A Quick Guide to Ingredient Substitutions
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Credit: Joe Lingeman
We’ve all faced ingredient conundrums and last-minute shortages in the kitchen. Oh no! Out of eggs! No heavy cream! Need a buttermilk substitute! Thankfully, there are a few tried-and-true substitutions you can turn to in a pinch. These can also be helpful if you’re trying to modify a recipe out of dietary necessity (shifting it to be dairy or gluten-free, for example). This guide will help get you started.
The Best Baking Substitutes
What to do if you need to replace eggs in a recipe:
What to do if you need to replace all-purpose flour in a recipe:
Can’t borrow a cup of sugar? Try these instead:
What to do if you run out of milk or don’t have heavy cream (and more):
Substitutes for Savory Cooking
- Substitute toasted bread crumbs for parmesan.
- Substitute yogurt for sour cream.
- Substitute yogurt or sour cream for crème fraîche.
- Substitute fish sauce for anchovies.
- Substitute jicama for water chestnuts.
- Substitute avocado for mayonnaise.
- Substitute spaghetti squash for pasta.
- On substituting tubed tomato paste for canned.
- On substitutes for
lemon and vinegar
- On substitutes for bananas in smoothies.
- On substitutes for espresso powder.
- A soy-free substitute for soy sauce.
- What to substitute for nuts in pesto.
Do you have any go-to ingredient substitutes you rely on for convenience (when you’re out of the called-for ingredient) or health issues (vegan, dairy- or- gluten-free)?
Related: Substitutions: A Handy Kitchen App for iPhones and iPads
(Image: Faith Durand)