How Many Onions In A Pound?

Shopping for onions or need them for a recipe? It’s helpful to know how many onions are in a pound!

Shopping for onions – either sweet, white, or red – or need them for a recipe? It’s helpful to know how many onions are in a pound as you plan to shop for a recipe that calls for cups.

You don’t want to buy too many if you don’t use onions often and won’t use the leftover, but you also don’t want to come up short.

Whether you are looking for white, yellow, red, green, or sweet onions, we have you covered. If you want to know more about a specific type of onion, check out our Guide To 23 Types Of Onions.

How Much Does An Onion Weigh?

Onion Weights According To The USDA

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), yellow, white, and red onions on average weigh:

• 150 grams or 5.5 ounces for a large onion
• 110 grams or 4 ounces for a medium onion
• 70 grams or 2.5 ounces for a small onion

Onion Weights According To Our In-Store Research

These are the USDA figures for onions, but in the grocery store, onion size is all over the place! We went to the store and got to weighing. We checked the three pound bags as well as the onions available for individual purchase. We found that:

• Yellow onions typically weigh 2 to 8 ounces
• White jumbo onions typically weigh 8 to 14 ounces
• Red onions typically weigh 6 to 12 ounces
• Sweet Vidalia onions typically weigh 8 to 14 ounces

Green Onion (or Scallion) Weights

Green onions, sometimes known as scallions, weigh:

• 5 grams or ⅙ of an ounce for small green onions
• 15 grams or ½ an ounce for medium green onions
• 25 grams or just under an ounce for large green onions
• 1 Tablespoon of chopped green onions weighs 6 grams or ⅕ an ounce
• 1 bunch of green onions is typically 6 to 8 onions, weighing about 100 grams and fills one dry cup.

How Many Onions Are In A Pound?

The USDA figures translate to roughly:

• 3 large onions in a pound 
• 4 medium onions in a pound
• 6 small onions in a pound
• 4 bunches of green onions in a pound
• 40 pearl onions in a pound

How Many Onions Are In A 3 Pound Bag?

• A 3 pound bag of yellow onions has 7 to 11 onions of widely varying size.
• A 3 pound bag of Vidalia onions has 7 to 8 and the sizes tend to be more uniform regardless of the brand.
• Pearl Onions are typically sold in a 10 oz bag. Our store survey showed that each contained 25 to 27 onions at 11 grams or 0.4 ounce each.

How Many Onions Are In A Cup?

Many recipes call for cups of chopped or sliced onions. The USDA standard here is:

• Chopped Onion: 1 large chopped onion = 1 cup.
• Sliced Onion: 1 large sliced onion = 1 1/2 cups (1 medium sliced onion = 1 cup)
• Chopped Green Onion: 1 bunch green onions = 1 cup chopped green onions

How Many Onions Slices From An Onion?

The average onion slice is 14 grams (½ an ounce), and a thin slice is 9 grams (⅓ ounce). After you trim off an onion’s rounded edges you get about 10 burger sized onion slices from a large onion.

Our Favorite Healthy Onion Focused Recipes

• Hidden Spinach Healthy Guacamole: Guacamole needs onions almost as much as avocado!
• Quick Pickled Red Onions: If you haven’t pickled before, it’s easy.
• Beer Caramelized Onion Brussels Sprout Pizza: The perfect vessel for delicious caramelized onions.
• Vegetarian Philly Cheesesteak Recipe. Oyster mushrooms make for a great faux cheesesteak.
• Healthy French Onion Dip. This sounds like an oxymoron, but healthy and onion dip can go together.