You’ve bought some green onions but didn’t know that they won’t last as long as regular onions. How long do green onions last before they’ll go bad?
Do green onions go bad? Of course, they do, just like other foods and drinks. How can you tell if they’re going bad and how should you store them?
The possibilities with them are almost endless, you can make green onion pizza or use it in an egg salad, just to know you can use them quite easily.
In this article, we will cover all you need to know about green onions, their shelf life, how to store them, and their spoilage signs.
Enjoy the read!
What Are Green Onions
Green onions are vegetables and not fully grown onions. Because they don’t mature like regular onions, they are also called scallions. You can use both in the kitchen for similar appliances.
The bulb is younger and immature and the tops of the onion are still green and have white or green bulbs at the end of the green tops. The white parts have the most intense flavor.
They can be used as an alternative to regular onions, which can give off a distinctive smell and can make you cry while cutting them.
They are also called spring onions.
How Long Can Green Onions Last
As always, we will start with a quick table to make things easier:
Green Onion | Pantry | Refrigerator | Freezer |
---|---|---|---|
Whole (with plastic) | Less than 1 week (7 days) | Up to 2 weeks (14 days) | Up to 6 months |
Whole (with a moist paper towel and plastic bag) | Less than 1 week (7 days) | Up to 2 weeks or a bit longer | Up to 6 months |
Cut or sliced | / | Up to 4 days | Up to 6 months |
As you can see, green onions can last up to 2 weeks when refrigerated and wrapped in plastic. You can prolong this period by putting it in a moist paper towel and sealed in a plastic bag, but that’s not always a sure thing, that’s why we say to use it within 2 weeks. Cut green onions will last up to about 4 days.
They should be placed in the refrigerator for the longest shelf life.
How Long Do Uncut Green Onions Last Unrefrigerated
Green onions that are unrefrigerated will last for a few days and won’t last for a week. That’s we advise you to store it directly in the fridge to prolong its shelf life. It will lose its quality rapidly if you don’t do this.
How Long Do Uncut Green Onions Last
Uncut or whole green onions can last for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator when wrapped in plastic. You can increase this period by placing it in a moist paper towel and sealing it in a plastic bag.
This makes sense because when green onions are still whole, they’re better protected against external threats like heat change, air, moisture, bacteria transfer, sunlight, and so on. The best routine is to place the uncut green onions directly in your fridge, don’t store them in the pantry or someplace else as their shelf life is shorter than regular onions.
How Long Do Cut Green Onions Last
Cut green onions don’t last as long as their whole counterparts: up to 4 days when stored properly in the fridge. Don’t store them in the pantry, from the moment you cut onions, you have to store them in an airtight container in the fridge. It’s best to consume them in the first 2 days. This will depend on the way you’ve stored your onions and in what state you’ve bought them.
It’s important to store the cut, sliced onions in an airtight container to protect them better from external threats. Onions can suck up op other odors from foods and drinks you store in your fridge, make sure the container is sealed tight.
Always when you buy your green onions, place them directly in the fridge, you can’t do anything wrong by doing that. Make sure you consume them and don’t make the mistake that they will last as long as regular onions. Try to use them within the week if you can, you can use them in a lot of recipes.
Please note that the above periods are estimates and depend on what state the onions were in when you bought them and whether they were stored properly or not.
How To Store Green Onions
When it comes to storing green onions, things aren’t that hard really. You must be aware of external threats like heat, moisture, air, bacteria transfer, direct sunlight, and so on…
How To Store Green Onions Unrefrigerated
We simply don’t advise you to store your green onions unrefrigerated as they will spoil very fast and thus decrease their quality. Do this only if you’re fine with it that it won’t last for 2 weeks, but for a few days, meaning you’ll use them within this timeframe.
How To Store Green Onions Refrigerated
When it comes to storing your green onions in the fridge, things are not that hard. Your whole green onions can be stored in the built-in container. When possible, wrap them in plastic and place them in the back of your refrigerator. Why? Because it needs to retain moisture, if not, it will lose water, dry out and lose quality quickly.
You can prolong the shelf life of your green onions by wrapping them in a moist paper towel and placing them in a plastic bag. You can do this when you see that the onions you’ve bought aren’t in the best state as they should be. Try to use them within the week to be fine.
When it comes to cut or sliced green onions, you should store them in the refrigerator, in a sealed container so they’re safe from the strong odors from other foods and drinks in your fridge. Their own odor will remain trapped in the container and moisture from in the fridge won’t get into the container, so they won’t grow mold that fast.
If you have too many green onions to handle, you can always opt for freezing them.
Can You Freeze Green Onions
Yes, you can freeze your green onions, but should you?
You can freeze them for up to 6 months. Always try to manage your freezer inventory and stay with the period of 6 months. That’s enough time for you to deal with the inventory and replace everything with newer foods and drinks. By doing this, you’re getting your freezer to work and you’ll reduce possible risks to your health and well-being.
Freezing your green onions will prolong their shelf life, but also reduce the possibilities of what you can do with them.
Try to do the following when you’re about to freeze your green onions:
- Cut the onions into smaller pieces
- Divide them into single-serve portions
- Pack them in 1 or 2 plastic freezer bags (double-bagging them) or an airtight container
- Label the bags or containers with the correct date and time of freezing.
- Place into the freezer
When you’re about to use your frozen green onions, let them thaw and rest in the refrigerator.
We advise you to use the thawed onions as an ingredient in other dishes or recipes. You can also sprinkle them on top of your hot meal so they’ll thaw almost instantly, but it’s safer to use or cook them in other meals.
Always check for spoilage signs when consuming your green onions.
How Can You Tell If Your Green Onions Have Gone Bad
As we’ve said before in this article, we will talk first about how you can buy the best green onions at the market or store, so you can get the most out of them. It’s always to be equipped with the right knowledge from the start right?
What Green Onions Should You Buy At The Store
When buying green onions, you can make it yourself easier and enjoy this great veggie, for a bit longer by using the following tips:
- Look at the color: do you see some other colors?
- No softer spots, your onions should feel strong
- No bruises or cuts or anything like this. Of course, the bruise could be from falling down.
- Are they refrigerated or at least cooled? At room temperature, they will spoil faster and more likely have a shorter shelf life.
You can’t always expect to pick the best ones from each pack, just use your senses and do a quick check. This way, you can use them within the right timeframe. Always plan for what you’re going to do with them.
Use the following guidelines when checking your green onions for spoilage signs:
- Do the green onions have colored spots? This is a sign it has suffered some things and could already be bad. However small colored spots can also be caused by falling down. Are there a lot of them? Discard them. Be aware of mold!
- Look and touch the green onions. Do they feel soft? Are they dried out? Then the best is gone and the rest should be discarded.
- Do the green onions have a weird smell? If you smell something funny or unpleasant, discard them. A nice smell is an indication of freshness and quality.
- How is the taste? The last step is the taste. Go and apply the previous steps. Just be honest with yourself, when the green onion doesn’t taste like green onion, I’d discard it.
Always check in this order. Green onions that are somewhat ok to go with, go and use them in other dishes as an ingredient. Don’t use green onions raw when they aren’t that good anymore. We on GoodOrGoneBad say you shouldn’t use it when you still have your doubts after your quick check. You can buy some for fairly low prices some fresh green onions and go from there.
Enjoy your green onions!