Breakfast
Carrot and Spinach Frittata
25 minEasy
Chives
Vegetables · Alliums
TLDRLast updated 4 September 2026
A tablespoon of chopped chives, 10 g, is rated green on 0.03 g of fructans. The same tablespoon of chopped onion holds 0.4 g and is rated red. Chives are the allium you get to keep, and the tested amount is a generous scatter rather than a rationed pinch, which puts them among the few swaps you never have to do arithmetic for.
Last updated 4 September 2026Serving sizes for chives
One tablespoon chopped, about 10 g, is rated green, carrying 0.03 g of fructans.
1 tablespoonabout 10 g
Tested serving sizes
| Serving | Amount | Main FODMAP | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 tablespoon chopped | 10 g | Fructans 0.03 g |
Breakdown for 1 tablespoon
0gFructose
0gLactose
0.03gFructans
0gGOS
0gSorbitol
0gMannitol
1 tablespoonabout 10 g
Is chives low FODMAP?
Fructans are the group that puts most of the onion family out of reach, and where a plant keeps them settles the question. An onion is a swollen storage organ and fructans are what it stores; a chive is a hollow leaf snipped from a clump that never makes a bulb worth eating. The tablespoon comes to 0.03 g, under a third of the 0.1 g point at which fructans begin counting towards a rating. Nothing else registers at all: no excess fructose, no polyols, no GOS. The measured portion is also the portion a recipe asks for, which is rarer than it sounds.
Chives and IBS: what to know
Chives finish a dish; they do not underpin one. What goes missing during elimination is the sweet savoury base a fried onion used to lay down, and no quantity of chopped chive fills that hole, which is where people come unstuck: half a bunch goes in, the dish turns grassy, the portion stops being one anybody has measured, and the depth is still absent. One tablespoon is what the data covers. Labels are the other place to look, since chive-flavoured cream cheeses, dips and crisps are usually built on onion powder with a scatter of green for appearances.
Gut-friendly ways to eat chives
Add them away from the heat. Chives are thin and mostly water, so they wilt to nothing and give up their scent in a hot pan, and that is the practical split with spring onion greens: those tops have the body to go into a wok, while chives belong on the finished plate. Snip them over scrambled eggs, a baked potato, a potato salad or a bowl of soup. They also do better on a windowsill than almost any herb, being a perennial clump you cut from the outside with scissors, which beats watching a supermarket packet turn to slime.
Recipes with chives
Frequently asked questions
Can I eat chives on a low FODMAP diet?
Yes. A tablespoon of chopped chives is rated green, carrying 0.03 g of fructans, while the same measure of raw onion is rated red on more than ten times that. Chives, alongside the green tops of spring onion and the dark leaves of leek, are how allium flavour survives elimination at all.
What is the difference between chives and spring onion greens?
Different plant, different job. Chives are a separate species grown for slender leaves with a delicate, almost grassy onion note, and they are best raw. Spring onion greens are the tops of a bulbing plant, sturdier and sharper, and they hold up to cooking. Both hold green ratings at their tested tablespoons, so the choice is culinary.
Are dried chives the same as fresh?
Not by volume. Our figure describes a tablespoon of fresh chopped chives, and drying strips out the water, so the same spoonful of dried represents a good deal more plant material than the tested serve does. Use noticeably less, and read the jar, because dried herb blends sold as onion or chive seasoning often contain onion powder as well.
Can chives replace onion in cooking?
For the raw, sharp note, yes: chives over a soup, a taco or a potato salad do what a sprinkle of raw onion was doing. For the deep base under a stew or a curry they cannot, because that flavour comes from long-cooked bulb. Pair them with garlic-infused oil or a pinch of asafoetida when a recipe needs both notes.
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