El cebollino va bien con el queso crema, pero yo prefiero la albahaca.

Because Spanish treats cebollino as a normal singular noun when talking about the herb in general, while English normally uses the plural chives.

So:

• El cebollino va bien con... = talking about chives as an ingredient in general
• English would naturally say Chives go well with...

Spanish can use the plural cebollinos, but that usually sounds more like individual plants or specific pieces, not the ingredient in a general sense.

Yes, it literally comes from ir = to go, but here it is part of the very common expression ir bien con, which means:

• to go well with
• to work well with
• to pair well with

So El cebollino va bien con el queso crema means that chives and cream cheese are a good combination.

It is not about physical movement. Spanish often uses ir in this kind of idiomatic way:

• Esta salsa va bien con el pescado.
• El rojo va bien con el negro.

In both food and clothing, ir bien con is very natural.

Spanish often uses the definite article when talking about things in a general sense, especially foods, ingredients, and categories.

So:

• el cebollino
• el queso crema
• la albahaca

all sound natural when referring to those ingredients generally.

English usually drops the article in this kind of sentence:

• Chives go well with cream cheese
• I prefer basil

But Spanish normally keeps it:

• El cebollino va bien con el queso crema
• Prefiero la albahaca

This is one of the most common differences between English and Spanish.

Yes. Spanish often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

So both of these are correct:

• Pero yo prefiero la albahaca.
• Pero prefiero la albahaca.

Including yo adds emphasis or contrast. Here it sounds like:

• Chives go well with cream cheese, but I prefer basil.

So yo is not necessary for grammar, but it helps stress the personal opinion.

Because preferir is a stem-changing verb. In the present tense, the e in the stem changes to ie in most forms.

So:

• yo prefiero
• tú prefieres
• él/ella prefiere
• nosotros preferimos
• vosotros preferís
• ellos/ellas prefieren

This is why the sentence has prefiero.

A lot of common Spanish verbs do this kind of change, for example:

• querer → quiero
• pensar → pienso
• entender → entiendo

Because nouns in Spanish have grammatical gender, and the article has to match the noun:

• el cebollino = masculine
• la albahaca = feminine

In this sentence, the articles agree with the nouns correctly.

The endings help here:

• cebollino ends in -o, which is often masculine
• albahaca ends in -a, which is often feminine

That pattern is common, but not perfect in every case. The safest habit is to learn new nouns together with their article:

• el cebollino
• la albahaca
• el queso crema

Yes, queso crema is natural and understandable in Spain for cream cheese.

But these expressions are not exactly the same:

• queso crema = cream cheese
• queso cremoso = creamy cheese, describing texture
• crema de queso = cheese cream, cheese sauce, or a creamy cheese preparation

In Spain, you may also hear:

• queso de untar = spreadable cheese

So in a food context, queso crema works well, but queso de untar is also very common in Spain.

Yes. Combina bien con is also correct and natural.

Compare them:

• va bien con = very everyday, simple, natural
• combina bien con = slightly more explicit, a bit more formal or descriptive
• queda bien con = also possible, especially for things that suit or match
• pega con = common in Spain, more colloquial

So these are all possible:

• El cebollino va bien con el queso crema.
• El cebollino combina bien con el queso crema.
• El cebollino pega con el queso crema.

The original sentence sounds very natural and conversational.

Because pero joins two clauses here:

• El cebollino va bien con el queso crema
• yo prefiero la albahaca

In Spanish, it is standard to put a comma before pero when it links two full clauses like this.

So the punctuation is normal:

• ..., pero yo prefiero...

It helps show the contrast clearly.

You can remove yo, but the articles are much harder to drop naturally.

These versions work:

• El cebollino va bien con el queso crema, pero prefiero la albahaca.
• El cebollino va bien con el queso crema, pero yo prefiero la albahaca.

Both are natural.

But dropping the articles would usually sound less natural in standard Spanish:

• Cebollino va bien con queso crema... → not the normal choice here
• Prefiero albahaca → also unnatural in this context

So the original sentence is a very good model of how Spanish normally talks about ingredients and preferences.