When you need onions for a recipe, you’ll sometimes need to make a substitute. Other times you might wonder about the differences between onions for other reasons. In this case, you want to compare the difference between the Vidalia onion vs. yellow onion.
Contents:
What Are Vidalia Onions?
Vidalia onions come from the U.S State of Georgia. The Vidalia onion is a sweet yellow onion that is popular among chefs and cooks.
The Vidalia onion, discovered during the Great Depression in the 1930s, has been federally protected since 1989, meaning that a Vidalia onion must be grown in Georgia to be a true Vidalia onion.
You can eat these onions cooked or raw, but they are best used when raw for salads, pickles, toppings, and more.
What Are Yellow Onions?
Yellow Onion is just another name for Brown Onions. Ordinarily, these onions have a strong flavor; however, this isn’t always the case. Unlike white onions, yellow or ‘brown’ onions have a higher sulfur content, giving them more interesting flavors.
These onions have brown skin, while the inside is usually white. The inside of yellow onions can also be a light yellow or sometimes greenish.
They are usually best used for slow-cooking, roasting, and caramelizing. Yellow onions are often used for French onion soup, stews, casseroles, and similar slow-cooked dishes.
What’s The Difference Between Vidalia Onions and Yellow Onions?
| Vidalia Onion | Yellow Onion |
|---|---|
| A type of sweet yellow onion. | Includes many onions, not only Vidalia. |
| Best used raw: Toppings, salads, garnishes, and pickling. | Best for cooking: Soups, slow-cooking, caramelizing, and roasting. |
| Tastes mild and sweet. | Tastes strong to mild, sometimes sweet. |
| Brown-yellow skin with large oval bulbs. | Size and shape vary, but the skin is always brown. |
The Vidalia onion is a variety of sweet yellow (brown) onion. However, not all yellow onions are sweet onions like the Vidalia. In fact, most brown/yellow onions have a strong, more robust, and typical ‘onion taste.’
- Size: Vidalia onions tend to be large, but some yellow onions are found in moderate-small sizes.
- Appearance: Both yellow onions and Vidalia onions have brown skins. However, the Vidalia onion has a more oval appearance due to added width.
- Taste and Texture: Vidalias have a mild and sweet flavor because they are grown in higher levels of sulfur. Yellow onions also contain more sulfur but are stronger. Both of these onions have a typical crunchy texture, but Vidalia onions have more of a bite.
- Culinary Uses: You can use Vidalias for dishes that require raw onions or even for adding over pizzas. Yellow onions are most often used for caramelizing or slow-cooking in soups and similar.
Conclusion
The main difference between the yellow and Vidalia onion is that while both are brown onions, the Vidalia is also a variety of sweet onion. There are some other important things that you should know about, such as what dishes to use them in and how. In this article, you’ve learned the main distinctions to avoid a mishap that might affect your next dish.