Now that winter is rapidly becoming a distant memory, I’m enjoying the first of the local 2019 vegetables, spring (green) onions. They are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin B2, and thiamine. They also are a good source of copper, phosphorous, magnesium, chromium, and other minerals; so I was thrilled to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Fried Spring Onions.
The Fried Green Onions are served with bacon in a light gravy. They were easy to make and tasty.
Here is the original recipe:
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Fried Spring (Green) Onions
6 bunches spring onions (about 2 1/2 cups of green onions cut into 1-inch pieces)
3 slices bacon, diced
1 tablespoon flour
2 cups boiling water
Clean spring onions, then cut off roots and the top part of the onions. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Set aside.
Place the bacon in a skillet; then using medium heat fry bacon until browned while stirring occasionally. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside.
Place the onion pieces in the hot fat in the skillet and saute until tender while stirring occasionally (about 5-7 minutes). Push onion pieces to side of pan and stir in the flour. Slowly add the boiling water while stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, add bacon pieces. Gently stir to combine the bacon and onions. Remove from heat and serve immediately.
A Hundred Years Ago 
I’ve been buying bulb onions recently, and they’d do especially well in this recipe.
Yes, they’d work really well. The original recipe called for “fat green onions.” The onions which I purchased weren’t very “fat,” but they were the best I could find.
Yum that sounds delicious
It’s tasty.
I think I can smell it. The recipe looks delicious.
The Fried Spring Onions are yummy.
I’ve never even thought to cook/fry a green onion. I need to try this recipe, looks great.
I never had thought of it either until I saw this old recipe. It’s very tasty, I wonder why it apparently has gone out of fashion to serve cooked green onions.
Oooooh, we have a small (but big enough) section of our garden devoted to those onions. They are a family heirloom variety that have been handed down for at least 150 years. They keep coming back every year, better and better.
You are so fortunate. Your onion patch sounds absolutely wonderful.
I like the simplicity of this recipe and intend to make it. Meanwhile, fun to see a recipe from the 1919 farm cookbook.
The 1919 farm cookbook that I got this recipe from is my latest Ebay find. Many of the recipes in it (especially the ones for preserving foods) seem old-fashioned even by 1919 standards. According to the cookbook’s introduction, it is “plain, practical, thorough, and complete enough for all-around use and everyday reference in farm homes.
I use green onions often, but never served them as a side dish like you have here. I love the idea and will give it a try soon. đŸ™‚
I think that you’ll like this recipe. It worked really well as a side dish.
Will definitely give it a try soon. Thanks for sharing! đŸ™‚
This recipe sounds amazing.
People who lived a hundred years ago must have been so happy at this time of the year when their gardens began producing a little bit of fresh food.
I have a similar impression. In the days before modern transportation, people had a very limited diet by late winter, and really craved fresh produce.
This sounds so good! I wish I could still eat onions.
It’s delicious – though it sounds like this isn’t a recipe for you.
The reference to salt pork brought back a sweet memory as my mother and grandmother used chopped up pieces for seasoning as well as frying it like bacon. I loved it fried and think of it often; however, when I remember how unhealthy it has to be I just enjoy my memories of eating it so many years ago!
I’m glad the old recipe brought back some good memories. I think that salt pork was much more widely used a hundred-years-ago than what it is now. I see it listed in old recipes from time to time, but seldom see it called for in modern recipes.
I think you’ll find salt pork here in the south a little more than the north… salt hog jaw is wonderful in butter beans… now back to those wonderful looking onions! I love onions, never tried them this way, I’ve put them in chicken broth then spoon that over fried rice.
Your comment makes me want to search for some high-quality salt pork. It sounds really good. I think that the only kind of salt pork that I’ve ever seen is a very processed version made by a major company.
Sounds and looks like a tasty way to enjoy the new green onions.
I think that you’d like this recipe.
Nothing like fresh spring vegetables from the garden. I would not have thought of making a gravy with green onions. Looks delicious.
I agree – fresh spring vegetables from the garden are the best.
You have me at ‘bacon’ …
Bacon makes most everything better. đŸ™‚
This one looks interesting, one that I will try!
It’s yummy.