You will start to notice that I add sweet onions quite often to the recipes I post on this blog and that’s because we love those sweet bulbs here in Texas. We have them year-round in the grocery stores, and if you don’t have them readily available in your state, I can refer you to some realtors that would be happy to relocate you to the Lone Star State where these have been dubbed the official state onion (bet your state doesn’t have an official onion!).
Sweet onions are basically what you would expect from the name, onions that bring plenty of sweetness with them. They have still have the requisite oniony taste, just milder than typical white or yellow varieties. They work particularly well in dishes with fresh ingredients like salsa because the onion taste does not overwhelm, and the sweetness gives a nice enhancement to the overall flavor without bringing too much sweet. I use them in almost any recipe that calls for white or yellow onions and sometimes also in place of red onions (unless the color is important to the appearance of the dish).
Sweet onions got their start with the Georgia Vidalia which first appeared back in the 1930’s. Texas got into the sweet onion game in the 1980’s when a Texas A&M University professor came up with the 1015 Onion (named for the preferred planting date of October 15th). Both of these are available in the markets for a limited time each year, and they are worth picking up when you see them as the best-of-the-best of the sweet onions. Other varieties are now available as well, and as mentioned above, you can find some sort of sweet onion in Texas markets pretty much all year long.
If you have been passing over the sweet onions all these years, going with the standard bulbs instead, give them a try. I find that they add just a little extra to recipes and I believe that they are one of the reasons that everything tastes better in Texas!