Fragrant greens are an excellent seasoning, a vitamin cocktail that gives dishes a piquant taste and protects the body from viruses and bacteria. Just as housewives prepare parsley and dill, you can preserve green onions for the winter. It is frozen, dried, salted, pickled, fermented and canned. Each method has its own subtleties. We invite you to familiarize yourself with detailed recipes and find out all the pros and cons of different types of preparations.
What is the best way to prepare green onions?
Green onions are loved for their bright color, piquant bitterness, pronounced aroma and tenderness of the feathers. When harvesting for the winter, some of these properties are lost. It tastes a little different. Some people like it, others prefer to eat it fresh.
If this is your first time harvesting green onions, we recommend trying several methods at once. This way you can decide which type of seasoning you like best.
- Dried. Has a subtle onion aroma. There is practically no bitterness. Very reminiscent of the sour cream and herbs seasoning for chips. Color – light green and yellow. Somewhat harsh. Ideal for preparing first courses.
- Frozen. Freezing dulls the bitterness somewhat and makes the onions less crispy. But most of its properties are preserved: benefits, taste, smell, color. Can be used in any dishes.
- Saline. The color, smell and taste of green onions are fully preserved. However, due to the large amount of salt, there is a risk of over-salting the dishes.
- Marinated. Additional ingredients change the taste of the onion. Depending on the set of spices, the seasoning acquires new notes. Best suited for use in salads. It can also be added to potatoes, fish, and meat.
- Sour. Fermentation enhances the taste of green onions and gives them sourness.
- Canned. Green onions are preserved pickled and pickled. Preservation allows you to store preparations outside the refrigerator and increases the shelf life of the product.
Only fresh green onions are suitable for harvesting for the winter: without dry ends or signs of wilting.
Pickled onions “Three colors”
Category: Snacks
Many people love pickled onions. What if it was also painted in different colors?
Onions Beets Turmeric Vinegar Salt Sugar Sunflower oil
Freeze for the winter
There are 2 ways to freeze spices. For soups, it is better to freeze green onions in water. An ice cube will not only fill the dish with flavor, but will also raise the foam, if suddenly you did not have time to remove it at the initial stage of cooking.
Recipes:
- In bulk. Wash the onion feathers, dry them on a paper towel and finely chop them. Place in a thin layer on a tray and freeze quickly. After 5-6 hours, pour the greens into a bag (you can do it in portions), and then place it in a plastic container with an airtight lid. Additional containers are needed to prevent the onion smell from spreading throughout the freezer.
- In ice cubes. Wash and finely chop the greens. Place in an ice cube tray. Fill each ramekin halfway. Pour in water (you can add salt or season it with spices if you wish). Place the form in the freezer. After 8 hours, pour the onion ice into an airtight container.
Quick freezing at -18 degrees allows you to preserve 70% of the beneficial properties of onions, and also increases their shelf life to 12 months.
Dried onions
Onions store well, you just need to keep them dry and not put them in plastic bags. There it quickly deteriorates: first it fogs up, and then it rots. It is better to put it in a wooden box and keep it open in a ventilated area. Of course, you will have to sort it out periodically.
In Ukrainian huts you can see onion wreaths hanging somewhere under the roof. This is good where there are no frosty winters - in Ukraine, Moldova and similar places. You can hang a bow braid in an apartment, on a closed balcony, for example.
Recently, the practice of preparing onions in dried form has emerged. This is an excellent seasoning, natural and rich. It is grown where you live, this is very important. Therefore, it makes sense to prepare dried onions yourself rather than buy them in a store.
Drying
Dried green onions are included in many seasonings and freeze-dried soups. Its taste and smell become especially soft when dried.
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There are 3 ways to prepare dried spices for the winter:
- In an electric dryer. Wash and cut the onion feathers into 2–3 cm strips. Place in the dryer in a thin layer. Set the temperature to 40–50 degrees and dry for 2–5 hours.
- In the oven. Wash and chop the greens. Dry. Turn the oven on to the lowest temperature (up to 100 degrees). Line the grill with paper. Pour in the chopped onions and spread in a thin layer. Dry with the door open for 1 hour, stirring the greens occasionally. Let it rest for 2 hours and repeat the procedure.
- On air. Chopped greens can be dried in the open air. Place it on paper in the shade. Cover with gauze to protect from debris, bugs and flies. After 2-3 days, the sun and air will do their job.
Dried green onions can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 years. Ground spices last less - about 1 year. Therefore, we recommend drying the onions in large strips and then chopping them as needed.
Terms and conditions of storage
At room temperature, onions remain fresh for 2-3 days . Washed greens spoil much faster. In the refrigerator, in the vegetable compartment, at a temperature of +1...+5°C, feathers are stored from 2 weeks to 1.5 months.
The salted product remains fresh in the refrigerator at +5...+10°C for 6 months, pickled, depending on the method of preparation - from 2 weeks to 6 months. The shelf life of sterilized greens is 1 year.
The workpiece is kept in the freezer for up to 12 months at -8...-20°C.
Dried onions are stored in glass jars at room temperature in a dark place for up to 2 years.
Salting
Onions prepared in this way will last in the refrigerator for 7 months, that is, all winter and even spring.
You only need a pack of salt (250 g), 1 kg of herbs and a sterile jar.
Recipe:
- Wash and dry the onion.
- Cut it the way you are used to eating it.
- Pack layers into a jar: 2 cm of greens, 0.5 cm of salt, etc.
- The last layer is salt 1–2 cm thick.
- Close the jar with a lid and place it in the refrigerator.
Pickled onions “Oriental colors”
Category: Snacks Vegetable snacks
Spring has come, so it's time to finish up winter supplies. And since it’s also cold season, I suggest eating onions. It turns out to be an incredibly tasty snack, especially loved by men; soy sauce adds unusual notes to this dish!!! In our family, such onions are eaten instantly.
Onions Beets Herbs Vinegar Soy sauce Vegetable oil Sugar
Kvasim
Like cabbage, you can ferment green onions. This way, its taste and beneficial properties will not only be preserved, but also increased thanks to the work of lactic acid bacteria.
Recipe:
- Wash and sort the onion feathers.
- Cut them into 2-3 cm pieces.
- Mix with salt (50 g per 1 kg of greens).
- Add peppercorns and bay leaves to taste.
- Pack tightly into the jar, add a little water so that the greens are completely covered.
- Put oppression.
- Leave the jar in the room for 1-3 weeks.
- When the taste reaches the desired sharpness, close the jar with a lid and transfer it to the refrigerator or cellar.
At +1–5 degrees, pickled onions can be stored for 2–3 months.
Storage options
Before storing green onions fresh in the refrigerator, you need to decide what they will be used for in the future. To prepare dishes 1 and 2, it is not necessary to keep the greens fresh, because in the future they will undergo heat treatment, but as a component of a fresh vegetable salad in winter, the onions should be as juicy and aromatic as possible. So how to store green onions?
Option for salads first
You can store greens in the refrigerator for a long time simply by using bags.
It is important to take cooled bags so that condensation does not collect on them and does not contribute to rapid spoilage of the product. To do this, the prepared bag must be placed in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes, then removed and filled with green onions. After this, the feathers are placed back in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator.
It is important to know that this method is only suitable for strong and healthy feathers without damage.
After this, the feathers are placed back in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator.
It is important to know that this method is only suitable for strong and healthy feathers without damage.
In this form, they can be stored in the refrigerator for up to several months; the main thing is to promptly inspect the bag and remove parts of the onion that begin to deteriorate.
Option for salads second
To please your loved ones with a fragrant dish of fresh vegetables right in the middle of winter, you can store onions using vegetable oil, which in the future will immediately serve as a dressing for the dish. You can also use greens in oil as a component of other dishes within 3 days after preparation.
To do this, the feathers must be thoroughly washed and dried, then finely chopped and placed in a prepared container. It is best to use glass containers with tight lids for this type of storage. After filling the jar with green onions, add oil until it completely covers the greens. It is recommended to shake the product before use, and to add more flavor to the jar, you can similarly chop other greens to taste.
Option for preparing 1 and 2 dishes
Since when cooking soups or stewing meat with vegetables, the greens also undergo heat treatment and are saturated with the released vapors, there is no need to keep the onions fresh. For this purpose, feathers can easily be dried, and the final result of the dish will not differ in any way in taste or smell from that prepared with fresh product.
To do this, the feathers must be washed, dried and cut into pieces of 5-7 cm, then laid out in one layer on a surface prepared for drying. You can use an oven, an electric dryer for drying, or simply take the greens out into the sun. In the latter case, it will take at least 2 days until the product is completely cooked, but there is a guarantee that the feathers will not burn, as can happen in the oven
When placing onions in the sun, it is important to cover them with gauze or a protective fly net.
Pickling
You can also preserve onions using regular salt. To do this, take 1 glass of salt per 1 kg of prepared feathers and mix everything. The mixture is placed in glass containers, covered with a lid and stored in the refrigerator. You can use this onion after 2 weeks
It is important when preparing dishes from a salted product to remember that salt will be added along with the onion, so you need to salt such food much less
Freezing
Modern freezers allow you to keep almost all products fresh for a long time. Storing green onions in this way begins with washing, drying and finely chopping. Next, the greens are laid out on a flat surface in 1 layer and placed in the freezer for several hours. This will allow the sliced product not to stick together in the bag during long-term storage. Frozen onions should be transferred from the board to a bag or tray and placed back in the low-temperature compartment of the refrigerator. It is best to use such a product for cooking dishes with heat treatment, since during defrosting, fresh feathers will lose their shape and taste, and their juice will simply drain.
Let's marinate
Pickled onions can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-4 weeks. For long-term storage it should be preserved.
Recipes:
- Classical. Wash and chop 1 kg of onion greens. Fill with brine (120 g salt and 1 liter of water). Leave for 2 days. Take 150 g of dill and parsley, wash, put in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain the brine from the onions. Mix salted onions with dill and parsley. Pour in the marinade (200 ml of water, 800 ml of 6% vinegar, 2 g of dill seeds, 4 peppercorns, 3 cloves of garlic, sugar and salt to taste).
- With honey. Prepare a marinade from 200 ml vinegar, 500 ml water, 3 tbsp. spoons of honey and a pinch of salt. You can add spices to taste. Chop the onion feathers and put them in jars. Pour in marinade.
- With wild garlic. Wash the wild garlic and soak for 2 hours in cold water. Wash the onion. For 1 kg of green mass you need to take 1.5 liters of water, 30 g of salt, 200 ml of vinegar or 20 g of sugar, boil everything and stir. Coarsely chop the greens and pour cold marinade over them.
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Pickling with herbs
Resourceful housewives have learned to preserve onions by salting them . To give this preparation a fresh aroma, additional ingredients are usually used in the form of parsley and dill umbrellas.
Products needed for cooking: onions (1 kg), table salt (120 g), fresh parsley (1 kg), water (1 l), dill umbrellas (2 pcs.), black peppercorns (to taste).
Then salting is carried out as follows:
Preserving
Canned green onions can be stored in the cellar or simply in a room in a cool and dark place. Jars and containers will not take up space in the refrigerator. The shelf life of such preparations is 1 year.
Recipes:
- Place the pickled green onions in an enamel bowl and bring to a boil. Add 3% saline solution if necessary. Boil for 3-5 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly. When hot, place in sterilized jars that have not yet cooled down. Roll it up.
- To preserve pickled green onions, during the marinade preparation stage, pour the greens into a saucepan and simmer over low heat for 2 minutes. Then pour the mixture into hot sterilized jars and roll up.
Green onion paste
A very tasty and unusual way to preserve green onions for the winter is to turn them into a savory paste.
You will need:
- 300 g green onions;
- 700 g young spinach;
- 25 ml vegetable oil;
- 1 lemon;
- 1.5 teaspoons salt.
Step-by-step preparation of onion-spinach paste:
- Soak the greens for 15 minutes in cold water. Rinse thoroughly.
- Remove all damaged and hard parts. Cut off the roots of young spinach and remove the stems of mature spinach. Cut off the white part of the onion.
- Pour oil into a thick-walled container (frying pan, frying pan). Place spinach in it and heat over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. It will shrink greatly in size.
- Add onion to the pan, add salt and simmer the greens for another 3-4 minutes.
- Squeeze the lemon.
- After 2 minutes, remove the pan and place the green mixture in a blender. Grind it to a puree.
- Fill sterilized jars with the paste and roll up, boil for 10 minutes, or store in the refrigerator.
How to choose the right jar
Before salting, the container is prepared in advance. Glass jars with a volume of 0.5 l or 1 l are suitable. They are washed with soda solution, doused with boiling water, and sterilized in the oven for 15 minutes. To heat treat small jars, use a microwave or double boiler.
Plastic containers are no less convenient devices; you just need to wash them, rinse them with boiling water and dry them.
Preparation of containers
Before preservation, all containers must be thoroughly washed with soda solution, dried and placed in a preheated oven. Thus, the containers are kept for about 20 minutes. You can also use a double boiler (for small jars) or a microwave. Already closed containers are pasteurized in a water bath.
