We Tried Shake Shack's White Truffle Menu And It Was Love At First Bite
Shake Shack likes to mix it up a few times a year with a limited-time burger or shake flavor, often in collaboration with another chef, restaurant, or specialty food provider. This month, the fast-casual chain unveiled a limited-run white truffle menu in collaboration with luxury food importer Regalis.
This isn't the first time Shake Shack has launched a limited edition truffle menu. Its first truffle menu hit restaurants back in December 2020 and featured a burger with black truffle sauce, Roth Cheese's Gruyère, and fried shallots. The menu also included a 'Shroom burger, a burger stacked with both a meat and 'Shroom patty, and a dipping sauce. Unfortunately, only diners in NYC and LA had the chance to taste the snazzy menu. But in October 2021, Shake Shack brought the black truffle menu back for a limited time, with a nationwide release that lasted nearly three months.
The latest truffle menu launch features white truffles instead of the black variety, which are even rarer and more expensive. Of course, we had to taste this upgraded truffle menu for ourselves. Here is everything you need to know about what's on the menu, where you can find it, and if it's worth the hype.
Parmesan fries with white truffle sauce
Shake Shack's first truffle menu back in 2020 featured a black truffle sauce that was only available on the side as a dipping sauce for the popular crinkle-cut fries. By its second launch, Shake Shack went all-in on its truffle fries offering, introducing Parmesan fries paired with truffle sauce. Instead of tossing the fries in truffle oil, a preparation most people associate with truffle fries, the organic white truffle oil finds its way into an aioli-like sauce meant for dipping. The crinkle-cut fries are tossed and topped with finely ground Parmesan cheese, elevating them from the traditional french fry offering.
Fans of Shake Shack's regular cheese fries might be curious to try the Parmesan fries with white truffle sauce. While Parmesan doesn't melt like the gooey nondescript orange cheese sauce we know and love, it still adds a touch of cheesiness and saltiness to the fries. Additionally, the white truffle sauce doesn't congeal once it cools off as the regular cheese sauce does, so you can take your time and enjoy it. If you're feeling particularly brash, feel free to dump the truffle sauce on top of your fries and enjoy it like you would the regular cheese fries — fork optional.
The White Truffle Burger
The white truffle burger is built similarly to the black truffle burgers that came before it. It's topped with specialty cheese, crispy fried onions, and the exclusive white truffle sauce. But this time, Gruyère cheese has been swapped for Fontina, an Italian semi-soft cow's milk cheese known for its exceptional melting texture. It's fairly mild, ever so slightly sweet, and happens to pair beautifully with truffles. The crispy onions add an extra touch of sweetness, without any of the harsh astringent flavors of raw onions.
You can order the burger with a single or double patty. There's also the option to add avocado, bacon, and cherry peppers. The burger is served on the same toasted potato buns that standard Shake Shack burgers are served on, but you can order it on a gluten-free bun or in a lettuce wrap if you'd prefer.
As far as allergens go, Shake Shack isn't taking any risks. The ingredients list claims that the burger contains sesame, eggs, milk, soy, wheat, and gluten, as well as peanut, shellfish, and soy. While many of these allergens are not actual ingredients in the burger, the likelihood that there might be traces is enough to warrant listing them for diners who may be especially sensitive.
The White Truffle 'Shroom Burger
Shake Shack regularly offers the 'Shroom burger as a vegetarian option on its menu, although we'd venture to say that you don't have to be vegetarian to enjoy it. The 'Shroom patty is made with a portobello mushroom that's stuffed with a thick layer of muenster and cheddar cheese, breaded, and fried to make it warm and crispy and melt the cheese. Cheese lovers will likely be just as into this sandwich as vegetarians because frankly, it's more cheese than mushroom.
A mushroom burger seems like the obvious choice for a truffle glow-up, and Shake Shack didn't miss the opportunity to capitalize on the connection. The white truffle 'Shroom burger keeps it simple with a 'Shroom patty and white truffle sauce on a bed of shredded lettuce, sandwiched in Shake Shack's classic toasted potato bun. On the regular menu, Shake Shack offers the Shack Stack burger, made with a 'Shroom patty and a beef patty. While both of those burger options are offered separately on the white truffle menu, it doesn't include a white truffle Shack Stack. That might be disappointing to anyone looking to have it all at once, although we're sure you could find a way to order both burgers and put them together for a similar effect. Avocado and cherry peppers are offered as additional toppings, as well as bacon if you want to add some meat.
How expensive is the white truffle menu?
With the addition of premium ingredients, it's expected that the white truffle menu comes at a premium price. On its blog, Shake Shack points out that white truffles are nearly four times more expensive than black truffles, and they are a component of the organic Arbequina olive oil used as the base for the sauce. Given their high price point, white truffles are typically only served in expensive fine dining establishments. Shake Shack plays with the notion of bringing luxurious flavors to customers, "reservations not required."
We were bracing ourselves for a $50 burger, or something equally outrageous, but in reality, the prices aren't nearly as high as we expected. We purchased everything on the white truffle menu at a midtown location in NYC, which listed the burgers priced at $9.99 each, and the fries at $5.59, before tax. The white truffle sauce was not offered as an add-on or side to be purchased separately.
For comparison, the regular Shack Burger at the same location costs $7.29, a mere difference of $2.70. Meanwhile, a regular 'Shroom burger costs $8.99, making for only a $1 difference. The cheese fries normally cost $4.99, which makes the 60-cent addition for the Parmesan and white truffle dipping sauce entirely reasonable. Prices will likely vary depending on location, but since NYC typically sees higher prices than other areas, it's reasonable to expect that the cost at your location will be similar or maybe even lower.
Where can you find the white truffle menu?
Luckily, Shake Shack has released the white truffle menu at restaurants nationwide, so your nearby location is likely serving it. From February 10th through the duration of the promotion, customers will be able to order the special menu in stores, through the Shake Shack website, and on the Shack app for pickup or delivery. An end date for the menu hasn't yet been announced, but the last truffle menu ran for about three months, so we're hoping this one will be around for at least that long.
We ordered the menu through the Shack app during the early access period on February 8th and 9th, and found this method to be far more convenient than ordering in the store. Many Shake Shack locations currently utilize tablets and electronic ordering, which consist of the same menus you'll find on the app. We were also able to set a time for a future pick-up, making it easy to go get the food at our convenience. The app even texts you when your food is ready, so you don't have to wait around for it with a gaggle of other hungry customers. Shake Shack isn't known for its organized waiting areas, so this is a step up as far as we're concerned.
What's the nutrition information?
We'd like to think that the more expensive the ingredients are, the healthier the food. Or is it that the more it costs, the more indulgent it should be? Either way, this is still Shake Shack, and these are still burgers, so we're not entirely surprised by the numbers we found. Our interest lies primarily in how the white truffle menu tastes and how much joy it'll bring, but we understand if you want to keep track of the nutritional value your truffle feast offers as well.
The white truffle burger with a single patty runs 680 calories, with 46 grams of fat, 32 grams of carbohydrates, and an impressive 33 grams of protein. The double-patty burger has 950 calories, 64 grams of fat, 33 grams of carbs (which seem to come primarily from the bun), and 57 grams of protein. The white truffle 'Shroom burger is a little lighter, coming in at 570 calories, with 33 grams of fat, 50 grams of carbs, and 19 grams of protein.
Those figures were roughly what we expected, but we were a little surprised by the stats for the Parmesan fries with white truffle sauce. The limited-time fries are 750 calories per portion, with 49 grams of fat, 67 grams of carbs, and only 12 grams of protein. We would have never guessed that the fries would have more calories than the burger, but now that we know, we might consider sharing next time.
Our verdict: A delightful upgrade to an already great burger
When you order truffle fries, you risk the truffle oil coming on so strong that it's all you can taste for the rest of the day. That's because most truffle oil is made with lab-engineered truffle flavor. But the organic white truffle Arbequina olive oil by Regalis is made with actual white truffles, which give it a subtler and earthier flavor than other truffle oils. That translates to burgers and fries with a beautifully balanced truffle taste that lets the other flavors shine through. After all, we already love the flavor of Shake Shack's burgers, and with the white truffle sauce, we can still taste it — and the truffles.
The Fontina cheese on the burger makes for a smooth pairing with the white truffle sauce, and the crunchy fried sweet onions were tasty enough that we wish there had been more. The white truffle 'Shroom burger is ultra-cheesy and not too 'shroomy or truffle-forward. The Parmesan fries served with the white truffle sauce are probably some of the subtler truffle fries we've tasted in a while, which we liked. However, they might be underwhelming to those who prefer a more intense truffle oil flavor. It's hard to improve on a regular Shake Shack burger, but the white truffle menu is a great treat, and probably one of the most economical ways to enjoy white truffles this season.