Green onion is one of the most popular ingredients in various dishes worldwide. It can be used fresh to season meats or add a spicy flavor to stews, soups, and sauces.
Thankfully, green onions are easy to grow and readily available at most supermarkets. However, they store poorly at room temperature unlike their mature counterparts.
Nevertheless, you can keep green onions fresh by removing excess moisture before storing them in a refrigerator.
If done right, they can stay for up to 3 weeks without much effort. In most cases, they will taste almost as fresh as the day you stored them.
This guide will give you a simple process to help you ensure that your green onions stay fresh for as long as possible. Enjoy!
A Step-by-Step Guide To Keeping Your Green Onions Fresh
As mentioned before, it is easy to keep green onions fresh by controlling the amount of moisture.
They should be kept in a humid environment, ensuring that your onions remain firm and fresh. However, excess moisture will cause the leaves to become slimy, discolored, and eventually rot.
The following method will help you find the moisture balance required to keep your green onions perfectly fresh.
Step 1: Remove The Root Bulb
You first need to remove the string, rubber band, or any other sort of packing used to keep your green onions together.
Then, line up your bunch of green onions and gently slice off the roots by cutting about an inch above them.
Place the pieces of roots aside. We will be using this in a remarkable experiment later.
Step 2: Cut Your Green Onions Into Two Pieces
It’s not a good idea to bend green onion leaves since this creates a point from which they can start to spoil.
Instead, you’ll want to cut them in half or possibly thirds if they are exceptionally long.
These pieces will fit easily into the plastic bag, which we’ll use later.
Step 3: Dry Off Your Green Onions Using a Paper Towel
After cutting your green onions, you’ll want to use some paper towels to dry them.
Do so by patting them dry all over, as this will help remove any excess moisture from the plant’s surface.
Then wipe the newly cut edges to remove excess liquid from those areas.
Step 4: Wrap Your Green Onions With Tissue Paper
Once dried, you should place the green onion pieces inside a paper towel. Place them side by side, then wrap the towel over the leaves.
Ensure to wrap the onions only partially. Otherwise, they’ll get crushed, and this will cause discoloration or spoilage. So, be careful when handling them.
Step 5: Refrigerate Your Green Onions
After wrapping your onions, place them into a resealable plastic bag, such as a Ziplock bag, and write the date on them using a permanent marker outside the plastic bag.
Ideally, it would be best if you placed the onions into the drawer of your fridge, where it is coldest. However, don’t worry if you need more space in the crisper. They will be ok in other parts of the refrigerator as well.
You can also use this process to store Scallions, which are often mistaken for green onions. Read this article to find out more about these differences between the two.
Step 6: Use Your Green Onions
From here on out, you can use your green onions as and when you need them! However, there is a trick to it.
You’ll need to remove the onions from the bag and use a new sheet of paper towel to pat them dry. Rinse and remove any moisture before you plan on adding them to your cooking.
Make sure that any green onions you don’t use are rewrapped in a new paper towel and placed back into the plastic bag for storing in the refrigerator. This will keep them fresher for longer!
How To Keep Green Onions Fresh Outside The Fridge
If you don’t have enough room in your refrigerator, you can use this alternative instead.
- Fill a glass jar with 1-2 inches of cold water.
- Place the entire plant into the glass jar, the root side at the bottom.
- Then, place your pot on the windowsill, and they’ll keep fresh!
Ensure the jar is tall enough to hold the green onions and change the water daily to avoid algae growth.
Growing Your Green Onions Using Root Cuttings
Remember those roots we sliced off and put aside earlier? Well, now it’s time to use them!
By saving these roots, you’ll never have to worry about purchasing green onions from the grocery store again. Best of all, it is super easy to grow them at home.
All you need to do is take these newly sliced bulbs and place them into a small jar with the roots down, and add enough water to cover the bases, but allow the top to stick out.
Place this jar in an area with a lot of sunlight, and you should soon have your homegrown green onions! Just remember to change the water weekly!
Alternatively, you can place them into a soil or garden pot and allow them to grow there too. You can follow the steps used to grow bunching onions, since they are closely related. Then, all you need to do is harvest when you need them!
Final Thoughts
Green onions are widely used in various dishes, adding unique flavors to bland dishes.
Ideally, they should be used as fresh as possible and can be grown or purchased when necessary.
Thankfully, you can keep green onions fresh by storing them in the refrigerator and managing their moisture content.
Alternatively, you can keep them fresh by placing them in a jar of water and storing them on a windowsill.
We hope you’ve found our guide to storing green onions helpful! And hopefully, you will grow your own soon too!
