easy
1 IngredientLast modified on: February 21th 2011
You will need:
1 
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 10 min.
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 1 min.
Place an onion or shallot on its side.
Stage 2 - 1 min.
Cut off the base (about ½ cm or ¼") and discard.
Stage 3 - 1 min.
Do the same with the top.
Stage 4 - 1 min.
Slit the whole height of the skin down the side.
Stage 5 - 1 min.
Peel off the skin to leave just the white flesh.
Stage 6 - 1 min.
Rinse and dry.
Stage 7
Cut in half lengthways.
Stage 8 - 1 min.
Place flat side down, and slice horizontally, but without cutting right to the end, so that the slices are still held together.
Stage 9 - 1 min.
Then slice vertically, again without cutting right to the end. You will then have small sticks held together by the uncut portion.
Stage 10 - 1 min.
And finally, slice downwards, as if slicing the half shallot normally, to cut into small pieces ready to add to your recipe.
Stage 11 - 1 min.
Finish by chopping the uncut portion.
Stage 12
Do the same with the other half, and your shallot is ready for use.
Stage 13
See all this steps in a small video.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 1 RDI=1 % | 10 RDI=1 % | 0 | 50 RDI=3 % | 220 RDI: 3 % |
| Per 100 g | 1 RDI=1 % | 9 RDI=1 % | 0 | 40 RDI=2 % | 170 RDI: 2 % |
How much will it cost?
- For : 0.15 €
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Onion
Like these other recipes: Potato tortilla (Spanish omelette), Couscous, Lumberjack turnovers, Express chilli con carne, Cretan Bread, ... See them all 147
Other recipes you may also like
Chocolate sauce
This rich smooth chocolate sauce, with its full flavour, is one of the indispensable ingredients of profiteroles, but it can be used with many others desserts.February 21th 2011309 K 24 35 min.
Hachis parmentier
This is the French answer (meat with mashed potato and cheese) to the English cottage or shepherd's pie: a typical family recipe which is an excellent way of using up leftover meat. The proportions are vague here: you need "whatever you have left over"...February 21th 2011406 K 24.3 1 hour 25 min.
Fish petals, vegetables julienne, and beurre blanc
This recipe consists of delicate flakes ("petals") of poached fish, cooked with smoked ham, served on a bed of julienne vegetables (fine sticks of carrots, turnips and cabbage), with a "beurre blanc" sauce made with vinegar and shallots. Not difficult, but entails some work.December 31th 2013258 K4 1 hour 35 min.
French custard tart
Custard pie is made with a shortcrust pastry base, and filled with an egg vanilla "custard" mix (prepared beforehand). Filling and pastry cook together in the oven. It's a great classic of the French bakery, found in all good shops.July 13th 2022444 K 234.3 1 hour 10 min.
How to use a vanilla pod effectively
Vanilla pods are used in many recipes, but they need to treated in a particular way to be effective, detailed here.February 21th 2011391 K4.3 35 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-05-25)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe (as 2 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.