Top 12 Chive Recipes to Try this Spring
If you have chives, here are 12 13 chive recipes for you to try. Chives are one of my all time favourite herbs. I love being able to dash outside and snip a bunch to add to a recipe or simply to use as a garnish on top of a finished dish.
Also Read: How to Grow Chives, Top Garden Herbs to Grow
What do Chives Taste Like
Chives are tender green shoots with a very mild onion flavour. They’re milder than green onions and are a great subsitute if you don’t have green onions.
If you find onions too pungent but don’t mind green onions – you’ll LOVE chives. They add just the right amount of flavour without being too intense.
Favourite Chive Recipes
Use chives as a garnish or as an ingredient in a wide variety of dishes. Even if a recipe doesn’t call for them, go ahead and add them if you think a fresh, mild onion flavor would perk up a dish. We love them with salads, salad dressings, eggs, potatoes, pasta, soups, dips and spreads, perogies, roasted veggies, savoury baking and so on. Here’s just a sample of my favourite chive recipes.
Chive Biscuits with Blossoms and Greens
Cheddar Chive Rolls – Yeast Buns
Ricotta Herb Spread With Fresh Herbs
Favorite Veggie Dip with Chives, Dill and Parsley
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing on Fresh Salad Greens & Chives
Apple and Walnut Couscous Salad
Sour Cream and Chive Mashed Potatoes – Make Ahead
Preserving Chives
My favourite way to preserve chives is to chop and freeze them. The best time to harvest them for freezing is they blossom in the spring. Alternatively, you could freeze them in late fall, after they’ve had a chance to perk up again with cooler weather. I would not recommend harvesting them to freeze in the middle of summer. Chives are their best early in the spring before they flower or late fall, just before the snow flies.
To freeze, simply wash, pat dry and chop to desired size. For ease of use, flash freeze them spread out on a flat surface or in an ice cube tray. Once frozen, transfer them into a container so you can easily take out only what you need. Trust me, freezing them in one big clump is not great!
Chives dry nicely, but they lose their flavour very quickly. Unless you’re drying them for a dehydrated dish like these scalloped potatoes, I would not recommend drying them, you’ll be disappointed at the lack of flavour. You’d be much better off drying green onions, which become milder when dried – ie they taste like chives!
Which will of these chive recipes will you try first?! Let me know if you have a favourite and tell me how many ways you can think of to use chives. Leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram at #getgettys or Facebook @GettyStewart.HomeEconomist.
Sign up to get articles by Getty delivered to your inbox. You’ll get recipes, practical tips and great food information like this. Getty is a Professional Home Economist, speaker and writer putting good food on tables and agendas. She is the author of Manitoba’s best-selling Prairie Fruit Cookbook, Founder of Fruit Share, a mom and veggie gardener.
Thank you so much for the great tips and recipes! We have a lot of fresh chives in the herb garden, and I didn’t know they can be frozen. So glad the fresh chives won’t go to waste this year!
Best wishes,
Margot on Cape Cod
Hi Margot,
I’m glad you found some new ways to enjoy all your chives and to save some for the winter months. All the best, Getty
Love chive and rhubarb info. What about garlic chives? Thank you.
Garlic chives are just as easy to grow and maintain as regular chives. They have a flat blade instead of a round spear like chives. They have a very intense garlic flavour. I use them in place of garlic in cooked dishes. I add them later than I would chopped garlic. You’ll find a little info here:https://www.gettystewart.com/chives-a-classic-easy-to-grow-garden-herb/