SAINSBURY'S "BASICS" ONIONS (Onions)

Member Name: GentleGenius

Product:	Onions
Date:	01/10/08 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap

Disadvantages: None

COST: 73p for 1.5kg (@ 1.10.08)

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per 100g):

Calories: 164
Kj: 684
Protein: 2.3g
Carbohydrate: 14.1g
Sugars: 10.0g
Fat: 11.2g
Saturates: 1.4g
Fibre: 3.1g
Sodium: 0.09g
Vitamin E: 1.9mg
Folic acid: 38.µ0 g

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Sainsbury's "Basics" onions are cheaper than the standard-priced brand by approximately 40p per kg. They are of course to be found in the fresh vegetables section of the supermarket, and are crammed into a largely clear polythene bag which has the orange and white coloured "Basics" range advertising on the top. The nutritional information appears just underneath, contained within an orange-coloured thin strip which runs horizontally across the front of the bag.


Inside of the bag, the onions are of mixed size, from medium ranging down to very small onions that could be used for pickling. Even the largest onion in any given one of these bags could only be described as on the small side of medium.

These budget-priced onions are of no worse quality than the more expensive offerings, are just as fresh, and actually are very tasty because of their small size. Once the bag is opened and the onions transferred to the fridge or wherever else anyone stores them, they remind me of the old days before supermarkets when housewives would buy an amount of mixed-sized onions at the greengrocers, have them wrapped in newspaper or poured into a brown paper bag. They seem to look less what I call "Euro-ised" than the more expensive offerings, in that their size is random, not uniform.

I wouldn't imagine (unless you are truly passionate about onions) a lot of people would find them good for eating raw, say as part of a salad or in a sandwich, as due to their size the taste is rather strong, and they are the type that will make your eyes water when you peel them. They are excellent for cooking with (soups, stews, curries etc.) and they fry up well.

As to whether you would find Sainsbury's "Basics" Onions appealing, I suppose all depends on how fussy you are regarding uniformity, packaging, appearance etc. For me, these onions are perfect, as their quality is no different to the more expensive ones, and I really at the end of the day don't care what size they are, so long as they work - and these do.

I suppose the worst thing about Sainsbury's "Basics" Onions is that because they are generally smaller than other, more expensive onions, is that the peeling of them is more arduous, but I consider that a very small aggravation for something which is of perfectly good quality in all other ways, for a comparatively low price.

I buy these all the time, and shall continue to for as long as Sainsbury's carry on producing them - why pay 99p for 1kg when you can get exactly the same thing, only in smaller bits, at 1.5kg for 73p?

Thanks for reading!

Summary: They are no different to any other onions...just a little smaller, and not uniform in size