Chives are the grassy, mild member of the onion family, grown for their hollow green leaves. The name comes from the French cive, from the Latin cepa, which means onion. The species, Allium schoenoprasum, is native to Europe, Asia and North America, which makes it the only Allium native to both the Old and New Worlds.
Chives are used by the pinch, so the nutrition is small. A tablespoon of chopped leaves (3 g) has 0.9 calories, 6.4 µg of vitamin K (5% of the daily value) and 1.74 mg of vitamin C (2%). It also carries flavonoids, with 0.2 mg of isorhamnetin and 0.3 mg of kaempferol in that tablespoon in the USDA data used on this site, and chives are one of only 12 foods in our database with measured isorhamnetin. The pale purple flowers are edible too.
The research is thin. We found no human trial that fed people chives, and the human evidence below comes from surveys of allium vegetables as a group, where chives were one of several. Garlic chives, also called Chinese chives (Allium tuberosum), are a different plant, and any card that uses them says so. Every other card is a lab or animal study.
Health benefits of chives
The top findings from 10 studies, strongest evidence first
What the stars mean
- Strong. Several randomized trials, pooled in a meta-analysis, point the same way, or regulators (FDA or EFSA) have approved the claim.
- Moderate. Good randomized trials support it, but there are fewer of them, or their results vary.
- Limited. Small, short or single trials, or mixed results. Promising, but it needs confirmation.
Population and lab studies get no stars: they show a link or a mechanism, not proof.
How we rate evidence →- Population studyLinked to lower odds of stomach cancerPeople who ate the most allium vegetables (onions, garlic, chives and similar) had about half the odds of stomach cancer (odds ratio 0.54). The study gave no result for chives alone.
- Population studyLinked to lower odds of prostate cancerMen in Shanghai who ate the most allium vegetables, chives among them, had about half the odds of prostate cancer (odds ratio 0.51). Scallions and garlic showed the biggest drops, and chives were not reported alone.
- Population studyChinese chives linked to lower stomach cancer oddsEating Chinese chives, a different plant from chives, at least weekly went with less than half the odds of stomach cancer (0.40) in China. There was no clear link with esophageal cancer.
All 10 studies, strongest evidence first
Eating the most allium vegetables, a group that includes chives, went with about half the odds of stomach cancer (odds ratio 0.54)
Meta-analysis of 19 case-control and 2 cohort studies with 543,220 people. The group was onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, chives and similar vegetables, and the abstract gives no result for chives alone. A separate analysis of Chinese chive, which is garlic chives and a different plant, gave a similar result. Each 20 g a day went with an odds ratio of 0.91, and the authors warn that confounding and misreported diets could explain part of the link.
Men in Shanghai who ate the most allium vegetables, chives among them, had about half the odds of prostate cancer (odds ratio 0.51)
Case-control study of 238 men with prostate cancer and 471 men without. The allium group was garlic, scallions, onions, chives and leeks, and the abstract reports no result for chives alone. The top group ate more than 10 g a day against under 2.2 g, and scallions (0.30) and garlic (0.47) showed the biggest drops. Case-control studies rely on what people remember eating.
In a high-risk area of China, eating Chinese chives at least once a week went with less than half the odds of stomach cancer (0.40), but no clear link with esophageal cancer
Case-referent study of 153 people with stomach cancer, 81 with esophageal cancer and 234 referents. Chinese chives are garlic chives, a different plant from the chives on this page. Against eating them less than once a month, the esophageal odds ratio was 0.57 and not statistically significant (0.23 to 1.42). Garlic, onion and Welsh onion showed larger drops.
In test-tube assays, chives had the highest antioxidant activity of six common alliums, while garlic and shallot were the strongest at stopping platelets clumping
Lab comparison of six Allium species that included garlic, shallot, chives, leek and bunching onion. Antioxidant activity tracked phenolic content closely (R=0.91). It was the first test of antiplatelet activity in chives and shallot. No people were tested, and a test-tube antioxidant score does not show an effect in the body.
Extracts of chive bulb, leaf and stalk all showed antioxidant activity in the lab, and the leaves had the most
Lab study of the bulb, leaf and stalk of Allium schoenoprasum, measuring antioxidant enzymes, flavonoids, vitamin C, carotenoids and chlorophyll. The abstract gives no figures, and no animals or people were tested.
Fresh chives, parsley or a mix added to sardines before air frying lowered cholesterol oxidation products in most samples
Food-science experiment, not a human trial. Herbs were mixed into the fish at 0%, 2% and 4%. Air frying raised oxidized cholesterol products from 61.2 to 283 µg/g in fish without herbs, and a 4% mix of both herbs protected best. The abstract does not separate chives from parsley.
A chive extract at 10 µg/mL did not protect yeast cells from hydrogen peroxide, while the other herb extracts did, and parsley scored higher as an antioxidant
Lab study of parsley, chives and a mix of both. Parsley had the most phenolics (2.10 mg GAE/g) and the highest antioxidant scores. On grilled sardines, the herbs cut cholesterol oxidation products from 139.7 µg/g in the control, most at 4% parsley and 4% of the mix.
A chive extract made red blood cells from people with sickle cell anemia less flexible in a test tube, with no change in healthy cells
Blood from 5 people with sickle cell anemia and 6 healthy volunteers was incubated for 60 minutes with 80 µg/mL of an aqueous chive extract. The drop in flexibility was significant at both pressures tested. The authors note this does not model digestion and call for more study, so it is a caution, not a finding about eating chives.
A pure chive leaf extract gave the best inhibition of phagocytosis and oxidative stress in rats with induced inflammation
Lab and animal study. Rats with turpentine-oil inflammation were tested with leaf extracts at 25%, 50% and 100% strength, and the pure extract worked best. It tested an extract, not chives as eaten, and no people.
Mice given a chive leaf extract for 7 days after a brief block of brain blood flow had smaller brain damage and less memory loss
Mouse study with the extract at 200 and 400 mg/kg by mouth once a day, with no toxic effects in the acute test. The extract also reduced oxidative stress markers in the brain. A mouse stroke model is far from eating chives.
Who should be careful with chives
Most people can eat chives freely. Take a little care if one of these applies:
- Warfarin. Chives contain vitamin K, which can change how this blood thinner works. A tablespoon has only 6.4 µg, but a quarter cup (12 g) has about 26 µg, a fifth of the daily value, and a 2026 case report links a chronic high intake of Chinese chives (garlic chives) to warfarin resistance. Keep the amount steady from week to week and ask your clinic.
- Dogs and cats. The ASPCA lists chives as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, with vomiting, red blood cell damage and weakness among the signs. Keep them out of pet food and call a vet if a pet has eaten them.
- Irritable bowel syndrome. This one is mostly good news. Monash University lists chives among its low FODMAP herbs and suggests the green parts of chives or spring onions as a replacement for onion. Monash serving sizes are in its app, which we did not read.
How to choose, store and eat chives
- Fresh leaves: the form this page covers. University of Illinois Extension calls the flavor much milder than other onion-family herbs and says the leaves are best used fresh.
- Flowers: the blossoms are an edible garnish, and they are used in salads and blossom vinegars.
- Frozen or dried: chopped chives can be frozen for later use, while drying makes them discolor and absorb moisture quickly.
If you grow chives, cut the leaves about an inch above the soil and keep harvesting through the season so they do not turn tough. Monash’s cucumber salad recipe uses 25 g (½ cup) of fresh chives for four servings, a useful sense of how much a dish can hold. We found no official pesticide residue data for chives, so we leave that out.
Sources
- Dietary advice for patients taking warfarin. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
- Anticoagulant medicines: considerations. NHS.
- Zhang H, Liu H, Li M, et al. Chronic high intake of Chinese chives inducing warfarin resistance: implications for culturally informed anticoagulation management in East Asia. QJM. 2026.
- Chives. ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plants.
- Low FODMAP diet under the summer sun. Monash FODMAP blog. 2025.
- Cooking with onion and garlic: myths and facts. Monash FODMAP blog. 2015.
- Cucumber salad. Monash FODMAP recipe.
- Chives. University of Illinois Extension.
- Chives. Wikipedia.
History of chives
The name gives away the family. English took chive from French cive, from Latin cepa, onion. The species name joins Greek words for a rush and a leek, and in the Middle Ages the plant was called rush leek.
Chives grow wild across the northern hemisphere, and they have been cultivated in Europe since about the Middle Ages. Wild plants have their own oddities. Chives from the River Wye in Wales carry extra spare chromosomes, called B chromosomes, and crosses showed they were passed to offspring at an average rate of 0.4 per chromosome, below the 0.5 that chance alone would give.
Old uses were medicinal and magical. The Romans believed chives could soothe sunburn and sore throats, and Romani people used them in fortune-telling. Bunches of dried chives were hung in houses to ward off disease and evil, and in the 19th century Dutch farmers fed chives to cattle to change the taste of the milk.
In the kitchen, chives are one of the fines herbes of French cooking, with tarragon, chervil and parsley. They are a classic partner for herring at Swedish midsummer, and in Poland and Germany they are stirred into quark. In 1806 the Swedish writer Anders Jahan Retzius described them with pancakes, soups, fish and sandwiches. Their flowers feed bees, and the plant ranked among the top 10 for nectar in a UK pollinator survey.
Sources
- Chives. Wikipedia.
- Bougourd SM, Plowman AB. The inheritance of B chromosomes in Allium schoenoprasum L. Chromosome Res. 1996.
- Parvu AE, Parvu M, Vlase L, et al. Anti-inflammatory effects of Allium schoenoprasum L. leaves. J Physiol Pharmacol. 2014.
- Chives. University of Illinois Extension.
Frequently asked questions about chives
Are chives good for you?
They are a healthy way to add flavor, but they are eaten in tiny amounts. A tablespoon (3 g) has 0.9 calories, 6.4 µg of vitamin K and 1.74 mg of vitamin C. No trial has tested chives on people, and the best human evidence is surveys of allium vegetables as a group, such as men who ate the most having 0.51 times the odds of prostate cancer. That is a link, not proof, and it is not specific to chives.
How many calories are in chives?
Almost none: a tablespoon of chopped chives (3 g) has 0.9 calories. By weight they are 30 calories per 100 g, but nobody eats that much. A tablespoon also has 0.1 g of fiber and 0.1 g of protein, so chives season a dish without changing its calories.
Are chives high in vitamin K, and is that a problem with warfarin?
A tablespoon has 6.4 µg, which is 5% of the daily value, so a sprinkle is small. A quarter cup (12 g) has about 26 µg, a fifth of the daily value. If you take warfarin, keep your intake steady and tell your clinic about big changes, and note that a 2026 case report linked a high chronic intake of Chinese chives to warfarin resistance.
Are chives low FODMAP?
Yes, Monash University lists chives among its low FODMAP herbs. It also suggests the green parts of chives or spring onions as a replacement for onion, which many people with irritable bowel syndrome cannot tolerate. Check the Monash app for the current serving size, because we did not read it.
Are chives the same as green onions?
No. Chives are their own species, Allium schoenoprasum, with thin hollow leaves, while green onions are a different onion-family vegetable. Monash lists the green parts of either as a replacement for onion in low FODMAP cooking, and University of Illinois Extension describes chive flavor as much milder than other onion-family herbs.
Are garlic chives the same as chives?
No. Garlic chives, also called Chinese chives, are Allium tuberosum, a different plant. The stomach cancer survey by Gao and colleagues used Chinese chives, and Monash lists Asian chives as a low FODMAP herb of their own, so do not assume results for one apply to the other.
Can you eat chive flowers?
Yes. The flowers are an edible garnish and are used in salads and blossom vinegars. University of Illinois Extension lists them for harvest as an edible garnish. We found no safety study of the flowers, so treat them as you would the leaves.
Are chives toxic to dogs and cats?
Yes. The ASPCA lists chives as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, and names vomiting, red blood cell damage, blood in the urine and weakness as signs. If a pet may have eaten chives, call your vet or the ASPCA poison control line.