How to Chop Green Onions

Green onions add color, crunch, and a mild onion flavor to an endless variety of dishes, including salsas, salads, and stir-fries. They also make a colorful garnish on anything from deviled eggs to stews to casseroles. Here's how to chop them.

Buying and Storing Green Onions

• Green onions, also called scallions, are available year-round in most markets. They have long, straight green leaves and bases that are straight, rather than bulbous-shaped. Both the white base and the green leaves are edible.
• Choose green onions that have fresh-looking green tops and clean white ends. Store green onions wrapped in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• The term "green onions" is sometimes used to refer to spring onions. However, they are not the same. Often found at farmer's markets, spring onions show the beginnings of a bulbous base, but have been harvested before the base has developed into a large, rounded mature onion. You can substitute spring onions for green onions; however, spring onions are generally stronger in flavor, so consider using fewer.
• When buying green onions for a recipe, keep in mind that 1 medium green onion equals 2 tablespoons sliced green onions.

To Prep Green Onions

• Rinse onions under cool tap water and remove any wilted or damaged tops or slimy skins on the white parts.
• Lay several onions on a cutting surface. Using a chef's knife, trim off the stringy root ends by slicing about 1/8 to 1/4 inch above the roots. Discard the roots.
• Trim about 2 inches from the green tops. Discard the trimmed tops.

How to Slice Green Onions

Using a chef's knife, cut the trimmed green onions crosswise into slices. Slice the onions according to the length specified in your recipe or use these guidelines:

• For garnishes, salads, salsas, and other recipes in which the onion will not be cooked, cut into thin slices, about 1/8 thick.
• For stir-fries, cut the green onions into 1-inch pieces.
• To bias-slice, cut the green onions at a 45-degree angle. This works especially well for 1/2- to 1-inch slices.
• Julienne or bite-size strips: Slice each trimmed medium green onion lengthwise in half. Slice each half crosswise into 1- to 2-inch pieces.

How to Chop Green Onions

• With a chef's knife, use a rocking motion, cutting all the way up the trimmed stalk until the onion is cut into small pieces. 
• To finely chop, continue to cut the onions using a rocking motion until the pieces are chopped into small bits.

Great Uses for Sliced and/or Chopped Green Onions

• Use thinly sliced raw green onions as a finishing touch to foods including soups, stews, grilled meats, dips, deviled eggs, potato salad, and omelets. They add extra color, freshness, and flavor.
• Add 1-inch slices of green onions to stir-fried vegetable and meat dishes. The green onions will cook in 1 to 2 minutes -- more quickly than meats and most other vegetables -- so add them toward the end of cooking time.
• Toss them raw into green salads to add mild onion appeal.
• Add thinly sliced green onions to the scrambled eggs just before cooking the eggs.
• Tuck chopped green onions into fillings for egg salad and tuna salad sandwiches.
• Serve longer green onion slices alongside carrots and celery on a raw vegetable tray. For each onion, trim the root ends, then slice off enough of the dark green stems to leave a 3- to 4-inch piece.
• Use finely minced green onions as a substitute for snipped fresh chives.