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Ingredient Substitutions
Appears in
By Brigit Binns
Published 2012
Despite your best efforts to stock your kitchen and to shop for your weekly meals, you may start to make a recipe and realize that you are missing a crucial ingredient. Yogurt can stand in for sour cream, for example; lemon juice for vinegar; and dried herbs for fresh.
| FOOD | AMOUNT | SUBSTITUTION |
| Baking powder | 1 teaspoon | ½ teaspoon cream of tartar plus ¼ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) |
| Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) | 1 teaspoon | 4 teaspoons double-acting baking powder |
| Bread crumbs, dry | 1 cup | 1⅓ cups fresh bread crumbs |
| Butter, unsalted | 1 cup | 1 cup salted butter (decrease the salt in the recipe by ½ teaspoon) |
| Buttermilk | 1 cup | 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup |
| 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream | ||
| Cardamom, ground | 1 teaspoon | ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon plus ¼ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest |
| Cheese, mascarpone | 1 cup | ¾ cup cream cheese beaten with ¼ cup heavy (double) cream |
| Cheese, ricotta | 1 cup | 1 cup cottage cheese, puréed |
| Chocolate, bittersweet or semisweet (plain) | 1 oz | ½ oz unsweetened chocolate plus 1–1½ tablespoons granulated sugar |
| Chocolate, semisweet (plain) chips | 1 cup | 6 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped |
| Chocolate, unsweetened | 1 oz | 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or shortening |
| 1⅔ oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (reduce the sugar in the recipe by 4 tablespoons) | ||
| Cocoa, unsweetened | 3 tablespoons | 1 oz unsweetened chocolate (reduce the fat in the recipe by 1 tablespoon) |
| Cornstarch (cornflour) | 1 tablespoon | 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour |
| Corn syrup | light – 1 cup | 1 cup sugar plus ¼ cup water |
| dark – 1 cup | ¾ cup light corn syrup plus ¼ cup molasses or maple syrup | |
| Cream, half-and-half (half cream) | 1 cup | ½ cup partly skimmed milk plus ½ cup heavy (double) cream |
| ⅞ cup whole milk plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter | ||
| Cream of tartar | ¼ teaspoon | ⅛–¼ teaspoon white vinegar |
| Cream, sour | 1 cup | 1 cup plain yogurt |
| Crème fraîche | 1 cup | 1 cup sour cream |
| ½ cup sour cream plus ½ cup heavy (double) cream | ||
| Ginger, minced fresh | 2 teaspoons | 1½ teaspoons dried ginger plus ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice |
| Herbs, chopped fresh | 1 tablespoon | ¾–1 teaspoon dried herbs |
| Honey | 1 cup | ¾ cup light molasses, dark corn syrup, or maple syrup, plus ½ cup granulated sugar |
| Leeks, sliced | ½ cup | ½ cup sliced shallots or green (spring) onions |
| Lemongrass | 2 stalks, minced | Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon |
| Lemon juice, fresh | 2 tablespoons | 1½ tablespoons fresh lime juice |
| Lemon zest, grated | 2 teaspoons | 2 teaspoons orange or lime zest |
| Lime juice, fresh | 2 tablespoons | 2½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice |
| Lime zest, grated | 2 teaspoons | 2 teaspoons lemon or orange zest |
| Pure vanilla extract | 1 teaspoon | 1-inch piece vanilla bean, halved and scraped |
| Sugar, brown | 1 cup | 1 cup granulated sugar combined with 2 tablespoons molasses |
| Vinegar, white | ¼ cup | ⅓ cup lemon juice |
| ¼ cup apple cider vinegar or Champagne vinegar | ||
| Wine, red (for deglazing) | 1 cup | 1 cup beef broth or stock |
| Wine, white (for deglazing) | 1 cup | 1 cup chicken broth or stock |