The Ultimate Cooking Substitution Guide

In the last couple months we’ve learned a lot about adapting, especially in the kitchen. We know that you might not always have a specific ingredient for one of our virtual classes, so we’ve put together a substitution guide for just an occasion!

Dairy

Milk: Half-and-half or heavy cream thinned with water, evaporated milk, light coconut milk, light cream, oat milk, nut milk, soy milk.

Heavy Cream: For 1 cup heavy cream, use 3/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup melted butter, or thicken 1 cup milk with 1 to 2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour. (Whisk milk into cornstarch or flour little by little.) Coconut milk, coconut cream (beware of increased sweetness), or cream cheese whisked with a little water will also work. Note: Alternatives won’t whip into fluffy whipped cream.

Buttermilk: For 1 cup buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (or light vinegar, such as white, white wine or champagne) to a measuring cup and add enough milk to reach 1 cup. 

Alternately, thin one part yogurt, sour cream or other creamy dairy product with one part milk, or thin two parts yogurt or other creamy dairy product with one part water.

Butter: If using butter to conduct heat, as in pan-frying, use olive oil or other fats. For flavor substitutions, like butter in risotto or polenta, a number of creamy options like heavy cream or mascarpone will work.

Creamy Dairy Products: Tangy, textural ingredients like crema, crème fraîche, mascarpone, Neufchâtel, Quark, queso fresco, sour cream or yogurt of any variety can be used interchangeably.

Eggs: for each egg, substitute 1/4 cup of applesauce or pumpkin, 1/4 cup yogurt or sour cream, one flax egg (1 tablespoon of ground flax seed mixed together with 3 tablespoons water), one ripe banana

Cheeses

When substituting cheese, think about how you plan on using it. Will it melt evenly in a pasta sauce, or spread easily on toast? If cooking, swap in one with a similar texture, but if using it as an accent, there’s much more flexibility.

Fresh, unripened cheese (soft and wet): Cottage cheese, cream cheese, fromage blanc, ricotta

Soft-ripened cheese (creamy): Brie, Camembert, Pont l’Evêque, taleggio

Semi-firm or semi-soft cheeses: Cheddar, Colby, Edam, fontina, Gouda, Havarti, Jarlsberg, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, Muenster, pepper Jack, Port-Salut, Swiss

Hard aged cheeses: Asiago, Comté, Gruyère, Manchego, Parmesan, pecorino

Oils and Fats

Oils and fats all have a temperature at which they begin to burn, called a smoke point: Neutral oils with high smoke points won’t burn when exposed to high temperatures (as in deep-frying or pan-frying), whereas butter and other solid fats (with low smoke points) burn easily. 

High smoke point and neutral flavored oils: ghee, coconut oil, grapeseed, avocado, coconut oil, canola, vegetable. 

Medium spoke point and flavored oils: nut oils, sesame oil, sunflower oil 

Solid fats: bacon fat, butter, chicken fat, lard, margarine and vegetable shortening.

Stock

Though stock improves flavor, its primary purpose is to add liquid. If the recipe calls for a little stock, you can substitute water. If the recipe calls for a lot of stock, use water seasoned with one of these ingredients: juice (such as orange juice or apple juice), melted butter, milk (dairy, coconut, nut or soy milk), miso paste, mushroom stock (liquid from soaked dried mushrooms), olive oil, soy sauce or tea.

Greens

Most greens can be used interchangeably but keep in mind if the greens you are trying to substitute are tender or firm or mild and bitter in flavor. 

Mild & Tender Greens: Chard, lettuce, spinach

Mild and Firm Greens: Bok choy, cabbage, collard greens

Bitter and Tender: Arugula, endive, frisée, mizuna, radicchio, radish greens, watercress

Bitter and Firm: Escarole, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens

Vegetables

Substituting vegetables is generally very easy but it also depends on how long you plan to cook them, so we’ve broken down veggies into 3 categories: quick-cooking, slower-cooking and alliums (onions). If the recipe calls for a quick-cooking veggie, just find another veggie option in that category. 

Quick-Cooking: Asparagus, cabbage (bok choy, broccoli, broccolini, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale), celery, corn, eggplant, fennel, mushrooms, peas, peppers, summer squash, zucchini.

Slower-Cooking:Root vegetables (beet, carrot, celery root, parsnip, potato, sweet potato, turnip), winter squash (such as butternut squash, delicata, kabocha, pumpkin).

Alliums: Leeks, onions (red, white or yellow), scallions, shallots and spring onions are largely interchangeable. Substitute fresh garlic and onions with powdered, granulated or dehydrated as flakes, which are infinitely more potent, so use ½ tsp or so and adjust for taste. 

Herbs

Fresh herbs fall into two categories: tender, bright herbs (basil, chervil, chives, cilantro, dill, mint, parsley and tarragon), which are most flavorful when fresh, or woody, savory herbs (bay leaves, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage and thyme), which are better dried. 

Since dried herbs are more potent, substitute 1 teaspoon dried for 1 tablespoon chopped fresh. In general, you can swap one tender herb for another (or vice versa), but substituting a woody herb for a tender herb (or vice versa) works less well. 

Basil: cilantro, dill, italian seasoning, oregano, mint, parsley

Bay Leaves: herbes de provence, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme

Chives: scallions, cilantro, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley

Cilantro: Basil, chives, parsley, mint

Dill: Basil, mint, parsley

Oregano: bay leaves, herbes de Provence, Italian seasoning, rosemary, thyme, sage

Parsley: basil, chives, cilantro, dill, Italian seasoning, mint, tarragon

Rosemary: bay leaves, herbes de provence, oregano, thyme, sage

Sage: bay leaves, herbes de Provence, oregano, rosemary, thyme

Tarragon: parsley

Thyme: bay leaves, herbes de Provence, oregano, rosemary, sage

Spices

When swapping spices, think about what flavors will work in your dish. The Flavor Bible is a great introduction into flavor profiles. 

Most spices can be grouped into four flavor profiles: earthy, floral, peppery and warm. You’ll often be able to substitute a spice that hits the same notes by picking one with the same qualities. With spices we always encourage experimenting! Give your dish a little pinch, taste and adjust to your liking. 

Earthy: curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, Vadouvan, za’atar.

Floral: cardamom, coriander, fennel, lavender, nutmeg, saffron, star anise

Peppery: allspice, ground ginger, peppercorns, mustard powder, sumac

Warm: cinnamon, chile (dried), chili powder (blend), cloves, cumin, nutmeg, paprika

Allspice: combine cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, or use any one of the three

Cardamom: coriander, fennel, ginger, lavender

Cayenne: aleppo pepper, chili powder, dried chiles, hot sauce, paprika, red-pepper flakes, sumac

Chili Powder: combine paprika (sweet, hot or smoked), onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, oregano and cayenne or red-pepper flakes; or use another warm spice, such as cayenne, cloves, cumin, nutmeg or paprika (sweet, hot or smoked)

Cinnamon: allspice, apple pie spice blend, cloves, coriander, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice blend

Cloves: allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper

Coriander: cardamom, cinnamon, fennel, nutmeg, saffron, turmeric

Cumin: chili powder, coriander, curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric

Ginger: allspice, cinnamon, cloves, coriander

Nutmeg: allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ground ginger

Paprika: cayenne, chili powder, curry powder, black pepper

Turmeric: curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder, za’atar

Meat and Seafood

Beef: If swapping one cut of beef for another, try to substitute tough cuts (like chuck, brisket or round roast) for other tough cuts, and tender cuts (like strip steak, flank steak or filet mignon) for other quick-cooking cuts. You can also use lamb in place of beef in many recipes, though its flavor is more assertive.

Ground meat or fresh sausage:  Both can be used interchangeably. You can remove sausages from their casings, and cook them as ground meat, or flavor plain ground meat with red-pepper flakes, fennel seed, Italian herbs and other seasonings. You can also substitute ground meat of any kind, swapping in ground pork for ground beef in meatballs, or ground chicken for ground turkey 

But bear in mind the fat content of whatever you’re using: Ground pork is the fattier option; if cooking with ground beef, chicken, turkey or veal, you might want to add extra oil to provide extra fat.

Chicken: you can substitute whole boneless, skinless breasts for boneless, skinless chicken thighs: Just butterfly the breasts or pound them thinly to achieve a similar thickness of thighs. (You may also need to adjust cook time.) If substituting bone-in, skin-on thighs, increase the cook time. Ground turkey or turkey breasts also achieve similar results as their chicken counterparts. 

Seafood: Most fish fillets are either lean (bass, catfish, cod, flounder, halibut, monkfish, red snapper, skate, sole, tilapia) or fatty (char, mahi-mahi, salmon, swordfish, tuna). Substitute lean for lean, and fatty for fatty.

Don’t eat meat? Substitute meat for tofu or beans in almost any dish!

Grains

Rice: substitute with other grains like barley, quinoa, cauliflower rice, bulgar, brown rice, black rice

Condiments

Ketchup: For one cup of ketchup, substitute 1 cup tomato sauce plus 1 teaspoon vinegar plus 1 tablespoon sugar

Citrus juice: Substitute another citrus juice (grapefruit, lemon, lime, orange) or a neutral vinegar (apple cider, white vinegar, etc.)

Citrus zest: Substitute another zest (grapefruit, lemon, lime, orange) Soy Sauce: substitute worcestershire sauce mixed with 1 tablespoon water or use coconut aminos

Mustard: Mix together 1 tablespoon dried mustard, 1 teaspoon water, 1 teaspoon vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar

Baking Substitutions

Cornstarch: arrowroot powder, tapioca powder or flour. If using it to thicken a stew or something hot like jam (mix it with a little water first).

Baking Powder: For 1 teaspoon of baking powder, mix together: 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 cup buttermilk (decrease liquid in recipe by 1/2 cup) Baking Soda: For 1 teaspoon of baking soda, use 4 teaspoons baking powder NOTE: If the recipe calls for an acidic liquid such as sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk, vinegar, molasses, or citrus juice, you should replace it with the same amount of whole milk

Bread Crumbs: substitute same amount of cracker crumbs, matzo meal or ground oats

Brown Sugar: for 1 cup of packed brown sugar, substitute white sugar plus 1/4 cup molasses and decrease the liquid in recipe by 1/4 cup OR 1 cup white sugar OR 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

White Sugar: substitute honey, agave or maple syrup or powdered sugar

Chocolate (semisweet): For one ounces of chocolate, substitute a 1-ounce square of unsweetened chocolate plus 4 teaspoons sugar or 1 ounce semisweet chocolate chips plus 1 teaspoon butter

Chocolate (unsweetened): For one ounces of chocolate, substitute 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa plus 1 tablespoon butter or neutral oil

Cream of tartar: For 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, substitute 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar

Bread Flour: for 1 cup of bread flour, substitute 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 teaspoon wheat gluten (available at health food stores & some supermarkets)

Cake Flour: for 1 cup of cake flour, substitute 1 cup all-purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons Yeast: substitute baking powder and yogurt

Nuts: substitute with almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, sesame seeds, peanuts, depending on the recipe Raisins: Substitute currents, cranberries, prunes, dates