How long do onions take to cook in a sauce? (1+ cooking method)

In this article, we will answer the following question: “How long do onions take to cook in a sauce?” and discuss the effect caused by different cooking methods on onions, how long to cook onions to ensure their safe consumption and the benefits of cooking onions in a sauce. 

How long do onions take to cook in a sauce?

Onions can take 8 minutes to 20 minutes or longer, depending on the cooking method, the size of the onions and the properties to be achieved. Different cooking methods have different impacts on the properties of the vegetables (1, 2).

Many physical and chemical changes occur in vegetables when they are cooked, including of the plant tissue, changes in the colour and the nutritional profile, the aroma and flavour.

Another effect of cooking is the reduction of the microbial load of the food. In this sense, it is necessary to minimally cook food that has been stored or that should not be eaten uncooked (4).

What are the effects of cooking on onions?

The effects of cooking on onions are:

Cooking affects the texture of vegetables, reducing their hardness. Heat causes the disintegration of the plant tissues, leading to their softening. As a consequence, metabolites are released into the cooking medium.

According to studies, cooking can enhance the extractability of some compounds, such as phenolics and carotenoids, thus enhancing their bioavailability. However, these compounds will be leached into the cooking water when the vegetables are boiled or steamed (1, 2).

Therefore, it is favourable to cook the onions in the sauce, as the compounds are released into the sauce, as shown in a study. Simmering the onions in the tomato sauce for 20 minutes could improve its nutritional profile regarding its antioxidant properties (3).

Frying onions leads to the loss of nutrients, especially vitamin C and polyphenols, as an effect of heat. It causes a lower softening of the onions and the browning, due to Maillard reactions that occur between sugars and amino acids in the plant.

How long to cook onions to ensure its safe for consumption?

To ensure the safe consumption of onions, it is necessary to cook onions for 20 minutes in the sauce when boiling and for about 8 minutes when heating in the microwave. 

One of the purposes of cooking is to reduce the microbial load of foods, thus improving its safety and reducing the risks of foodborne illnesses. It is generally accepted that longer cooking times will lead to a more effective microbial reduction, but a minimum time is necessary to provide minimum safety.

For this, a minimum temperature of approximately 150 °F (65 °C) should be achieved throughout the food when reheating foods or cooking food that has been handled (4).

Microwave cooking is more effective and after 8 minutes of cooking, a significant reduction of the microbial count was possible, while this could be achieved after 20 minutes when cooking tomato soup by conventional heat using a pan on a stovetop, according to studies.

What are the benefits of cooking onions in the sauce?

The benefits of cooking onions in the sauce are enhancing the nutritional properties of the sauce. Onions contain several nutrients, such as calcium, phosphorus, potassium, folate and vitamin C (1).

Cooking onions in the sauce can improve the extractability of the antioxidants in onions, namely polyphenols and flavonols, especially quercetin, which is a potent antioxidant found in onion species (3).

Cooking improves the accessibility of quercetin, as well as of the onion sugars and many volatile compounds, favouring the flavour and aroma of the cooked sauce.

The effect of heat also leads to the generation of additional aroma and flavour compounds, as a result of Maillard reactions that occur between sugars and amino acids in the sauce. Another effect of these reactions is the improvement of the food colour.

Other FAQs about Sauces that you may be interested in.

How long should spaghetti sauce cool before putting in the fridge?

How long can you leave spaghetti sauce on the stove?

Conclusion

In this article, we answered the question “How long do onions take to cook in sauce?” and discussed the effects of different cooking methods on onions, how long to cook onions to ensure their safe consumption and what are the benefits of cooking onions in the sauce. 

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References

1.-

Fabbri AD, Crosby GA. A review of the impact of preparation and cooking on the nutritional quality of vegetables and legumes. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science. 2016 Apr 1;3:2-11.

2.-

Miglio C, Chiavaro E, Visconti A, Fogliano V, Pellegrini N. Effects of different cooking methods on nutritional and physicochemical characteristics of selected vegetables. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry. 2008 Jan 9;56(1):139-47.

3.-

Beltrán Sanahuja A, De Pablo Gallego SL, Maestre Pérez SE, Valdés García A, Prats Moya MS. Influence of cooking and ingredients on the antioxidant activity, phenolic content and volatile profile of different variants of the Mediterranean typical tomato Sofrito. Antioxidants. 2019 Nov 14;8(11):551.

4.-

Fung DY, Cunningham FE. Effect of microwaves on microorganisms in foods. Journal of Food Protection. 1980 Aug 1;43(8):641-50.