Spring Onion (green part)

Why spring onion (green part) is rated low

The green tops of spring onions are low at about ¾ cup (75g). At larger portions they move to moderate and at much larger portions they are high, as excess fructose builds with a bigger helping. They are one of the most useful low foods on the whole diet, because they carry a gentle onion flavour without the part of the plant that causes the trouble. The green leaf and the pale bulb are effectively two different foods here. About ¾ cup (75g) is a great deal of sliced greens, far more than a scattering through a stir fry, a soup or a salad, so ordinary use sits well inside it, as long as the knife stays above the point where the green loosens into white.

What changes your risk

• Green, not white This is the lever that matters most. Cut where the leaf stops being green and starts being pale and tightly wrapped, and keep only the green. The white bulb is not a smaller version of the green top, it is the part you are avoiding, and tossing a couple of bulbs into the pan undoes the whole point.
• Infused oil for the base flavour The troublesome part of onion and garlic does not dissolve into oil, so garlic-infused or onion-infused oil carries the flavour without it. The catch is that no solid pieces may be left sitting in the oil, so strain them out or buy an oil with nothing floating in it, and use the oil as the flavour base with the greens added at the end. The white bulb is best kept for infusing oil rather than eating.
• Labels where the bulb is hiding Onion powder, garlic powder, onion salt, vegetable and chicken stock cubes, gravy granules, most spice blends, marinades and ready-made sauces are the same problem written in small type. A dish seasoned with spring onion greens and finished with a stock cube is not a low FODMAP dish.
• Serving size and the whole meal About ¾ cup (75g) is low, larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high. The greens are usually a background ingredient, so this is rarely the limiting factor, but a dish that uses them as the main vegetable can climb. The rating is per serving rather than per meal, so keep an eye on the total load of everything else on the plate.
• Dried and powdered onion products Drying removes water and concentrates what is left, and dried onion flakes or powder are made from the whole bulb, never from the greens. There is no dried equivalent of this food, so use the fresh leaf.

What else works

For the same fresh onion note, chives are the closest match and are excellent raw over eggs or potatoes, the green leaves of leek do the same job in a braise or soup, and a pinch of asafoetida in hot oil gives a surprisingly convincing savoury allium background. Garlic-infused oil is the workhorse for the base of almost any dish. What is genuinely not a swap, whatever a recipe or a label suggests: the white bulb of the spring onion, onion of any colour including shallot, the leek bulb, garlic itself, and any product built from them such as onion powder, onion salt, stock cubes and most seasoning blends. If a recipe insists on chopped onion as its foundation, replace the foundation with infused oil rather than looking for a gentler onion, because there is not one.

How to keep it low

Buy bunches with firm, bright green tops and no sliminess at the tips, and store them upright in a jar with a little water in the fridge, or wrapped loosely in a damp cloth. Cut the whole bunch at the colour change in one go, bag the greens for the week, and set the bulbs aside for infusing oil or throw them out, so a tired evening does not turn into a reflex chop of the wrong end. Sliced greens freeze well in a flat bag and go straight into a hot pan from frozen. Add them late, since they lose their bite with long cooking. Eating out, ask for spring onion garnish rather than sauteed onion, and ask what the stock is, because that is where the bulb usually turns up.

Common questions

is the green part of spring onion low fodmap

Yes. The green tops are low at about ¾ cup (75g), while the white bulb is a different matter. They move to moderate at larger portions and high at much larger portions.

how much spring onion greens can i use

About ¾ cup (75g) is the low serve, which is far more than a normal scattering through a dish. Larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high, so use them generously as a seasoning rather than as the bulk of a meal.

can i eat spring onion greens on the elimination phase

Yes, and they are one of the main reasons the elimination phase does not have to taste flat. Use the greens, keep the pale bulb out, and build the base flavour on garlic-infused oil.

what can i use instead of onion for flavour

Garlic-infused or onion-infused oil with no solid pieces left in it, plus spring onion greens, leek leaves, chives, or a pinch of asafoetida. Onion powder, onion salt and stock cubes are not substitutes, they are the same ingredient under a different name.