Garlic and onion substitutions for seasonal cooking
If you’ve ever stood at the farmers market in early spring with a recipe in mind and realized it calls for a yellow onion, you’re not alone.
Most recipes assume the same ingredients are available year-round. Cooking with local food works a little differently. When you choose vegetables grown nearby, the season gets a say.
That can feel confusing at first, especially since onions and garlic are the base of so many meals. But you don’t need to skip them or abandon the market.
Alliums, the onion family, are flexible. While recipes usually call for a specific type, most alliums can be swapped once you understand what role they’re playing in a dish.
Learning to cook this way is part of eating with the seasons. Here’s how to make those swaps with confidence, starting in the spring and moving through the rest of the year.
The simple rule: think role, not name
When a recipe calls for an onion, it’s usually doing one of three things:
Building base flavor for cooking
Adding bite or sweetness when eaten raw
Bringing a mild onion flavor without overpowering the dish
Once you know which role your recipe needs, choosing a seasonal swap gets much easier.
For cooking bases
(Soups, sautés, stir fries, roasted dishes)
Recipe calls for yellow or red onion
Use instead:
White part of green onions
Sweet onions (milder and higher water content, but cook the same way)
Spring onions
Tip: The green tops of green onions do not hold up to long sautéing. Save them for garnishing or quick cooking at the end.
For fresh and raw use
(Salads, dressings, salsas, grain bowls)
Recipe calls for red or white onion
Use instead:
White and or green part of green onions
Garlic scapes
Spring onions
Sweet onions
Spring onions and sweet onions are especially good for fresh use and are often even better than storage onions in early season dishes.
For leeks
Recipe calls for leeks
Use instead:
White and or light green part of green onions
Spring onions
Garlic scapes
Chives
Chives and green onions need far less cooking time than leeks, so add them near the end.
Recipe calls for shallots
Use instead:
White part of green onions for cooking
White and green parts of green onions for raw use
Garlic scapes
Spring onions or sweet onions
Shallots are drier and more concentrated than most of these swaps, so spring onions and sweet onions may need a little extra cooking time.
For garlic
Recipe calls for garlic
Use instead:
Garlic scapes starting in June
Fresh garlic until cured garlic is available in late July
Garlic scapes are milder than garlic cloves, so plan to use more.
Fresh spring onions in June
What alliums you’ll actually see by season
Spring (May)
Green onions (also called scallions)
Yes, they are the same thing. The white part can handle cooking, while the green tops have a fresh, mild flavor that works well raw or lightly cooked.
Chives
Perennial, grassy members of the onion family. Chives are great in salads, egg dishes, and potato dishes. They’re usually used as a garnish but can be lightly cooked into dishes at the very end.
Early summer (June–July)
Spring onions
These are immature onions harvested fresh. They have a larger bulb than green onions, with greens that are similar but slightly stronger. Slice them thinner for fresh use or cook them lightly.
Garlic scapes
The flowering stem of garlic. When harvested young, they should snap easily, like asparagus. They can be minced and used anywhere you’d use garlic, just plan to use more since the flavor is milder.
Fresh garlic
Young, uncured garlic available for a short window in early summer. It’s slightly milder than cured garlic and should be stored in a container in the fridge and used within about a week.
Sweet onions
Sweet onions show up earlier than storage onions and have higher sugar and water content, which makes them mild and great for fresh eating. You’ll see them uncured in July and cured later in the summer. Use them sooner rather than later since they do not store as long.
Fall and winter (August–December)
Garlic
Cured garlic is available starting in late August. In Iowa, most garlic is hardneck, with fewer cloves and a firm stalk in the center. It’s easier to peel and well suited to long storage. If garlic sprouts, you can plant the cloves in your garden from late October until the ground freezes.
Onions
Classic yellow, red, and white storage onions. Yellow onions are best for cooking, while red and white onions are great for fresh use in salads, salsas, and dressings.
Leeks
Leeks have a fresh, mild onion flavor and are great for soups, pastas, and roasted dishes. They store well and are especially useful later in the season when greens are less abundant.
Shallots
Shallots have a more concentrated, slightly sweet onion flavor. They store extremely well under good conditions and can last well into winter or even the following spring.
A final note
Cooking with the seasons isn’t about following recipes perfectly or memorizing every vegetable at the market. It’s about noticing what shows up when, learning how ingredients behave, and letting the season guide your choices.
When you swap alliums based on what’s available, you’re not cutting corners. You’re cooking in a way that’s rooted in place and flexible enough for real life. Those small adjustments are what make farmers market shopping easier and meals feel more natural over time.
Most recipes are just starting points. Once you get comfortable making simple swaps like these, seasonal cooking starts to feel less complicated and more intuitive.
If you’d like help keeping what you bring home fresh or figuring out how to use it throughout the week, our free vegetable storage guide is a great place to start.
