What’s The Difference Between Garlic Chives And Green Onions?
Garlic chives and green onions are two different vegetables that are often confused for one another.
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Keep reading to learn more about garlic chives and green onions, as well as know how to distinguish between the two ingredients and decide which one is best for your dish.
What is special about garlic chives?
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Garlic chives are a type of chive that belongs to the onion family.
They have a similar look to green onions, with white flowers.
However, only the leaves are typically used in cooking.
They have a strong garlic flavor, hence the name.
Therefore, garlic chives are often used as a substitute for garlic in many recipes like stir-fries and noodles.
Garlic chives are especially commonly used in Chinese cuisine, which explains why they are also known as Chinese leek or Chinese chives.
What is special about green onions?
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Green onions,with other names including scallions and spring onions, are an edible vegetable that is often used in Asian cuisine.
They are perennial plants that grow quickly and are harvested early before the bulbs become mature.
They have the flavor of onions, but are much milder.
Green onions are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, A, and potassium.
They can be purchased fresh or frozen, and consumed raw or cooked in plenty of dishes like salads, soups, and stir-fries.
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What are the differences between garlic chives and green onions?
Garlic chives and green onions are often mistaken because they look quite similar.
In fact, these two ingredients have many characteristics that separate them.
Look at the comparison table below to gain more knowledge about the garlic chives and green onions:
Garlic chives | Green onions | |
Type | Herb | Vegetable |
Appearance | Garlic chives are normally sold with the ends trimmed Flat leaves | Include green leaves and white stems with root Round leaves |
Flavor | Garlicky | Mildly oniony |
Nutritional value | Richer in vitamin A, C, B vitamins, magnesium, folate, phosphorus, calcium, zinc, and copper | More vitamin E Lower in saturated fat |
Common uses | Medicinal uses In cooking: stir-fried, stuffed into dumplings, used in noodle and egg recipes | As a garnish To flavor dishes like soups, stews, and stir-fries |
Price | A little higher | Lower |
What are the similarities between garlic chives and green onions?
Despite numerous differences between garlic chives and green onions, they also share some features.
Here are some typical things in common between garlic chives and green onions:
Garlic chives and green onions are members of the onion family with a similar appearance
The first thing in common between garlic chives and green onions is that they come from the same onion family.
Therefore, both have a similar look with long green leaves.
They often appear in a bunch, so at the first glance, when seeing a bunch of something green, it can be garlic chives or green onions.
However, in fact, garlic chives are often sold with the ends trimmed.
This means they appear with the green leaves only.
Meanwhile, green onions typically have the white part and root sometimes.
Garlic chives and green onions are nutritious and affordable ingredients
The second similarity between garlic chives and green onions is that they are very nutritious and affordable.
Although garlic chives are richer in most vitamin and mineral categories, both are packed with essential nutrients that benefit our health in many ways.
For example, garlic chives and green onions are rich sources of vitamin A, C, B vitamins, as well as folate and potassium.
Plus, these ingredients are also very affordable so everyone can buy them in large quantities to make their dishes more flavorful.
Garlic chives and green onions are commonly used in Asian cooking
Last but not least, garlic chives and green onions are both staples in Asian cooking.
As you can see, these ingredients mainly appear in Asian recipes, especially Chinese, Vietnamese, or Japanese dishes rather than being used in Western cuisine.
Which one is better?
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Garlic chives and green onions might look very similar, however, their flavors are relatively different.
Choosing which one is better between garlic chives and green onions will largely depend on what you are looking for in terms of flavor.
No matter which vegetable you choose, we hope this article has armed you with enough information about garlic chives and green onions.
- We Put Fried Chicken And Burgers To The Taste Test: Who Will Win?
- Shallot Vs Green Onion: Can You Substitute Shallots For Green Onions?
- Which Is Better: Green Onion Or Leek? It’s The Battle Of The Bulbs!
- Lemongrass Vs. Green Onions: The Flavorful Face-off
- Green Garlic Vs Green Onion: Which Is Healthier? The Answer May Surprise You.