Onions are one of the most important vegetable crops. Bulbs and leaves are used as a seasoning in the canning industry, salads, vinaigrettes, mushrooms, vegetable and meat dishes, as well as a spicy-vitamin appetizer and flavoring additive for soups, sauces, gravies, minced meats.

An onion with water and black bread with salt in Russia was the everyday food of the peasants. From onions, bread and water with the addition of vegetable oil, tyuryu was prepared. During the time of Ivan the Terrible, chopped liver with onions, fried in a pan, was considered a popular delicacy. On fast days, they prepared botvinia with onions and "onions" - pies stuffed with fried onions. A typical boyar dish was caviar mixed with raw, finely chopped onions. In Russian folklore, onions are called snake potion or snake grass, partly for its burning taste, besides, knowledge of all useful plants was attributed to snakes.

Most often, onions are consumed raw or fried in lard or vegetable oil until golden brown. Raw onions are added to sausages and meat products, cottage cheese, cheeses, bread with lard.