Shallot
Tested serving
- 2 medium (75g)
Shallot is High FODMAP at 2 medium (75g), driven by its concentrated Fructans.
- At 2 medium (75g) shallot is high, because like onion and garlic it is a potent source of Fructans.
- Shallots often hide in dressings, sauces, and stir-fries, so it's worth scanning ingredient lists where they can add up alongside other alliums.
For savory depth without the fructans, garlic-infused or shallot-infused oil captures the flavor while leaving the fructans behind.
Why shallot is rated high
Shallot is high FODMAP for the same reason as the rest of the onion family: fructans, and a concentrated amount of them. At 2 medium (75g) it is high, and there is no smaller low serve to fall back on. Shallots are small, which makes them easy to underestimate, and even the finely chopped shallot that starts a dressing or a pan sauce brings those fructans with it.
What changes your risk
- There is no low serve 2 medium (75g) is high, and there is no smaller portion of shallot that comes in low, so the answer is a swap rather than a smaller amount.
- Cooking, frying and pickling do not strip fructans Slow-cooked shallots, crispy fried shallots and shallots softened in butter all keep the fructans they started with. Heat does not break them down.
- Infused oil carries the flavour, not the fructans Fructans are water-soluble and will not dissolve into oil, so garlic-infused or onion-infused oil delivers that savoury base with none of the fructan, provided no solid pieces are left sitting in it.
- Raw in a dressing keeps everything in the bowl A vinaigrette or a salsa built on minced raw shallot holds the whole fructan load, since nothing has been poured away. Fructans are water-soluble, so a simmering pot moves some into the liquid, which makes the sauce the problem rather than the pieces.
- Hidden shallot and onion on labels Shallot turns up in dressings, marinades, stir-fry sauces, pan sauces and crispy fried toppings, and its relatives hide as onion powder, onion salt, stock cubes and spice blends. The ingredient list is the only reliable place to check.
- Stacking across a meal Shallot in the dressing, garlic in the marinade and wheat in the bread all share fructans, so a meal can stack a fructan load together even when each element looks small.
Swaps
Shallot usually shows up for one of two jobs, and each has an honest swap. Where it is the raw bite in a vinaigrette or a salsa, use finely sliced green tops of spring onions or chopped chives, sharpened with a squeeze of lemon or a splash of red wine vinegar. Where it is the soft savoury base of a pan sauce, start with garlic-infused oil and add the green leaves of leek, with a pinch of asafoetida for that deeper cooked-allium note. For the crispy fried shallot scattered over noodles or rice, toasted sesame seeds or crisp-fried green leek leaves fill the texture role. Do not switch to another allium bulb: onion of any colour, leek bulb and the white part of spring onion all carry the same fructans.
How to lower the load
Keep garlic-infused oil next to the stove and treat it as the starting point of any recipe whose first line is "finely chop a shallot". For dressings, build the flavour in the oil itself rather than steeping shallot pieces in it, since anything left in the liquid keeps its fructans. Wash and dry the green tops of spring onions when you buy them, slice them, and keep them in a jar in the fridge so the swap is already prepped when a recipe calls for shallot. Bought dressings, stir-fry sauces, French-style pan sauces and crispy topping jars are the usual hiding places, so check the label rather than the dish name, and if asafoetida is your deeper note, check it is not bulked out with wheat flour.
Common questions
is shallot low fodmap
No. Shallot is high FODMAP because of fructans, and 2 medium (75g) is high.
is shallot better than onion on a low fodmap diet
No. Shallot carries the same fructans as onion, and it is high at 2 medium (75g), so it is not a gentler substitute.
can i eat shallot on the elimination phase
Shallot is high FODMAP, so it is not part of the elimination phase. Reintroducing fructans later is something to work through with a dietitian.
what is a good shallot substitute for dressings
Chopped chives or the green tops of spring onions give the raw allium bite, and garlic-infused oil gives the savoury depth without the fructans.
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Where this rating comes from
Shallot is rated from published lab measurements of its FODMAP content, using the low, moderate and high cutoffs of Varney et al. (2017).
Feedback sent through the FODMAP Foods app has led to changes in this list.
Sources
- Fructan and free fructose content of common Australian vegetables and fruit. Muir et al. (2007), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55(16):6619-6627.
- Measurement of short-chain carbohydrates in common Australian vegetables and fruits by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Muir et al. (2009), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57(2):554-565.
- Quantification of fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides and other short-chain carbohydrates in processed grains and cereals. Biesiekierski et al. (2011), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 24(2):154-176.
- Dietary sorbitol and mannitol: food content and distinct absorption patterns between healthy individuals and patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Yao et al. (2014), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 27(Suppl 2):263-275.
- FODMAPs: food composition, defining cutoff values and international application. Varney et al. (2017), J. Gastroenterology and Hepatology 32(Suppl 1):53-61. Supplies the low, moderate and high cutoffs used on this page.
Informational only, not medical advice. Individual tolerance varies. Talk to a healthcare professional or a dietitian for personal guidance.