Onions are an incredibly versatile vegetable that makes the base of many dishes. However, they can be an absolute pain to chop up, with many people reduced to tears every time they slice them.

To help reduce the risk of tearing up every time you cook with onions, cleaning and home hacks creator Chantel Mila suggested doing one step before you need to use them. Instead of chopping onions straight away, she suggested leaving them to soak in water or pop them in the freezer. It will make cooking easier and there’ll be far less tears.

How to stop crying from onions

You don’t need to invest in any goggles to prepare your onions, instead Chantel recommended soaking the onions in cold water or freezing them before chopping in a TikTok video.

They may not need a longer time, you can chill or freeze them for just half an hour to reduce any tears.

Onions can trigger tears because they release enzymes and sulfenic acid when the skin is broken. These compounds combine together to create a gas called propanethial-S-oxide, which irritates the eyes.

According to Healthline, propanethial-S-oxide is known as a lachrymatory agent, which means that it generates tears when it touches the eye.

Eyes are equipped with a defence mechanism meant to protect them from harm.

When the nerves in each eye detect a lachrymatory agent, they generate tears to flush it out. Different types of onions can also affect this, with the harshest being yellow, red, and white onions.

Sweeter types, such as green onions, have less sulphur, are less pungent, and produce fewer tears in most people.

By soaking onions in water or freezing them before use, it can help reduce the tear-inducing effects when they’re cut into.

Soaking or chilling slows down the enzymatic reactions and reduces the amount of these irritating compounds released.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the irritating gas released by onions moves easily through warm air, so cooling them down will slow down the gas from reaching your eyes.

Dr. Stuart Farrimond, food science presenter for the BBC, told Epicurious: “Chilling onions by storing them in the fridge or giving them a 30-minute blast in the freezer slows down the enzymatic chemical reactions, dramatically delaying the onion’s defensive gas-producing processes.”