Want to take your salads, casseroles, and soups to a whole new level? Crispy fried shallots will give them crunch, onion flavor, and interest! All you need are three ingredients and a little time.
A few weeks back I was working a green bean salad (coming soon!) and thought that it needed a little something. Something to give it some crunch and some interest. I thought about using nuts since I love the fried almonds in my Green Bean Salad with Goat Cheese and Almonds, but I also wanted something different.
I had some shallots on hand, so I thought ‘why not fry them up and see how it goes?’ Famous last words! 🙂
When dinner was ready, I sprinkled a few over the salad and served it to my husband. Guess what? He couldn’t stop talking about them. He loved them on the salad, wanted them on cauliflower soup (coming soonish!) and insisted that they get their own post.
He is my chief taster, so there was nothing for it but to make another batch so the fried shallots could get their glamour shot and I could write up what is probably the easiest, simplest recipe I have posted yet.
I mean seriously. I’m not a person who specializes in 2 or 3 ingredient recipes, but sometimes that’s all you need. Here, we have sliced shallots + olive oil + some kosher salt at the end. Done.
Okay, there is a certain amount of keeping an eye on the shallots as they cook so you don’t burn them. So don’t wander off. But it’s not like you have to stand there and stir them either.
And, as a bonus, you get the shallot oil! Dip bread into it, drizzle it over meats, whisk it into salad dressings. I wasn’t even thinking about the shallot oil the first time I fried up some crispy shallots, but I always hold onto frying oil until it’s cool and this time it just smelled so good I had to try it. Usually I pour my fry oil into a container so I can toss it, but this oil is worth keeping on hand.
And just look at all that crispy golden goodness! One warning though, you may end up smelling like fried shallots after you make them, so wash up and maybe change your shirt if you are going out. 🙂 Says the woman who went to pick up her husband at the train station right after making a big batch and made the car smell like shallots. Luckily it’s still warm enough here to open the windows!
These fried shallots are…
easy…oil+shallots+heat+time
crispy…not crunchy but very definitely crisp
soooo good in salads and soups
so much better than the standard store brands
And you’ll create flavored shallot oil which you can use in all sorts of recipes. About the only down side is that you may smell like a fried shallot. But changing your shirt and washing up is a small price to pay.
– Happy Frying, Annemarie
How to Make Crispy Fried Shallots
Ingredients
- 2 large shallots, about 1 cup sliced
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Slice the shallots in half lengthwise and then cut them into 1/8 inch slices. (You will have a pile of half rings.)
- Combine the shallots with the oil in a medium saucepan and turn the burner to medium. Once they begin to bubble, about 5 minutes, reduce the heat to medium low. Fry the shallots, stirring occasionally for 18 minutes. Then watch them more carefully, stirring frequently, until they are golden brown, 2-3 minutes more.
- Scoop the shallots out of the oil into a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle them with kosher salt to taste.
- Let the oil cool, then you can discard it or save it for salads and sautes.
Notes
- If you are making my Italian Green Bean Salad, save the oil. You will use some of the oil in the dressing.
- Since I keep and use the oil, I prefer to use an extra virgin olive oil.
- The recipe can be doubled. However, I have found that the doubled recipe takes about twice the time when I keep the heat at medium low. Note that I'm not completely certain of the timing since I didn't note it down, but it definitely took a lot longer than this single recipe.
Andrewh says
The olive oil left these way to oily and overpowered by the heavy oil taste for my liking.
justalittlebitofbacon says
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy them! I like the olive oil but you might prefer a more neutral vegetable oil. As for them being too oily, I find that draining them well and controlling the oil temperature is very helpful.