Learn Swedish: Om du aldrig steker löken, blir maten tråkig. - If you never fry the onion, the food becomes boring.

The second half is the main clause, which must follow the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire first half (Om du aldrig steker löken) counts as position number one. Therefore, the verb blir has to come next in position two, making the subject maten swap places and come after the verb.

Why does aldrig come before the verb steker in the first part? Doesn't the verb always come second?

The verb-second rule only applies to main clauses. The first part of this sentence is a subordinate clause because it starts with om (if). In Swedish subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like aldrig (never) or inte (not) are always placed before the verb.

Why is löken (the onion) in the definite form here instead of just saying lök (onion)?

Löken is the definite form of en lök. In Swedish cooking contexts, it is very common to use the definite form to refer to the specific ingredients you are working with in a recipe, similar to saying 'the onion you are using' rather than just 'onions' in general.

Why does the sentence end with tråkig rather than tråkigt?