Cooking Ingredient Substitutions
We have all been there, you are half way into your recipe and you realize you don’t have one of the ingredients. The herb jar is empty, or if you or someone you cook for has dietary restriction. Food allergies can have you scrambling for a substitute ingredient too. Or if you are like me and everything has to be “unleaded” ( no sugar, no dairy, no caffeine, no honey, no alcohol and no migraine trigger foods.) I know it can be frustrating. Today I am sharing some of my favorite cooking ingredient substitutions. Just print out this list and keep it in your kitchen and use it as a reference whenever you need it.
Click HERE for the free printable or just copy and print from this post and size it as you like.
• Allspice for 1 tsp. use- ½ tsp. cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg
• Baking powder for 1 tsp. use 1/2 tsp cream of tartar plus 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• Basil use equal measure oregano or thyme
• Bread crumbs use equal measure cracker crumbs or corn flake crumbs
• Brown sugar for 1 cup use 1 cup white granulated sugar and ¼ tsp. molasses
• Cardamom use equal measure ginger
• Chives use equal measure green onion or leek
• Cilantro use equal measure parsley
• Cinnamon for 1 tsp. use 1/4 tsp. nutmeg or allspice
• Cornstarch (for thickening only) for 1 Tbsp. use 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• Corn syrup for 1 cup use 1 cup granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup water
• Dill equal measure tarragon
• Ginger use equal measure allspice, cinnamon or nutmeg
• Honey for 1 cup use 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup water
• Italian style bread crumbs please see my homemade Italian bread crumbs recipe HERE
• Lemon ( not for flavor) use equal measure lime or distilled vinegar
• Lime (not for flavor) use equal measure lemon or distilled vinegar
• Margarine use equal measure salted butter
• Mascarpone cheese use equal measure regular cream cheese
• Molasses use equal measure honey
• Nutmeg use equal measure cinnamon or ginger
• Olive oil use equal measure canola oil
• Oregano use equal measure basil
• Parsley use equal measure cilantro
• Rosemary use equal measure thyme or tarragon
• Sour cream use equal measure plain yogurt
• Taco seasoning please see my homemade recipe HERE
• Thyme use equal measure basil or oregano
• Vinegar use equal measure lemon juice
Of course it is always best to use the ingredient called for in the recipe . But, when you are in a pinch , or on a restricted diet these are my tried and true cooking substitutions.
What cooking substitutions do you often use?
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Great list. Pinned and tweeted. Please join us on Monday at 7 pm and party with us! It is so super fun to see what you have been working on! Lou Lou Girls
What a great resource! Thank you for sharing at Waiting on…Wednesday! Hope to see you back this week!
Holly
http://www.iwillservewhileiwait.blogspot.com
Just discovered your blog and I’m so glad I did.
This post is brilliant and very useful.
This is Great!!!! Thanks! I’m always needing this information in a pinch!
That’s a smart list. I know applesauce is often used as a substitute for something too, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it is… of course I’m headed over to Google to job my memory. Have a great rest of the week!! 🙂
Thanks Katherine. I can really use these. I am keeping these in my kitchen…that is when it is done.
Katherine, I can never find anything I need here in Hong Kong to make western food or if I want it I have to go very far away to get it and it is super expensive. Like for today for example, I wanted to make something my boys have been requesting which is mozzarella stuffed meatballs with a BBQ sauce. Can you believe cannot find BBQ sauce here even at the international park n shops… Ayahhhhhh, so making my own homemade which is just as well so I can confirm everything will be gluten free. Wishing you a super week and love your handy dandy exchange sheet will hang on the inside of my pantry cupboard.
Great tips, I too constantly am switching up ingredients. I frequently use parsley instead of cilantro too! Awesome post!
Thank you Cassandra, I have never been much of a cilantro fan so 99% of the time I use parsley ( wink) xo
This is a great idea I have a few of these that my Mom put in our kitchen and they are very helpful
Hope you are having a FAB week!
All is well here hope you are smiling too. See you at the hop xo
Wonderful list! Thanks for sharing, pinning!
thank you or pinning my friend xo
Good tips – I use most of them already.
Thank you Julie, I hope there was something new on the list for you to use. xo
I pinned as well as copied it to my personal recipe file on my computer! Thanks for such a great list! And here I thought “substitutions” was a stack of Ritz crackers substituted for a real dinner!!!
you make me smile! Big Hugs!
Pinned this – both on Pinterest and on my fridge! Thanks, Katherine!
Thank you Veronica, I love that you put it on your fridge! xo
Thanks Katherine, this is useful.. Sometimes it is not that I am out of something, but that I don’t like to buy a of of spices that I will only use once. Also, mascarpone cheese is not always easy to find. I never thought of using cream cheese!
Happy to share . Big Hugs!!
These are always nice to have. Thanks I pinned for later usage.
Thank you Sandra, big hugs!
Pinning this as seriously a great resource for if I do run out of a certain cooking ingredient being able to substitute something else here. Thanks Katie! 😉 xoxo
thank you sweet Janine. xo