Green Onions vs Scallions vs Spring Onions: Is There a ...

Spring onions and green onions are harvested at close to the same point in the life cycle. But, the term spring onion refers specifically to ... Skiptocontent Menu Home»Food&Recipes»KitchenTips Notsurewhatthedifferenceisbetweengreenonionsvsscallions?It’smorecomplicatedthanyoumightthink,butwe’llhelpyousortitout. NewAfrica/Bigstock 334 shares Pin Share Tweet Email Growingupinmyhouse,wealwaysreferredtothoselongonionyvegetablesusedtogarnishAsiandishesas“greenonions.”Ididn’theartheword“scallion”untilIwaswellintolivingonmyown.IusedthetwointerchangeablyinmycookinguntilmanyyearslaterwhenIcameacrossarecipethatcalledspecificallyfor“springonions.”  That’saboutthetimeIrealizedtherewasadifferencebetweenthesethreetypesofonions.Butit’sadifferencethatisn’texactlystraight-forward. Tohelpyousortoutgreenonionvsscallionvsspringonion,wehavetolookfirstatthelifecycleofthetypicalallium—thefamilyofplantsthatincludesonions,garlic,leeks,scallions,chives,andshallots.Thenwe’lllookathowthesethreetypesofonionsdifferintermsofflavorandhoweachisusedduringcooking. TheRealDifference:Age Asitturnsout,greenonions,scallions,andspringonionsarenotactuallydifferenttypesordifferentspeciesofonions;theyarejustnamesforonionsharvestedatdifferentstagesintheonion’slifecycle. Thelifecycleofanonion Ifyouhaveevergrownonionsfromseed,youprobablyalreadyhaveanideaoftheuniquelifecycletheseplantsgothrough. Thefirstthingtoemergefromthesoilisaspindly,greenstalk(reallyaleaf).Astheplantmatures,morestalk-likeleavesformuntileachonionhastwoorthreegreenstalkssproutingfromasingle,whiterootedbase.Thematureleavesarealwaysroundedandhollow,nomatterthespeciesofonion. Overtime,thewhitebasebeginstoswell,formingfirstanimmature,oblongbulb.Ifallowed,thisbulbwillcontinuetomatureintoalarge,roundonion.Thisistrueofalmostallspecies—moreonthatinaminute.  Bunchesofscallionsondisplayatafoodmarket|Isarint/Bigstock Alliumsarefairlyhardyandcanbeplantedinearlyspringforafallharvestorinfallforalatespringharvest.Onionsplantedinfallincoolerregionswillnotgrowmuchoverthewintermonthsandwon’tentertheimmaturebulbphaseuntilspring. Greenonionsvsscallions Scallionisthetermforanonionharvestedearlyoninthelifecyclebeforethebulbbeginstoswell.Youcandiscernscallionsfromothertypesbecausethewhitebaseofeachbunchisslimandblendsuniformlywiththegreenstalk. Greenonionistechnicallythetermforanonionharvestedduringthenextstageofthelifecycle.Thewhitebaseofagreenonionisswollenandoblongbutstillimmaturecomparedtoafullydevelopedonion.Thesearethemostcommonformofimmatureonionyouwillfindinthegrocerystore. Freshgreenonionsonawoodentable|NewAfrica/Bigstock Thesetwotermsarethemostofteninterchangedandmanypeople,evensomechefs,considerthemtobethesamething. Springonions Ifascallionisanimmatureonionharvestedbeforethebulbbeginstoswellandagreenonionisanimmatureonionharvestedshortlyafterthebulbbeginstoswell,thenwhatonearthisaspringonion? Springonionsandgreenonionsareharvestedatclosetothesamepointinthelifecycle.But,thetermspringonionrefersspecificallytoonionsplantedinthefallandoverwinteredinthegarden.Thisextratimeformaturationmeansspringonionsusuallyhavearounder,morepronouncedbulbthangreenonions.  Whilethismightseemlikeanunnecessarydistinction,theprocessofoverwinteringayoungonionactuallyhasadramaticimpactonitsflavor. Bunchesofspringonionsinabox|StudioLucky/Bigstock ADifferenceinFlavor Becausescallionsareharvestedsoearlyoninthelifecycle,theyhavethemildestflavorofthethree.Theyaddjustaslighthintofspicysweetnesstoadish,withthewhiteareaofthestalkprovidingmoreflavorthantheevenmildergreens. Greenonionshaveaslightlymorepungentflavorandbringmoreofthatuniquesharponioncharactertothedish.Thethickbulbcarriesmostofthisflavor,butthegreensstillcontainmoreflavorthanwhatyouwillfindinascallionandtastesimilartochives. Springonionshavemuchmoreofthattypicalonionflavorandwouldeasilyoverpoweradishifusedraw.Thewhitebulbhasatastesomewherebetweenagreenonionandashallot.Unlikethescallionandgreenonion,thegreensofspringonionsaren’ttypicallyutilized,thoughtheyarestilledible. TheSpecialCaseofAlliumfistulosum Tofurthercomplicatethedefinitionofthesefrequentlyinterchangedterms,wehavetotalkaboutAlliumfistulosum.Thisspeciesofonions,alsoknownas“longonions”or“bunchingonions,”doesnotformbulbs,nomatterhowlongyouleaveittogrow. Thismeansthat,technically,nomatterwhenyouharvestthestalks,theywillshowauniform,thinwhitebasecommontoascallion.But,duetotheflavordifferenceseenbetweentheimmaturestalksandthematureones,thetwoarestillreferredtoasscallionsandgreenonions,respectively.Thesetypesofonions,however,cannotbeusedtoharvestspringonions. HowtoCookwithScallions,GreenOnions,andSpringOnions Oddsareprettygoodthatnooneisgoingtocorrectyouifyouaccidentallycallascallionagreenonionorviseversa.Andonlysomeonewhoknowsalotaboutfoodislikelytocallyououtforapplyingthetermspringonionincorrectly.Thisisespeciallytruewhenyouconsiderthatmanycountriesandculturespreferonetermovertheothersnomatterwhentheonionwasharvested. But,oneplacewhereitisnecessarytounderstandthedifferencesinterminologyisinthekitchen. Becauseofthedifferentflavorprofilesandintensitiesofeachstageoftheonion,theyareutilizeddifferentlyinthecookingprocess. Scallions,withtheirmildflavor,arealmostalwaysaddedtothedishonceitisdonecooking.Ifexposedtotoomuchheat,theirfragileflavorbreaksdowntothepointwhereyouwon’tevennoticeit.Boththehollowgreenstemsandthickwhitebasesareusedforthispurpose. Greenonionscanbeaddedrawtoafinishedrecipeorlightlycookedwiththeotheringredients.Ifcooked,theirmorerobustflavorisreducedbutstilldetectable.Ifusedraw,theybringmuchmoreonion-flavortothemeal.RawgreenonionsaremostcommononMexicanandAsiandishesthatalreadyhaveastrongflavorprofile. Likescallions,theentiregreenonionistypicallyutilized.Inmanycases,thespicierbulbiscookedwhilethegreensarereservedforgarnish.Thestalkscanbecutindifferentwaysdependingonhowtheonionswillbeusedintherecipe. Duetotheirstrongflavor,springonionsarealmostalwayscookedwiththeotheringredients.Thelargerbulbaddsadelicateonionyflavortothemealwhilethegreensaretypicallydiscarded. Substitutingdifferentonions Unlessyouareaprofessionalchef,oddsare,youaren’tgoingtonoticeifagreenonionisusedinplaceofascallioninarecipe.Or,atleast,thesubstitutionisn’tgoingtoruinthemealforyou.Butsubstitutingeitherwithspringonionsgetsmoretricky.  Hereareafewtipsforinterchangingthesedifferentstagesofonionsinyourcooking: Substitutingscallionsforgreenonions,andviceversa:Becausemostrecipesusethesetermsinterchangeably,substitutingonefortheotherisn’tlikelytomatter.However,ifyouwanttoemulatethemildtasteofatruescallion,youshouldcookyourgreenonionsforaminuteortwoinsteadofaddingthemtothedishafterthecookingprocess. Substitutingspringonionsforscallionsorgreenonions:Forthissubstitution,itisbesttoonlyusethegreenpartofthespringonionandcookitlightlytoreduceitssharpflavor.Usingthebulb,too,willaddalotmoreonionyspicinessthantheoriginalrecipelikelycalledfor,butthatisn’talwaysabadthing.Justmakesuretocookthebulbthoroughly.Substitutinggreenonionsorscallionsforspringonions:Thiswillbethehardestsubstitutionofalltopulloff.Regardlessofwhetheryouareusinggreenonionsorscallions,addthemtothedishaftercookingtoretainasmuchonionyflavoraspossible.Shallotsmaybeabettersubstituteinthiscaseandcanbecookedthesamewaythespringonionwouldbe. Inthebattleofgreenonionvsscallion,whichteamareyouon?Or,maybeyouarelikemeandprefertogettechnicalabouttheageandshapeofthebulbbeforeyouapplyatermtoanyimmatureonion.  334 shares Pin Share Tweet Email MoreinKitchenTips TrendingArticles 8TipsforSuccessfullyGrowingCucumbersInPots 39DifferentTypesofEdibleMushrooms(withPictures!) HowtoGrowPlentifulPotatoesinPots:10TipsforSuccess 8TipsforGrowingLettuceInPots HowtoCutGreenOnions(Scallions) PopularRecipes 8VeganHeavyCreamSubstitutes(+OurBestRecipe) VeganRisottowithAsparagus&Mushroom SpringRollBowlwithSavoryPeanutSauce FlaxSeedCrackers RoastedSugarSnapPeas CleanGreenSimpleisaplant-basedresourceforpeopleinterestedineatingmindfully,livingsustainably,andenjoyinglife’ssimplepleasures. WebStories PrivacyPolicy PhotoSharingPolicy AffiliateDisclosure AboutUs MeettheTeam ContactUs Signupforournewslettertogetthelatestrecipesandarticlesdelieveredtoyourinbox! 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