Ever been in the kitchen, ready to whip up a dessert, side dish or casserole, only to find that you don’t have enough of an ingredient or are missing one or more of the ingredients? Thankfully, there are substitutions for numerous common ingredients, from allspice to tomato soup.
Although your final product might end up slightly differently than a recipe using all recommended ingredients, substitutions will still result in acceptable flavors, textures and appearances.
Here are 21 common ingredient substitutions:
| Ingredient | Amount | Substitution |
|---|---|---|
| Allspice | 1 tsp | ½ tsp cinnamon and ½ teaspoon ground cloves |
| Baking Powder, Double-Acting | 1 tsp | ¼ tsp baking soda and ⅝ tsp cream of tartar |
| Baking soda | Baking soda cannot be substituted with any other ingredient | |
| Butter | 1 cup | 1 cup regular margarine or 1 cup vegetable shortening (for baking); Use an equal amount of oil for melted butter in a baking recipe |
| Buttermilk | 1 cup | 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar added to milk to make 1 cup; let mixture stand for 5 minutes |
| Chocolate (unsweetened) | 1 oz. | 3 tbsp cocoa and 1 tbsp butter, margarine or vegetable oil |
| Cornstarch | 1 tbsp | 2 tbsp flour |
| Cream, whipping | 1 cup unwhipped | 2 cups already whipped product |
| Egg | 1 whole egg | ¼ cup egg substitute, or reconstituted powdered eggs, or 2 tbsp mayonnaise (for cake batter), or ½ tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp vinegar and 1 tbsp liquid (for baking) |
| Flour, all-purpose white | 1 cup | ½ cup whole wheat flour and ½ cup all-purpose flour |
| Flour, cake | 1 cup | 1 cup minus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour |
| Flour, self-rising | 1 cup | 1 cup minus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour plus 1 ½ tsp baking powder and ½ tsp salt |
| Herbs, fresh | 1 tbsp, finely cut | 1 tsp dried leaf herbs or ½ tsp ground dried herbs |
| Lemon zest | 1 tsp | ½ tsp lemon extract |
| Mayonnaise | 1 cup | 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup yogurt or 1 cup cottage cheese (pureed in blender); any of these ingredients can be used as part of the mayonnaise |
| Mustard, dry | 1 tsp | 1 tbsp prepared mustard |
| Pumpkin pie spice | 1 tsp | ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp ground allspice and ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg |
| Sugar, confectioners’ or powdered | 1 cup | 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 tbsp cornstarch; must be blended in a food processor until the consistency is powdery |
| Tomato juice | 1 cup | ½ cup tomato sauce and ½ cup water |
| Tomato soup | 10 ¾ oz. can | 1 cup tomato sauce and ¼ cup water |
| Red wine | Any amount | The equivalent amount of grape or cranberry juice |
| White wine | Any amount | The equivalent amount of apple or white grape juice |
Source: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension of Lancaster County
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