The Essential Guide To Cooking With Chives

Chives are a delicious, oniony addition to all kinds of recipes. They're used like a condiment, sprinkled on top of soups, casseroles, stir-fries, and potato dishes to give them a bit of color and flavor. Although they're super popular, many people aren't getting the most out of them by keeping them on hand. They can be easy to grow in a garden, as they thrive in pretty much any type of soil or pot.

Moreover, many people confine chives to possibly a baked potato but not much else, and that's if they're really making an effort. The truth is, though, they should be a staple in any home cook's kitchen.

If you're looking to expand your repertoire as a cook and get the most out of the flavor potential of every dish, then it's time you invested more in chives. Today, you'll learn what they are, what they taste like, how to use them, and the easiest ways to keep them on hand. Plus, they're beneficial for your health, so let that be some extra motivation right there. Grab your coffee and your cream cheese and chive bagel, and dig in.

Although they look more like a narrow, round-bladed grass, chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are actually a member of the Allium genus and amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). Other members include garlic, shallots, scallions, leeks, and onions, which explains their pungent, oniony flavor. There are many other types of alliums as well, though most of these we do not use as crop vegetables. Of course, there are other types of alliums around the world that may be less familiar to Americans, but chives are one of the most popular alliums in the American garden.

Chive grows in a clumping habit, and both the flowers and green stalks are edible. The leaves — which look more like blades than actual leaves — stem from the base of the plant where it emerges from the ground. Due to this clumping habit and the easygoing nature of chives, they are a common denizen of pots, both indoors and out. The leaves are good both fresh and dried, making chives a very common seasoning and garnish.

Chives are not a new addition to the human palate. While their point of origin is somewhat debated, chives appear to be native to parts of Asia and Europe. Although some believe they could be native to North America, they may simply have naturalized there a long time ago.

Either way, chives have been cultivated in China for four millennia. The Ancient Greeks also cultivated them, which is why they became widespread in Europe in medieval times. They were then brought to the Americas in the 1600s, where they were used for both culinary and medicinal reasons. Today, the former is much more likely to be why you will find them at the grocery store and in the home garden.

True to their allium heritage, chives taste like mild onions with a garlicky tinge. If you like other of these other flavors, then you will probably like chives as well. One of their best traits is how mild they are, so you can eat them raw in fairly large quantities without suffering any deleterious effects to the tongue and mouth. However, they can cause heartburn — people who are sensitive to alliums should be wary of chives.

The flowers are also full of flavor, though they have a milder taste. If you grow your own chives, make sure you don't overlook these as an addition to your cooking. Float them on soups, throw them in salads, and use them as a garnish to your heart's content. If you are shopping for chives at the farmers market, feel free to ask purveyors if you can get chives with flower heads on them. They usually bundle them only as leaves, but if you strike up a relationship, they may offer them with blooms intact.

Aside from common chives, which is the species you'll see in most gardens (hence the name), the three most frequently used include garlic chives (Allium tuberosum), Siberian garlic chives (Allium nutans), and giant Siberian chives (Allium schoenoprasum sibiricum). If it sounds like a lot of chives come from Siberia, well, they do. They grow there in meadows, and feature a large purple flower head and delightful oniony taste.

The giant variety can grow up to 20 inches tall, with flower heads that look more like starbursts than the little round puffballs that appear on common chives. Although they are bigger, they have the same mild onion flavor as regular chives. The other three varieties are a little bit harder to find. If you want a range of options, you will likely have to grow them yourself, either from seeds or starts.

Chives are at their most delicious when fresh. If you don't have a fresh source, you can buy them at the grocery store or source them online for same-day delivery. Look for them in the produce section, next to other fresh herbs such as parsley, cilantro, or thyme.

You can also buy dried chives. Freeze-dried chives are an easy way to keep their oniony flavor on hand all year round. As with fresh chives, these are available both online and at the grocery store. They are inexpensive and tasty, and perfect for sprinkling on baked potatoes or using in soup bases when fresh chives are out of season.

You can even dry them yourself by putting fresh chives into a dehydrator. Don't have one? You can also snip up chives and put them in the oven to dry out at a low temperature, with around 100 F being optimal. If you have an electric oven that doesn't go that low, simply turn it on and then off again. If you have a gas oven, you can use the same method. Use a thermometer to determine the temperature of your oven.

Many people are confused by the differences between chives and scallions (also known as green onions). It's an understandable error, given that both grow in an upright, clumping, grass-like fashion. However, the two are quite different.

Scallions are much thicker, with an almost onion-like white base that looks like a narrow above-ground bulb. Chives also have a white base, but not of any width, as they are considerably narrower. Moreover, the white does not appear until almost ground level on chives, whereas there is a considerable white area on scallions that slowly transitions through light green to dark up the stem.

Note that chives are also different than spring onions, which, as the name suggests, are harvested in the spring. They are merely small and immature versions of the bulb onions that you buy at the store. As such, they come in white, yellow, and red varieties.

When choosing herbs from the garden, farmers market, or store, select fresh and unblemished stems. Avoid anything that looks dried, wilted, yellowed, or slimy. Only pick or buy as many as you need, since chives (and fresh herbs in general) won't last that long once you bring them home.

When you first bring them (or other herbs) home or inside, wash them with cool running water. Avoid using any type of detergent, as this is likelier to make you sick than it is to remove harmful dirt or bacteria from the product you are washing. Shake them off well when done, or if you prefer, run them through the salad spinner. That will get them nice and dry, which is important if you want to store them or use them in a recipe where you don't want extra moisture.

If you're eating the blossoms, give them a decent wash with running water and then lay them out on a towel to dry until you're ready to use them. You can also dunk them in a bowl of clean water, which will help to dislodge bugs and dirt from the inside of the flower.

It's not that hard to slice chives correctly. Simply line them up on the board and cut off the bottoms of the stem, removing any white part, as well as any dried-out or browned tips. Chop them into small pieces for use as a base in cooked foods or for sprinkling over the top as a garnish.

Sharp knives are critical to ensure a clean cut and presentation. If you prefer to avoid knives, you can use a sharp pair of kitchen shears. 

There are a few ways to cut onion products without crying. While chives are milder and this is less of a concern, you may still find they irritate your eyes, so these strategies can be helpful. They include popping them in a freezer first, turning on a fan in your kitchen, cutting near an open flame, or cutting underwater. Some of these strategies may be more effort than they're worth, but give it a try.

Both fresh and dried chives are endlessly useful in the kitchen. Because they have a delicious yet mild onion flavor, they are ideal for many savory applications. Chives are a fantastic seasoning to add to salmon burgers, because they complement the fresh and sweet flavor of fish. They also do a great job dressing up potato skins to use for soup topping.

If you've never added chives to a savory pancake, then it's worth trying. They also make a great upgrade for mashed potatoes, chopped and stirred in along with butter and cream.

The only caveat is that if you're cooking chives, don't do so for long, as they quickly lose their flavor and green color when exposed to heat. Throw them in right at the end or go the garnish route.

You can grow chives both indoors and outdoors. Outdoors, they thrive in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 3-9, returning perennially in bright green clumps. In lower or higher zones, you can grow them as annuals. Don't have space in your garden? Use good potting soil and put them in a bright location indoors, like a sunny windowsill. You can divide chives by digging up the bunch, pulling it apart into smaller bunches, and replanting them.

If you're looking to grow chives yourself, then seeds are an easy way to begin. All you have to do is start them indoors in the springtime, then transplant them outside once the soil is warm enough. If you're going to start seeds indoors, then there are a few materials you will need. The first is seed trays, which allow you to plant chive seeds in small cells from which you can easily remove seedlings for transplant outdoors later. The second item you'll need is a grow light. Unless you have a super sunny window that will get plenty of light during the winter, you will likely want to supplement with artificial light sources while the seedlings develop.

As soon as you get them established that first year, they will come back over and over every year. You never have to go to the trouble of starting them indoors again, unlike other types of vegetables or annual herbs.

Gathering chives can be easy. Grab a bunch halfway down the plant and hold it firmly while you use sharp scissors to cut them off at the base. You can harvest chives any time after 30 days and can continue to collect them at any time during the growing season. If you want specific numbers, wait 30 days after you transplant seedlings outdoors, or if you sow them directly outside, wait 60 days. You can also use height as an indicator, harvesting once plants reach six inches tall.

Although some advice says that you should not harvest the whole plant at once because it might not grow back until the following year, we have found that to be an unnecessarily cautious approach. Thus far, no amount of brutality has deterred the chives in our home garden, so if you're not overly worried about it, you can harvest as many stalks as you like at once. Once flowers are finished blooming, cut them off at the base of the stalk.

If you grow chives in your garden and find that they are getting out of control, you can cut them back any time. Cut the outsides off and preserve the center as you would when pruning any other plant — this will help let in light and air.

Chives have many nutritional benefits, such as high levels of phytonutrients, or nutrients from plants. These can provide benefits for a range of health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. Like other alliums, they contain compounds that may help deter the growth of cancerous cells, primary among them being sulfur.

Chives are essentially a zero-calorie food, with a tablespoon of them chopped having only 0.9 calories. They contain a number of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin A, folate (a type of vitamin B), calcium, and potassium. Vitamin K especially is important for maintaining bone density. However, they do not contain large amounts of any of these, so make sure to get them and other alliums into your diet where you can.C

Chives also contain choline, which can help to regulate your mood, boost sleep, improve memory, and aid in muscle control. It may also help boost other nervous system and brain functions.

As it turns out, the flowers also contain nutritional benefits. They are a good source of vitamins C and E, and also contain significant levels of antioxidants. Since you really do eat with your eyes first, chive blossoms are a healthy and beautiful addition to all your dishes.

Ideally, you shouldn't harvest or buy more chives than you can use at once. If you must buy them at a certain time but aren't going to use them right away, you should put them in a jar with one inch of water and cover them loosely with a plastic bag. Afterward, put the jar in the refrigerator, where they may last up to a week. You can also freeze herbs in a plastic bag for three to six months. However, their texture will never be the same, so make sure to only use chives in cooked dishes if you do this.

Storing dried chives works best if you put them in a dark glass jar and keep them away from moisture, light, and heat. If you're going to harvest and dry your own herbs, make sure you put them in high-quality spice jars. Jars with loose-fitting lids will allow dried chives to oxidize and they will quickly lose their flavor.