What Are Shallots?

Published on

6.30.22

by

What are shallots? A way to make your recipes more exciting and more. Read here to learn how to incorporate them into tasty, easy-to-make recipes!

When you’re expanding your recipe bank, it helps to know more about the ingredients you’re working with. Let’s say you’re trying to diversify your kitchen and cook meals that are new to you and your household. If you’ve never used shallots while cooking, learning more about them may inspire you to give them a try.

Common Questions About Shallots

First, let’s answer some of the most-asked questions about shallots. If you don’t usually reach to add these to your shopping cart, you may be asking these questions already. After learning the basics about shallots, we’ll dive into stress-free recipes you can make that include tasty shallots in the ingredients.

What Is a Shallot?

Shallots are part of the Allium family of vegetables. This veggie grows underground in bunches, and many people love using shallots to add flavor to cooked meals. Many people love the hints of both onion and garlic and enjoy mincing, dicing, or slicing shallots to enjoy their mouth-watering taste.

How Are Shallots Different Than Onions?

Shallots are quite similar to onions because they both originate from the Allium family. More vegetables in this family are garlic, leeks, and chives. They grow in clusters, and you can eat them raw or cooked, just like onions.

The primary difference between these two veggies is the way they break down. Although they appear similar, shallots caramelize more quickly and produce a melting appearance and taste. This factor makes them a delicious component of many savory meals. 

Are Shallots Similar to Green Onions?

Perhaps you’re wondering if scallions and shallots have anything in common. Although they both have a savory, tangy flavor, shallots maintain the same flavor throughout their flesh. On the other hand, you’d use the white and green regions of green onions for different purposes, since they have slightly different flavors. 

What Do Shallots Taste Like?

Since they’re in a family of vegetables with onions and garlic, shallots are similar in taste. However, shallots tend to be slightly milder than typical onions. Still, you can use each in the place of the other. It all comes down to which option you like best!

What Does a Shallot Look Like?

If you’ve never seen a shallot before, you might confuse it for an onion. The reason for this is that shallots look like smaller, longer onions. They even have similar papery, purple-brown skin on the outer layer. However, when you break a shallot open or peel back the skin, you’ll notice that the inside is divided into cloves, much like garlic. 

The way shallots divide into cloves can be confusing. For example, if a recipe includes one shallot, does that mean you remove one clove section from its interior or use the entire shallot? A good rule of thumb is to calculate shallot measurements based on the whole piece. 

How To Make Meals Interesting With Ingredients Like Shallots

Do you typically cook with the same few ingredients every week? We think there’s nothing wrong with keeping things simple! Still, when you’re looking to add more variety to your meals, you can do so by trying a few different options and incorporating new ingredients like shallots. 

Let’s check out how you can make your breakfasts, lunches, and dinners more exciting!

Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

When you’re preparing a meal, how often do you add in ingredients that are new to you? Perhaps you prefer trying a dish first before you attempt to make it. Still, adding ingredients you don’t typically purchase to your shopping list is one way to expand your household’s meal rotations each week.

Use What You Have

If you’re like many people, you probably start with a recipe in mind and purchase your groceries accordingly. Have you ever tried doing it the other way around? 

For example, let’s say you were planning to make tacos with ground beef, cheese, taco shells, and tomatoes as the primary ingredients. If you find that you’re out of ground beef, you could add beans as a substitute for a tasty meal that doesn’t require a trip to the store. 

Using the ingredients you have in your pantry, fridge, garden, and freezer is one way to ensure you limit your food waste and create interesting new meals.

Try Foods From Other Cultures

There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you like. However, if you tend to stick to one type of cuisine, it wouldn’t hurt to give other dishes a try. 

For example, if you typically prepare Italian and American dishes, you can branch out by trying Greek or Asian recipes. Not only can this help you understand other cultures, but it’s also a tasty way to include more foods in your usual diet.

Follow Our Recipes

When you want to make meals more exciting without making them more complicated, we have a solution for you. At Jow, we’re happy to craft recipes that use manageable ingredients and straightforward steps. We’ll even do the grocery shopping for you so you can enjoy your meals to the fullest!

10 Easy Shallot Recipes You Can Try This Week

If you’re looking to try out shallots, we’ve compiled a few of our favorite recipes for you to look at. 

Roast Beef With Shallots 

This three-ingredient roast beef recipe is perfect for days when you don’t have much time to prepare dinner. Buttery roast beef with shallots on top makes for a simple dish you can enjoy any day of the week.

Steak With Broccoli and Shallot Gravy

Want to make your steaks more interesting? Follow these straightforward steps for a delicious steak complemented by savory shallot gravy. What’s even better is that you can prepare this dish in just over fifteen minutes!

Flank Steak and Green Beans

Want to sweep your dinner guests away with the perfect flank steak? This recipe includes mouth-watering shallots and takes less than thirty minutes to prepare. Why waste time on complicated recipes when you can get right back to playing games and having meaningful conversations?

Salisbury Steak and Mashed Potatoes

What’s better than a savory Salisbury steak with flavorful shallots and creamy mashed potatoes? Try this recipe for a meal that’s a win every time. 

Shrimp and Avocado Salad

When you need a quick bite to eat that’s flavorful and satisfying, this one does the trick! Tasty shallots and creamy avocados make a terrific pair.

Roasted Cod and Green Beans

Sometimes, getting out multiple pots, pans, and dishes can be an exhausting part of cooking. When you need an uncomplicated recipe that you can prepare in one pan, this one is a terrific fit. Cod and shallots with tasty green beans? Count us in.

Shrimp and Pea Risotto

What’s better than creamy risotto with shallots and shrimp? This recipe is one you’ll want to make again and again. 

Moroccan Beef Skewers With Couscous and Yogurt

Do you find yourself preparing the same meals repeatedly? When you want to get out of your comfort zone, this Moroccan-inspired recipe is a terrific option to try. In addition to being flavorful and exciting, this dish is also ready in ten minutes. What’s not to love? 

Butter Cod and Carrot Pureé

Maybe you want to add more color to your weekly menu! In that case, this butter cod and carrot purée contains mouth-watering shallots and red wine vinegar to excite your taste buds. 

6 Meatless Shallot Recipes for Your Menu

Not everyone loves eating meat with their weekly meals. If you follow a vegetarian diet or want to make your meals more affordable without meat, we’ve got a few options for you! Enjoy these shallot-y recipes that are totally meat-free.

  1. Citrus, Tomato, and Avocado Salad: This colorful salad couldn’t be more flavorful! Enjoy fruits and veggies complemented by minced shallots in this recipe. You can make it in ten minutes and be back to enjoying your day. 
  2. Creamy Zucchini Soup: Not every soup is the same. When you want to try a dairy-free soup that’s rich and creamy with intriguing flavors, this recipe is for you. The sautéed chopped shallots will melt into the other ingredients to create a yummy, nutritious soup. 
  3. Tomato Risotto: Who said you need meat to enjoy risotto? You can cook up this flavorful dish in under thirty minutes. 
  4. Asparagus Risotto: If tomato isn’t your favorite flavor, you can still enjoy risotto a slightly different way! This dish includes shallots and is a terrific dish to try if you find yourself wanting to expand your cooking skills beyond buttered rice alone. 
  5. Hazelnut Parsnip Soup: When it’s cold outside, there’s nothing better than a tasty soup to warm you up. (That, or a cozy fireplace.) This dish will change everything you thought you knew about soups for the better!

Shallot Alternatives You Can Use In Your Dishes

Have you ever run out of an ingredient you needed for a dish? Perhaps you thought you were completely ready to prepare a meal for friends, only to find out you were missing one crucial element to the dish. You might find yourself scrambling to get to the store to purchase your missing ingredient, making your cooking experience more stressful in the process. 

Let’s say you need to cook a recipe that calls for shallots, but you don’t have any in your possession. You don’t have to run to the store just yet! Here are a few alternatives you can try when you run out of shallots:

Pro tip: When you want a substitute for shallots, the closest flavor match is yellow onions. The other options will work fine, but yellow onions and shallots have the most similar taste.

How We Can Help Make Cooking Fun

Do you typically enjoy cooking? Maybe you like the process of creating a meal for loved ones to share, but you despise making grocery lists, taking trips to gather ingredients, and following complicated recipes. 

At Jow, we want to make cooking easier for you. Here’s how we do it:

  1. We take care of the grocery planning. All you have to let us know is how many people are in your household, what appliances you’re working with in the kitchen, and whether you have any food allergies. From there, we’ll suggest recipes for your household, and you can let us know which ones look tasty. We’ll add everything you need to a cart at a grocery store nearby.
  2. You receive your groceries. The way you get your groceries is up to you. You can select store pickup and retrieve them from your local store, or we can have them delivered to you. Either way, you can avoid searching the aisles for ingredients and waiting in long checkout lines.
  3. You follow our easy, quick recipes. After you receive your groceries, you’ll have everything you need to make the meals you selected earlier in the week. All that’s left to do is enjoy the simple preparation and tasty dishes you create!