Australians already love onions, but the campaign wants to encourage parents and meal preparers to include onions in even more meals by inspiring them with new ways to serve the vegetable and accustom kids to their taste.

HIA reported that an alarming 94.6 per cent of Australian children aged 2-18 years are not getting the recommended daily serves of vegetables*, and, that is where the humble onion can give parents an easy win in the kitchen as they count towards recommended daily intakes.

The national initiative will focus on the creative use of onions in everyday meals and will include family friendly recipes, tips and tricks for storing and preparing onions, as well as recipe cards and in-store cooking demonstrations.

Hort Innovation Marketing Lead, Graeme Yardy, said the campaign hopes to make it easier for parents to ensure their children are getting the recommended five serves of vegetables by showing them how easy it is to add onions into family favourite recipes. “Australian children aren’t consuming nearly enough vegetables. Onions can help: they are a versatile, delicious and nutritious vegetable you can add to any meal without the kids even knowing.”

“The Secret Serve Campaign is designed to show that onions can become a reliable, and hassle-free serve of veg for your children, ensuring they are well nourished without the nightly argument, which we see as a big win!”

This often-overlooked everyday vegetable is considered a ‘wonder vegetable’ containing many health benefits. An anti-oxidant, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory vegetable, onions contain high levels of biotin (vitamin H), manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C and fibre. Other attributes include boosting the immune system and helping to maintain good gut and heart health.

The recipe card will include a seven day meal planner of recipes containing a Secret Serve of onion including:

• Secret spaghetti bolognese
• Vanishing vegetarian fried rice
• Hidden homemade beef burgers
• Undercover beef stroganoff
• Masked minted lamb rissoles
• Camouflaged chicken san choy bau
• Incognito sizzling steak fajitas

The recipe booklet will also feature tips on how to dice, store and cook onions as well as how to stop the tears when cutting them.

To supplement these, the Secret Serve campaign will also feature recipes created by well-known food personalities across Australia, showcasing the versatility of this unique and nutritious vegetable.

As part of the campaign roll out, the onion industry has partnered with the mushroom industry to bring their in-store cooking demonstrations to over 450 Woolworths, Coles, and independent supermarket and green grocer stores across Australia. Spaghetti Bolognese will be on the menu and shoppers will be able to sample a recipe containing both vegetables, showcasing how easy it is to sneak a serving of each into every meal.

The campaign was recently launched with an in-store ribbon-cutting at Get Fresh in Findon, South Australia.

*The Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey 2014-15