Wondering what to do with green onion tops? Don’t toss them! Try these 4 easy ways to use them and reduce waste at the same time.
If you’re growing your own onions, you likely will end up with a ton of green onion tops at harvest time.
Or maybe you planted storage onions and were hoping for prize-winning, baseball-sized onions, but ended up with teeny tiny ones that bolted despite all your best efforts. (Been there! Check out the tips in my post about growing incredible onions and avoiding this problem!)
No matter what your onion harvest was like this year, don’t waste those onion tops—use them!
Using onion tops is a great way to stretch your harvest, save money, and reduce waste.
After all, you’ve spent all this time growing these plants. Why not get all you can out of them?
Last weekend, I harvested nearly 100 storage onions out of a 4’x8′ bed and am curing them in the garage right now.
This bed will get planted up with the next succession soon. See all the options for succession planting spring crops in this post.
A few onions bolted and won’t be good for long-term storage, so I’ve cut the tops off them and set those onions aside to use in the next few weeks.
I also removed some of the lower leaves of the onions before curing them to help them dry out faster.
So as you can imagine, that left me with a massive pile of onion tops.
What to do? Let’s talk about it!
4 Simple Ways to Use Green Onion Tops Post-Harvest
Here are four things I did with my green onion tops.
- Cook them like scallions
- Make green onion stock
- Dehydrate into green onion powder
- Compost the rest
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1. Use Green Onion Tops as Scallions
Scallions and onion tops are basically the same thing. The differences between them are scallions are ready to harvest sooner and do not form a bulb the way onions do.
This means that you can cut up your onion tops and use them the same way you’d use scallions in just about any green onion recipe.
- Add them to omlets.
- Saute them in a stir-fry.
- Make Chinese scallion pancakes.
- Mix them with sour cream for an easy dip.
- Garnish grilled chicken or steak.
Easy peasy. Chop, use, and enjoy.
As a gardener and homemaker, I’m always looking for better ways to cook from my garden. See what garden-to-kitchen habits I’ve learned in this post on how to use what you grow.
2. Make Green Onion Stock
Another great use for onion tops is to make homemade stock.
Making stock is a great way to turn food scraps into food staples.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I love keeping a stash of chicken stock or bone broth in my freezer, and I’m happy to have a new type of stock to add to it.
Green onion stock tastes just like green onions with a less onion-y flavor than stock made with roasted onions. It’s very easy to make and is a good base for vegetable soups or for those times you just need a dash of stock to add to a gravy or sauce.
Here’s how to make it:
- Pack a large soup pot or slow cooker full of green onion tops.
- Add in tiny onions or bolted onions for extra flavor. You don’t even need to peel them. Just trim the roots and rinse off any dirt. This is a great way to use up tiny onions you don’t want to peel!
- Cover the greens with water and simmer for at least 4 hours. For best results, simmer for 24 hours.
- Strain out the solids and salt to taste.
- Divvy up the onion stock in freezer containers or use immediately.
PRO TIP: Freeze this onion stock in ice cube trays and transfer to a gallon zip-top bag or other freezer safe container. Then you’ll have small portions ready to use as flavor-boosts in sauces and stir-fries.
3. Dehydrate Green Onion Tops into Onion Powder
Next up is my favorite use for green onion tops: making green onion powder (or green onion dust).
It’s fantastic to add to dips, homemade ranch dressing, dry rubs, and anywhere you want onion flavor. It’s truly a versatile and useful ingredient to have in the kitchen.
To make green onion powder, clean and chop up your onion tops, discarding any yellow or brown leaves.
Then pop them in the dehydrator and let them dry until they are crispy. You may want to put the dehydrator outside under cover or in the garage as the onion smell can get pretty strong!
Lastly, process them in a blender or food processor to make green onion dust.
Store in an air-tight container and use up within a year.
Or combine dried onion tops with dried herbs and you’ll have a wonderful custom herb blend. Find different methods to dry fresh herbs from the garden in this post.
This is a super satisfying way to turn veggie scraps like onion tops into spices that you’ll actually use.
PRO TIP: No dehydrator? See if your oven has a dehydrate setting. Or simply set your onion tops out in a single layer on a flat surface to air dry.
4. Compost Whatever is Left
Lastly, you can compost your green onion tops. This is a great option if you have a lot on your plate, or your onion tops just aren’t the best.
Composting is a great fallback and the easiest way to use up garden and kitchen scraps in a way that benefits you and your garden—returning to the earth a portion of what you took out.
We use a 3-bay compost bin for all our garden waste and kitchen scraps. I also add a lot of comfrey to make the compost extra nutritious.
Learn about the benefits of comfrey in this post.
If you’re new to composting, start small by layering veggie scraps and shredded cardboard or paper in a bin or other container that’s open to the ground. Earthworms will come and start breaking that waste down.
Composting is easier than you think, and the reward is immense.
A Simple Shift Toward Less Waste
Next time you’re staring at a pile of onion tops, don’t toss them. Try one of these simple uses instead. It’s one small way to start shifting toward less waste, which is what homesteading is all about.
We are definitely not a zero-waste household yet, but we try to be mindful about how we use what we grow.
One book that inspired me to use every part of vegetable plants is The No-Waste Vegetable Cookbook by Linda Ly. She shares creative ways to cook whole vegetable plants, including the parts we normally would toss or compost, like kale stems and watermelon rind.
Using onion tops are just one example of how you can stretch your harvest, save money, and reduce waste in the kitchen.
Why toss something that can become soup, seasoning, or even a garnish?
Veggie scraps like onion tops are free bonus food from the garden.
For more ways to use onions, try making quick pickled onions next.
Got a favorite way to use onion tops? Share it in the comments below for us all to read!