How to Freeze Green Onions?

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Green onions are a staple in the kitchen, adding great aroma and flavor to your dishes. They are easy to plant in the kitchen garden, resulting in a large harvest.

Whether you have harvested the onions from your kitchen garden or bought them from the grocery store, freezing them can prolong their shelf-life. The problem is that many people have no idea how to freeze green onions at home.

Freezing green onions makes it possible to store them for one to three months. Whenever you need to use frozen green onions, take a little, thaw it and use it in your recipe. This article discusses easy ways to freeze green onions.

In summary, you should start by trimming off the roots on a trimming board. Next, wash under running water for a few minutes and use a paper towel to pat dry.

Next, chop the green onions into the desired sizes, place them in a freezer bag, seal them tightly, pushing air out to prevent freezer burn, and place them in the freezer.

What Are Green Onions?

Green onions (or Allium cepa) are slender-shaped fresh young onions with a mild flavor. The flavor of the white stalks is the same as that of regular onions. Green onions are also called scallions and have green tops with a fresh, grassy flavor. Freshly harvested green onions have regular onions’ same strong, bright, and earthy smell.

Most of the time, people use the terms “green onion” or “scallion” to refer to the allium plant, which grows in clumps; has stringy roots; a long, tender green part; and slender, bulb-less, white stalks. When referring to green onions, some people use the term “bunching onions.”

How to Store Green Onions in the Refrigerator?

Did you know that keeping green onions in the refrigerator can prolong their life for at least a week? Here are simple steps to follow to preserve green onions in the fridge:

Step 1: Splitting the Bunch

From the grocery store, you’ll get green onions in bunches secured using a rubber band, which you should remove to store properly. First, chop off the root end on the green onions just below the scallion’s white part. Now chop the onions in half to fit into a storage container, preferably a freezer bag or plastic bag.

Step 2: Washing and Drying the Onions

Sometimes, your green onions would likely be pre-washed. If not, rinse the chopped green onions with running cold water and a poison-free vegetable spray. Next, Pat dry the onions using a paper towel to remove most moisture. After disposing of the damp paper towels, wrap the green onions in a fresh set.

Step 3: Covering Onions with Paper Towels

After laying paper towels flat on the kitchen countertop, add green onions on top. Fold the paper towel over the white part and the green leaves. After covering them completely, let green onions dry. The covered onions will go into the refrigerator that way.

Step 4: Refrigerating the Onions

Take the wrapped green scallions and put them in a plastic bag or freezer bag. Seal the container, ensure it is airtight, and put it into the fridge inside the crisper drawer due to green onions’ light, delicate nature.

Alternatively, keep whole green onions with root ends intact in a mason or glass jar with 1-inch-high cold water. Seal the jar using a rubber plastic bag secured by a rubber band to prevent the greens from wilting. Change the water every other day.

Can You Freeze Green Onions?

Green onions should be a top priority of all the vegetables you can keep in your fridge. Unfortunately, green onions dry quickly, which necessitates freezing for later use.

Frozen green onions remain fresh even though the texture can change slightly once thawed back. While freezing green onions can be inconvenient, it is worth it, given their place in cooking various recipes.

You can freeze green onions without taking up too much space in your fridge. Compared to refrigeration, freezing keeps green onions fresh for longer.

Luckily you can easily learn how to freeze green onions. After cutting off the roots, chop the onions to the desired size. Store in a container or freezer bag and keep in the freezer for one to three months.

You can store green onions by growing them in your kitchen garden as an alternative. After cutting off the green tops, please put them in a jar, and cover their roots with water.

It’s easy to revitalize limp green onions by covering them with ice crystals for 15 to 30 minutes. When scallions go bad, they assume a black or brown color and a few soft spots.

How to Freeze Green Onions

It would help to freeze green onions to extend their shelf life and prevent food storage. If you have too many green onions to use within a week, freeze, then keep them fresh. Here is a simple procedure on how to freeze green onions:

Step 1: Wash the Onions

If you’ve just gotten your green onions from the grocery store or plucked from the kitchen garden, the chances are that they have a lot of dirt. Wash under running water to remove as much dust as you possibly can. Be careful not to damage the vegetables.

Step 2: Dry the Onions

Use a paper towel to pat dry the green onions, removing as much moisture as you possibly can. However, too much moisture can cause freezer burn and the formation of ice crystals. That can ruin the green onion’s taste and texture when thawed.

Step 3: Chop the Green Onions

Now you can chop your green onions to the sizes you want. Make sure the pieces have the same sizes for them to freeze evenly. Freezing green onions whole can make them difficult to chop when thawed.

Step 4: Put Onions in a Freezer Container

Once you have chopped your green onions, could you put them in a freezable container? It can be anything such as a jar, Tupperware, freezer bag, or any other container. Before putting it in the freezer, label the container with the vegetable and date.

Step 5: Place Container in the Freezer

Now is the time to place the container in the freezer. It is stored properly if it’s completely airtight, preventing freezer burn. Take some and thaw at room temperature or in the fridge whenever you need to use the green onions. It’s also possible to add to different types of dishes while cooking. However, you must first separate the frozen onions from having just enough you need to buy.

How to Cook with Green Onions

Green onions can work in all recipes due to their delicious flavor. Here are examples of recipes where green onions are great:

Eggs: Green Chile Migas and ultimate southwest scrambled eggs.
Soups: Homemade egg drop soup, vegan creamy mushroom ramen, and hot & sour vegetable soup
Protein Salads: Scallion her chickpea salad, sesame tuna salad, sriracha egg salad, smoky quinoa and black bean salad, tuna, and white bean salad, and curry chicken salad.
Vegetable Salads: Broccoli cheddar chicken salad, Thai cucumber salad, sesame slaw, and cumin lime coleslaw.
Noodles: Cajun cabbage and noodles, lime shrimp dragon noodles, mushroom, and broccoli stir fry noodles, stir fry beef noodles, and garlic noodles.
Stir Fry: Crunchy chicken ramen stir fry, hoisin stir fry bowls with peanut sauce, beef & cabbage stir fry.
Bowl Meals: Loaded mashed potato bowls, poor man’s burrito bowls, sweet n’ spicy chicken bowls, and slow cooker taco chicken bowls.
Skillet Meals: One-pot teriyaki chicken and rice, chorizo sweet potato skillet, southwest chicken skillet, and creamy spinach and sausage pasta.
Pasta: One-pot creamy Cajun chicken pasta, skillet cheeseburger pasta, blackened shrimp pasta, and pastalaya.