Shallot + Lemon grass
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 46 recipes, and they share 202 flavor molecules: the top 1% of all ingredient pairs.
Do shallot and lemon grass go together?
Yes. 46 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 202 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 1% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything shallot carries, lemon grass has too: 202 of shallot's 223 flavor molecules also occur in lemon grass. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and coumarin (sweet, hay).
What each one brings
shallot
The sulfurous side. Sulfurous notes make up 7% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 3% for lemon grass. It carries 21 molecules lemon grass doesn't have.
lemon grass
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 12% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 7% for shallot. It carries 42 molecules shallot doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Butternut squash: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with shallot, top 1% with lemon grass.
- Welsh onion: top 1% of pairs with shallot, top 1% with lemon grass.
- Lime: top 5% of pairs with shallot, top 1% with lemon grass.
- Chervil: top 1% of pairs with shallot, top 6% with lemon grass.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with shallot and lemon grass
Almost always mains: 3 of the 3 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Fairly well, for flavor. Each carries most of the other's flavor molecules (91% of shallot's and 83% of lemon grass's are shared). This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 202 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 21 only in shallot and the 42 only in lemon grass.
Shallot and lemon grass questions
Do shallot and lemon grass go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 46 recipes, and they share 202 flavor molecules: the top 1% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do shallot and lemon grass taste good together?
Almost everything shallot carries, lemon grass has too: 202 of shallot's 223 flavor molecules also occur in lemon grass. Among the shared key aromas are eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal) and coumarin (sweet, hay).
What goes with shallot and lemon grass?
Butternut squash is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with shallot and top 1% with lemon grass. Welsh onion and lime also fit both.
What can you make with shallot and lemon grass?
Almost always mains: 3 of the 3 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Aroma Blended Tom Yum Goong, Rawon Daging Sapi, Tom Yam Goong.
Can I use lemon grass instead of shallot?
Fairly well, for flavor. Each carries most of the other's flavor molecules (91% of shallot's and 83% of lemon grass's are shared). This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
Compare other ingredients
Ranks compare this pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. Molecule counts are what the studies and databases we aggregate have reported for each ingredient: a measure of coverage, not a full census. How we score pairs
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Shallot vs Lemon Grass. https://compkitchen.com/compare/shallot-vs-lemon-grass. Accessed 2026-11-05.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_shallot_vs_lemon_grass_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Shallot vs Lemon Grass},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/shallot-vs-lemon-grass},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-05}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.