Difference between “Sweet” , “Yellow” ,“White” and “Chives”

onions

So I am working on this recipe here. I have previously used this meal service, but I loved it so much I am making it again. But I don't want to pay for all the ingredients again.

I have a small farm and have grown my own lemongrass just for this purpose. But, I have also grown my own "Sweet onions" as well.

They look similar to this, but are not done growing. They have a larger bulb though (And on the picture of the seed bag, it showed a much larger bulb).

So, can I use my garden onions or are these different? The tops of my onions are hollow (Not sure if that means anything).I heard that Yellow and Sweet are the same, but I thought they were not. I live in Texas, and I think it might be a kind cultivated in the area? Or not. I don't know.

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Also, what exactly is a chive. I am not sure. All these onion things are confusing me.

Best Answer

There's a great guide to onions that covers most of these and more over on Serious Eats (all of the quotes below are from this article). But, in relation to your question:

White onions are the standard onion you'll see. They are white.

White onions

Serious eats describes them as:

The white versions are somewhat sweeter and cleaner in flavor, but don't store quite as well as yellow onions do. [. . .] Milder in flavor than yellow onions, white onions can be eaten raw.

Yellow onions are apparently the most popular type of onion in the US. They are yellow but otherwise pretty similar in appearance to white onions.

Yellow Onions

Yellow onions are undoubtedly Americans' favorite: nearly 90 percent of onions grown in the US are yellow. Their deep but not-too-strong flavor makes them endlessly versatile in cooking. Larger, slightly sweeter yellow onions labeled Spanish onions are often found right next to plain old yellow onions; they're a milder choice that works well for raw applications.

Sweet onions are specialty onions... there are a bunch of varieties. In Texas, you're probably familiar with the "Texas 1015". Similar varieties are the Vidalia of Georgia and the Walla Walla of Washington.

Sweet Onion

These onions are yellow like a yellow onion but they are more saucer-shaped than round. They're very sweet and can be eaten raw pretty comfortably.

Super-sweet and crisp, ideal for eating raw.

Your "sweet onions" are probably what the Serious Eats description classifies as "young onions" they fit your description - visually similar to green onions/scallions (they are the same thing) but with a more bulbous base.

Young onions

Though spring onions resemble scallions in appearance and flavor, they're actually just very young storage onions—yellow, red and white—that are pulled out of the ground at an earlier date, when they're still thin-skinned and mild in flavor.

As to your question about chives, they resemble tiny scallions. They're sold in bunches but aren't really layered the way a scallion is.

Chive bunch and some chopped chives

They're generally sold in bunches and don't have white bulbs at all. They're generally just used as a topping, like on baked potatoes. They have a pretty mild onion flavor.

Here's a fun infographic from Buzzfeed about different types of onions:

Buzzfeed description of types of onions and how to use them

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