The humble onion might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Panamanian agriculture, but onions are actually an important crop in Panama and one of the vegetables you are very likely to encounter in everyday Panamanian cooking. They are grown commercially, particularly in the cooler highlands of Chiriquí, and they form part of the basic flavor foundation of countless dishes.
Where Are Onions Grown in Panama?
The most important onion-growing region in Panama is Tierras Altas, Chiriquí, particularly around areas such as Cerro Punta and Volcán. This is one of the country's great vegetable-producing regions, where the higher elevation, cooler temperatures and agricultural conditions are very different from the hot tropical lowlands.
Tierras Altas has been producing onions for more than 60 years and is considered Panama's principal horticultural area. According to research from Panama's agricultural research institute, the region produces around 80 percent of the country's vegetables.
Chiriquí dominates national onion production. More recent agricultural statistics show that approximately 82 percent of Panama's onion production area is in Chiriquí, with smaller amounts produced in Coclé, Herrera and Los Santos.
So when you buy locally grown onions in Panama, there is a good chance that somewhere along the chain, Chiriquí's highlands are involved.
Why Does Panama Grow Onions in the Mountains?
At first glance, onions seem like a strange crop to associate with tropical Panama. After all, Panama is famous for hot temperatures, humidity, rainforests and beaches.
But Panama has an enormous range of elevations.
The highlands around Volcán and Cerro Punta have much cooler conditions than Panama City's tropical lowlands. This makes them particularly valuable for growing vegetables that don't perform as well in the heat.
Onions also don't need the kind of tropical environment that you might associate with bananas, pineapples or papayas. They can be grown successfully when temperature, soil, water and day-length requirements are suitable.
That is one of the fascinating things about Panama's agriculture: within a few hours you can go from tropical fruit plantations at low elevation to farms producing onions, potatoes, carrots and other temperate-climate vegetables in the mountains.
How Are Onions Grown?
Commercial onion production in Panama is a fairly intensive agricultural operation rather than simply putting an onion in the ground and waiting for it to grow.
The crop can take roughly 120 to 150 days from planting to harvest, according to Panama's agricultural statistics.
Farmers can establish the crop from seedlings or smaller planting material, while researchers and producers have also been experimenting with direct seeding. Direct mechanical planting can allow farmers to put considerably more plants into an area than traditional manual methods.
Water management is particularly important. Researchers in Tierras Altas have been testing different irrigation and fertigation systems, including drip irrigation, to improve production while reducing problems associated with water and soil movement.
And like farmers everywhere, Panamanian onion growers have to deal with pests and diseases. Research in Tierras Altas has identified numerous insects associated with the crop, including cutworms, thrips, leaf miners and onion aphids.
In other words, producing a good onion is considerably more complicated than it looks when you're standing in a supermarket staring at a pile of them.
How Much Onions Does Panama Produce?
Onion production is significant enough to be an important agricultural industry in Panama.
For the 2024–2025 agricultural year, Panama recorded approximately 1,189 hectares planted, 1,185 hectares harvested and production of about 688,470 quintals. The reported national average yield was about 581 quintals per hectare.
Those numbers also demonstrate that onion farming is not some tiny specialty crop hidden away in the mountains. It is a substantial agricultural activity.
Interestingly, production has fluctuated considerably from year to year. Weather, prices, production costs, yields and the number of farmers planting the crop can all influence how much onion is produced.
Onions Are a Big Part of Panamanian Cooking
This is where the onion really becomes interesting for travelers.
You don't necessarily notice how important onions are in Panama because they rarely appear as the star of the dish. Instead, they are one of those ingredients quietly working in the background.
They are commonly used to build flavor in sofritos, the cooked mixture of vegetables and seasonings that forms the starting point for many dishes throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
In a typical Panamanian kitchen, chopped onion may find its way into rice dishes, beans, soups, stews, meats, sauces, eggs and countless other preparations.
You might eat onions several times during a day in Panama without ever ordering a dish called "onion."
That's actually the mark of a good everyday ingredient.
Onion in Panama's Rice Dishes
Rice is one of the foundations of Panamanian food, and onions frequently help provide the flavor underneath it.
Whether rice is being cooked with meat, chicken, vegetables, beans or other ingredients, onion can be part of the initial seasoning mixture.
Panamanian cooks often combine onion with ingredients such as garlic, peppers, cilantro and other seasonings. The onion may be chopped finely and cooked until soft before the other ingredients are added.
This creates a savory base without necessarily leaving large pieces of onion in the finished dish.
Onion and Meat
Walk into a Panamanian kitchen where meat is being prepared and there is a good chance onions are nearby.
They can be cooked with beef, pork or chicken, incorporated into stews, added to sauces or simply fried alongside meat.
One particularly simple combination is carne encebollada, literally meat with onions. Thinly sliced onions are cooked together with meat, producing the sweet and savory combination that happens when onions slowly soften and caramelize.
It is simple food, but it demonstrates why onions are so useful. They can take something as straightforward as a piece of meat and give it considerably more flavor.
Raw Onion Is Popular Too
Panamanian cooking isn't all about frying onions until they're soft.
Raw onion also appears regularly.
Thinly sliced onions can be added to salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, ceviche and other dishes. Their sharpness provides a nice contrast to richer foods.
Ceviche is an especially good example. Fresh fish or seafood combined with citrus, onion and other seasonings creates a completely different experience from cooked seafood.
The onion provides crunch, sweetness and a little bite.
Onion at the Street Food Level
You will also encounter onions in the casual food that people eat every day.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and other inexpensive meals can come with chopped or sliced onions. At a small fonda or roadside restaurant, onion may be sitting alongside other basic ingredients ready to be thrown into whatever is being cooked.
This is one reason onions are such a useful ingredient in Panama. They work equally well in traditional home cooking and inexpensive fast food.
Panama's Onion Isn't Necessarily the Same Everywhere
There are different onion varieties and different ways of growing and preparing them.
The varieties selected by farmers have to be appropriate for Panama's growing conditions. Agricultural researchers in Tierras Altas have tested several commercial cultivars to determine which perform best under local conditions.
The result is an interesting combination of agriculture and geography. A crop that is associated with cooler climates around the world has found a productive home in one of Panama's highest and coolest agricultural regions.
The Next Time You Eat in Panama...
Pay attention to the onion.
It is easy to overlook because it is rarely the glamorous ingredient. Nobody comes to Panama specifically to photograph an onion.
But watch what happens in a small restaurant kitchen. You may see someone chopping onions before breakfast, throwing them into a hot pan for lunch, mixing them into rice, adding them to meat or slicing them raw for a salad.
That's how deeply integrated onions are into Panamanian food.
And there is something particularly satisfying about knowing that many of those onions may have come from the cool green mountains of Chiriquí, hundreds of kilometers from the tropical beaches and lowlands where many visitors imagine most Panamanian food is produced.
The onion may be one of the least exotic-looking things in Panama, but it is one of the ingredients that quietly connects the country's farms, mountains, markets and kitchens.