Green onions are available all year round, but they are particularly productive during the cooler months. Because of this, scallions, or scallions, make the perfect accompaniment to soups and stews!
When grown in the garden, green onions grow so fast that you will have plenty of them within a few weeks. Now if you have, say, too many green onions, is there a way to save the rest for future cooking? Can You Freeze Spring Onions?
Spring onions have a short shelf life. When refrigerated, green onions should last for about a week. At this point, you’ll probably find that your onions in your “Crisper” are no longer crunchy. Instead, you’ll likely be greeted by soggy, slimy, limp onions that just wilt in your fridge.
Forget about gifting excess scallions, you can freeze scallions to extend their shelf life. If kept in the freezer, spring onions will keep for 10 months to a year!
The fact is that any part of the onion can be frozen, including the green stalk. However, the green stem can be a bit delicate. This means that while green onions can be frozen, changes in texture are inevitable. The spring onions might soften a bit and become less spicy after defrosting. But despite the texture changes, spring onions are still safe to use in cooking.
But why do people freeze green onions in the first place? Gardeners have an abundance of these tasty little onions and need to do something with them before they go bad.
Read Also: Can you freeze carrots?
Another reason to freeze scallions is that when you buy them, you end up with far too many onions to use. Anyone who has bought a bunch of spring onions can attest that they come in a bushel far too big to go through in time. Most people, growers and buyers of the vegetable will end up giving away or throwing away half their supply of spring onions.
Other reasons onions are frozen are to store the vegetables while they are still in season, to preserve the green onions for future use, or to buy in bulk for special occasions. If you want a constant supply of green onions all year round, freezing the onions is the best solution.
Regardless of your individual reasons, anyone would hate to waste their food and essentially their money. Freezing is actually a perfectly viable way to preserve your onions so you can get the most out of them.
Some people may be wary of freezing the green onions for fear of ruining the product. In truth, the only thing that happens to the onion is that it loses some of its crispiness. Because of this, you should only use your frozen onions in dishes that don’t require fresh crunchy onions.
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to freeze spring onions:
How can green onions be frozen?
Note that green onions are extremely spicy. The smell is likely to come from improperly packaged green onions. Therefore, seal the scallions well before freezing. Let’s take a look at the different ways to freeze green onions:
Flash frozen spring onions
Although green onions do not need to be blanched, quick freezing prolongs the freshness of the vegetable. You can also freeze the onion and stalks together, but it’s best to do this separately.
Quick freezing is an extra step, but it improves the texture of the green onions after thawing. Start by prepping the vegetables and washing the scallions to remove dirt and debris. Then pat the vegetables dry, they should be completely dry before freezing. Cut the spring onions into desired pieces and you are ready to quick freeze.
Place the chopped green onions on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze for an hour or until set. Once the scallions are frozen, remove the baking sheet from the freezer and divide the veggies into individual portions. Scoop the veggies into a resealable, snack-size plastic bag, then pop in the freezer.
Freezing Fresh Spring Onions
If you don’t want to flash freeze the green onions, that’s fine. Simply wash the spring onions and bulb onion well, removing bits and debris that may have gotten stuck in the crevices. Then pat the spring onions dry with a paper towel. You want the spring onions to be as dry as possible to preserve the integrity of the vegetable when frozen. The remaining moisture turns into ice crystals when frozen, ruining the texture and flavor of the green onions.
Once the veggies are dry, get your knife and cutting board and start slicing the green onions into the desired pieces. Find a sturdy plastic container with an airtight lid or snack-size resealable plastic bags and spoon the spring onions into the container. Do not fill the container too full so that the vegetables do not bruise. Close the lid or seal the plastic bag, write the storage date with a marker, then stick the onions in the freezer.
No matter how you decide to freeze your onions, it will be a great choice. Just make sure you’re using a container big enough to not overfreeze the onions. Remember that onions are an incredibly hot vegetable. They will stain your freezer and everything around them with their scent. To prevent this from happening, make sure you pack the scallions properly. They can even be double or triple wrapped. Keep the scallions as far away from other foods as possible.
How do you thaw frozen scallions?
If you didn’t divide the scallions into individual portions, you don’t need to thaw the veggies. The spring onions will defrost as they cook. If you need to thaw the spring onions, simply transfer the container from the freezer to the fridge. Let the spring onions thaw overnight and they’re ready to use.
summary
Green onions add bold flavor and crispness to stir-fries, sautéed dishes, soups and stews. Now that you know how to freeze Green Onions you can extend the shelf life of this vegetable for future use!