What is Vegetable Shortening?

Vegetable shortening is a semi-solid fat made from refined vegetable oils, most commonly palm oil, soybean oil, or cottonseed oil, which have been hydrogenated to create a firm, white fat that is solid at room temperature. Unlike butter or margarine, shortening contains no water or milk solids—making it 100% fat.

Shortening is primarily used in baking and deep-frying due to its unique ability to produce tender, flaky textures in pie crusts, cookies, pastries, and biscuits. It also offers exceptional stability under high heat, with a long shelf life and resistance to rancidity, which makes it ideal for high-turnover food production environments.

It is called "shortening" because it interferes with gluten formation in doughs, "shortening" the strands to create a crumbly or flaky texture.