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How To Make An Onion Braid

Karbyn |

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Making an onion braid is easy and fun, and it's a great way to store your onions until you are ready to use them later.

Things You Will Need

Onions (fresh, still with long green stems)

Small trowel

Scissors

String or rubberband

Nail (or screw or tack or hook or whatever)

Step 1

Grow your own onions at home. They are easy to grow if you have a sunny area. Or, get fresh onions from your friend with a garden or your local farmer's market.

Step 2

Use a small trowel to loosen the dirt around the onions, so you can remove them from the dirt. Do not just pull them out, because then the green stems will probably break, and you can't braid them after all. However, if the stems do break off, that's okay. You can use those onions first, and use the braided ones later.

Step 3

Brush off the dirt from the onion roots. You do not need to wash them today.

Step 4

Break off the roots close to the bulb. You can use scissors for this step, too.

Step 5

Put all the onions in a pile, so you can sort them out by size of the bulbs.

Step 6

Choose three onions that have big bulbs and flexible stems near the bulb. If the stem is too stiff, they will break easily.

Step 7

Begin braiding with the first three onions. Braid just as usual, the same way you would do a three-strand braid for hair or anything else. Add another onion now and then, on both sides, and merge that new onion's stems in with the others.

Step 8

Keep braiding until you have used all the onions. Then keep braiding until you have braided all the stem, too. Tie off the stems at the end, with the string or rubberband. Or, if the stems are long enough, you can just tie them in a knot, so that the braid will not come apart.

Step 9

Flip over the onion braid, so that the big ones are at the bottom, and the stems are at the top. Hang them in your kitchen or storeroom, from a nail or hook, and make sure they have plenty of air circulation. When you get ready to use one, just cut off how many you need, starting from the bottom. Wash before using. When the braid is all used up, put the leftover dried out bits of stem in your compost.
Onions are easy to grow and store well. If you have a sunny area, I encourage you to give them a try. A garden is a great way to get healthy exercise, better food, and save money -- all at once!