The Creek Line House

Cutting Onions Without Tears

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This is the best tear-free onion chopping trick. With this technique you’ll be dicing, slicing, chopping and cutting onions without tears.

This is the best tear-free onion chopping trick. With this technique you'll be dicing, slicing, chopping and cutting onions without tears.

This. THIS is a good one.

I’ve heard all kinds of old wives tales about how to stop yourself from crying when you’re cutting onions. Haven’t you? Do any of them really work?

Not for me, they don’t.

It’s amazing how dramatic dinner preparation can get sometimes when you take a sweet little onion, that brings so much joy and flavor to your dishes, and try to actually put it into whatever you’re cooking.

This is the best tear-free onion chopping trick. With this technique you'll be dicing, slicing, chopping and cutting onions without tears.

It’s worth the tears and all, but why go through that if you don’t have to? Which is why people are always trying to figure out how to do that. And failing.

Well, the one trick that does work is really simple. So, so simple. Like, so simple I feel funny even writing a  whole post about it. Like, caveman simple.

Cutting Onions Without Tears

Me. Jane. Fire. Make. Onion. No. Ouchie.

This is the best tear-free onion chopping trick. With this technique you'll be dicing, slicing, chopping and cutting onions without tears.

So that’s it.

In case you don’t speak caveman, all you need to do is light a candle next to where you’re working and the flame will burn most of the evil tear-creating onion juices out of the air. It really works! I think it’s kinda like when you have a fireplace on and the air gets really dry because the fire burns all the moisture out of the air.

The Creek Line House – How to Dice an Onion

This is the best tear-free onion chopping trick. With this technique you'll be dicing, slicing, chopping and cutting onions without tears.

Anyway. It’s amazing. And it makes me happy. Or at least it makes me look happier when I’m cutting onions! Ha!

Try it out!

Do you have a favourite trick for cutting onions without tears?

 More helpful ideas like this that you’ll love!
Courtenay Hartford
Author at The Creek Line House | Website | + posts

Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.

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Comments

  2. Jennifer Becker says

    Its actually oxidizing the irritating chemical created when you break the cell walls of the onion. How do you get it to work for you? I’ve tried and tried it, but I would have to burn down the house to get enough flame to keep my eyes from burning up!

    Reply

  3. Anonymous says

    If you start slicing the onion from the root end instead of the top there is much less
    “tearing” because the irritation comes out the top.

    Reply

  4. Anonymous says

    I always chew a piece of spearamint gum while I cut onions. I put a piece in my mouth right as I start and it always works for me. =)

    Reply

    • Ely says

      I just chew any flavor I have handy. It’s the only thing that works for me.
      Also, you don’t have to worry about burning the house down if you knock over the candle.

      Reply

  6. Kaci says

    When I cut onions I cut my onion in half and run each side under really cold water. It gives me a few minutes to cut them tear free. Sometimes if an onion seems to be more pungent than normal I will place both halves in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes before I chop it up. If I’m not going to be throwing them in a pot or pan right away I will keep the chopped pieces in a bowl of cold water so the smell doesn’t linger around the kitchen.

    Reply

  7. Anonymous says

    The best way is to use lemon juice on the knife before cutting. The candle trick didn’t work for me, my husband saw the lemon juice trick on a science show and it is the only thing that works for me and it didn’t leave a lemon taste to the onion.

    Reply

  8. Anonymous says

    Take a sip of water and keep it in your mouth while cutting the onion. Thats the best way to keep my eyes dry 😉

    Reply

  11. Sandra says

    It sounds ridiculous but if you bite on a wooden spoon while you’re cutting your onions, you WONT tear up. I promise you it’ll work!

    Reply

    • Carla says

      In the movie, The Help, the advice given was to hold a match between your teeth. I assumed it was a wooden match, and tried it. It worked!

      Reply

      • Louisa says

        Thats because you are breathing through you mouth in stead of your nose. In a little time you can do without the toothpick or match.

        Reply

  12. Elle says

    The candle is sound advice. I usually open a window and cover my mouth and nose, so as not to breathe in the fumes. Depending on the strength of the onion, it works. The only other day it resulted in a terrible sore throat (I already had a cold) and the taste of onion for hours, but no tears. Which makes sense: it’s a nervous system reaction, the tears being a side effect. It doesn’t directly affect the eyes. As you said, everyone reacts differently. Ladies, I’m pretty sure she meant it when she said that the list of nonsense y’all enumerated doesn’t work for her. And of all the suggestions, the candle makes the most sense. Thanks for that.

    Reply

  13. Cara says

    I’ve tried all these tips and they don’t work for me. I wear swim goggles when I cut onions. It works like magic. No watery eyes, no runny nose. I could cut onions all day with my goggles on. Who cares if my husband makes fun of me!

    Reply

    • Barb says

      I wear swim goggles, too! I have tried every single trick imaginable (including this candle one), to no avail. I am so sensitive, that sometimes just cutting green onions makes me tear up (usually only when I’m pregnant, it’s awful)!
      Totally get made fun of, but it’s worth it!

      Reply

    • Rebecca says

      I bought special onion-cutting goggles (from Amazon). I love cooking with onions, but my eyes got so bad that I was seriously considering giving up onions altogether, because it hurt so much. I figured I might as well try the goggles, as a sort of last-ditch effort, because I had tried every trick in the book and none of them worked at all for me. The goggles work perfectly— I can still smell how strong the onion is, but I don’t tear up in the slightest. It’s fantastic.

      Reply

    • 4SwimmersMom says

      Yes! This is the only thing that works for me too. My kids and my husband crack up. All of my kids are swimmers so we always have dozens of goggles around the house. I tried chewing gum, open window, multiple candles, cutting from different ends. Googles work!

      Reply

  14. Alona says

    Nothing ever worked for me. Then the hubby bought me a pair of “onion goggles” and my eyes have never been happier.

    Reply

  15. Elizabeth says

    Hubby and I both use contact lenses and they have the added benefit of keeping you eyes from tearing up over onions. What gets me is when I start with an onion and I forget I’m not wearing them!

    Reply

  16. Delia says

    Another solution: I bought a small battery powered fan and set it on the counter so it blows across the cutting board where I usually do my cutting and chopping. It blows the onion gasses away, the batteries (AA) have lasted more than a year and No Tears. I found this out accidentally during one summer when I had an oscillating fan blowing across my kitchen from the dining area. The onions I chopped never bothered me and when I figured out why, I looked for a small fan and found a folding fan that fits in the drawer below the counter. I can operate it one handed, folding down the base and sliding the power switch and it is easy to put away.

    Reply

  18. Laurinda says

    The freezer trick works. It takes 10-15 minutes of freezer time to start to freeze the juices, without freezing the whole onion. I recommend using a timer, because you can’t cut it up if it’s completely frozen, & it gets limp once it’s thawed.

    Reply

  20. Rhonda says

    All you have to do is bite a stick match between your teeth while cutting the onion. The sulfur tip somehow dissipates the onion fumes that make you tear up. Make sure the sulfur tip is outside and you do not have to light it.

    Reply

  22. hiyee says

    I cut in bulk for a restaurant. I slice top and bottom while running under water, then put in a container of ice water and chill in freezer for about 20 minutes. The onions stay fresh but no tears 🙂

    Reply

  24. Patty Millikin Furkin says

    When I buy a bag of onions, I put them in individual ziploc bags, for convenience, and put them in the crisper in the refrigerator. There they stay until they get used. Haven’t cried over onions in years!

    Reply

  25. Robin Mullin says

    It works, i have been doing this for years. i usually have two candles burning . one on each side of me.

    Reply

  27. Jeannee Taylor says

    This was a new one on me ! I will have to try it. I usually cut an onion so fast that I don’t have time to get watery eyes. I do make sure to use cold onions as they seem to create less “fumes”. I think combining both these tips will really help my souse chef (hubby) as it affects him most !

    Reply

  29. Tonya says

    My contacts protect me as well. I usually chop up a whole bag of onions at once and put them in the freezer, taking out the chopped amount as needed.

    Reply

  30. Crystal says

    Tried the candle and it didn’t work, none works but running the onion under cold water after every few chops, if I chop next to the sink it doesn’t really add any extra time.

    Reply

  32. Shannon says

    I’ll have to try that. I’ve heard you can turn on a gas stove flame to do the same thing, but it’s never worked for me.

    Reply

    • Courtenay says

      Well that just makes so much sense! I have a gas stove and I can’t believe I’ve never thought of that! I’ll just move on down the counter a little closer to the stove next time. 🙂

      Reply

  33. Murlene Watkins says

    I put my cutting board on top of my stove and turn on the vent before chopping an onion. Works for me every time!

    Reply

  34. Heather says

    I put my onion in the freezer while I get the rest of my misenplace put together. The cold helps reduce the amount of juice sprayed into the air while cutting. Also, make sure your knife is very sharp and it is helpful to have ventilation in the area.

    Reply

  35. Tracy says

    Not just fire. Anything that puts off high amounts of heat. Like if you cut an onion next to a hot burner it works the same way. 🙂

    Reply

    • Denise Reisinger says

      I rarely tear while cutting onions, any onions. I don’t do any of the preceding tricks either. The only thing I can think that I do differently is I take antihistamines for my allergies and have done so for 40 years. Seems extreme (but those other “tricks” aren’t?) but if you are going to be peeling/chopping a lot it might be worth it.

      Reply

  39. Jenni says

    This works! I tried it the first time months ago and was very skeptical. You can still smell the onion when you cut it, but it does not make you cry!

    Reply

  40. Carla says

    I have a small fan in the kitchen – always. I use it when I get too warm but also when cutting onions. Point it at your onion and it blows the aroma and tear making “stuff” away from your nose and eyes!

    Reply

  43. Nicholas Fry says

    There’s a simple trick, taught us by a neighbour here in Crete (Greece):
    The onion gives out its juice when you cut across the fibres. If you cut along the grain, i.e. from top to bottom, then you won’t have a problem. This worked for me and now I always cut onions this way, cutting each one in half lengthwise and then slicing down from top to bottom.
    If you want them really finely chopped, you will need to cut across the grain, but I always leave this until last and give a few quick cuts across the grain to finish. Of course if you like onion rings this is not a solution!

    Reply

  44. Anonymous says

    The scent is drawn to the nearest form of liquid, your eyes. Turn the faucet on (it doesn’t have to be full force just enough for a steady flow) and cut near the sink. It will be drawn to that instead of your eyes.

    Reply

  45. Chris says

    There is absolutely only one way to prevent your eyes from tearing up when peeling and chopping onions, and it will definitely work every single time. There is NO way that this will not work. And it’s so easy – just have someone else chop it for you.

    Reply

  47. Nalani says

    I put my cutting board on a burner of my stove to cut up onions. Then I turn on the fan in the vent above the stove. The fan sucks the onion vapors right out as I cut. No tears. Works every time.

    Reply

        • Courtenay says

          I discovered that product a few years ago and I was so excited to try them, but I haven’t been able to find any that I really like. They always seem to have a funny smell to me when I’m first cooking them so now they make me nervous. Do you have a brand that you use that you love?

          Reply

  48. Jan Benzie says

    I have to used to cut a 50 lb bag of onions at a restaurant for French onion soup every other day! Leave the onions in the fridge until you are ready to slice them up. I never had any tears! I do it to this day!

    Reply

  49. Chip says

    I just soak a couple paper towels with cold water and lay them on the cutting board where I’m cutting! Never a year!!

    Reply

  50. Rudy says

    A sharp knife will cause less damage to cell walls, and fewer irritants will be released.

    I also put the cutting board under or near the exhaust fan.

    Reply

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  2. […] this trick works I will do the happy dance. I cannot cut an onion without crying. One day the mailman came to […]

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