Cooking Ingredients Substitutions

A Collection of Baking & Cooking Ingredient Substitutions

Cooking can sometimes feel like a science, especially when getting the correct measurements for your ingredients. Whether following a recipe from another country, trying to scale a dish for more guests, or switching between measurement systems, knowing how to convert ingredients accurately is essential. Ingredient conversions help bridge the gap between various units like cups, ounces, grams, and milliliters, making it easier to follow recipes no matter where they come from.

For home cooks and professionals alike, ingredient conversions ensure consistency in taste, texture, and presentation. For example, flour measured by volume can vary greatly depending on how it’s scooped, whereas weighing it provides more precision. Likewise, converting liquids or adjusting ingredients for dietary preferences often requires a bit of math to get the ratios right.

This guide will cover common ingredient conversions, helping you easily switch between metric and imperial measurements and giving tips for converting tricky ingredients like flour, sugar, and butter.

Whether you’re using a recipe from abroad or want to perfect your measurements, understanding ingredient conversions will make your cooking more reliable and enjoyable. Say goodbye to guessing, and cook with confidence!

Ingredient Substitute Formula
Baking Powder Baking Soda & Cream of Tartar 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar for 1 teaspoon baking powder
Brown Sugar Sugar & Molasses
Chocolate - semisweet Unsweetened Chocolate & Sugar 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate + 4 tsp sugar
Chocolate - unsweetened Unsweetened Cocoa & Shortening 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa + 1 tbsp shortening
Cream of Tartar Lemon Juice & White Vinegar
Fats for Baking Applesauce or Fruit Puree
Mayonnaise Yogurt or Sour Cream
Oil Applesauce
Pastry Flour Cake Flour & All Purpose Flour
Pastry Flour All Purpose Flour & Cornstarch Combine 1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 cup flour
Cooking Ingredient Substitutes
Anise Fennel Seeds or Anise Extract
Bread Crumbs Crushed Crackers
Butter Vegetable Shortening
Buttermilk Lemon Juice & Milk
Buttermilk White Vinegar & Milk
Chicken Broth Bouillon Cube
Chili Paste Sriracha Chili Sauce
Cinnamon Nutmeg or Allspice equal amounts
Cream Cheese Cottage Cheese 1 cup pureed cottage cheese
Garlic Don't Know Any Ideas?
Ginger Allspice, Cinnamon, Mace, Nutmeg equal amounts
Crème Fraiche Heavy Cream & Plain Yogurt 1 cup heavy cream + 1 tbsp plain yogurt
Green Onion Onion, Leek or Shallot equal amounts
Half and Half Milk & Butter 1 tbsp butter + 7/8 cup milk
Heavy Cream Milk & Butter 3/4 cup milk + 1/3 cup butter
Heavy Cream Evaporated Milk & Butter 1 cup evaporated milk + 1/3 cup butter
Kale Spinach, Collard Greens equal amounts
Lemon Grass Lemon Zest 1 lemon = 2 stalks lemon grass
Mascarpone Cheese Cream Cheese & Whipping Cream 8 oz softened cream cheese + 1/4 cup whipping cream
Milk Dairy-Free Milk equal amounts
Molasses Dark Corn Syrup & Brown Sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar + 1 cup dark corn syrup yields 1 cup molasses
Onion Shallot, Leek, Green Onion equal amounts
Panko Bread Crumbs
Parmesan Cheese Grana Padano, Pecorino Romano
Pepitas Sunflower Seeds shells removed
Raisins Dried Currants or Dried Cranberries equal amounts
Saffron Turmeric equal amounts
Salami Pepperoni equal amounts
Shallot Onion, Leek, Green Onion equal amounts
Spinach Kale, Collard Greens equal amounts
Sour Cream Yogurt equal amounts
Soy Sauce Worcestershire Sauce & Water 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce + 1 tbsp water
Sugar Agave Nectar, Honey, Maple Syrup
Tomato Paste Tomato Puree 1 tbsp paste to 3 tbsp puree
Tomato Sauce Tomato Paste & Water equal parts tomato paste & water
Tomato Sauce Red Peppers and Eggplant Spread Zergut Mild Ajvar
Ricotta Cheese Dry Cottage Cheese equal amounts
Vinegar Lemon Juice both acidic

Why Substitute Ingredients?

The most obvious reason is the one above. You don’t have a particular ingredient, and you don’t feel like running out to the store to get it.

Another may be food allergies. You may be allergic to an ingredient in a recipe and need to find a suitable replacement. For example, if you are allergic to milk, you could try substituting coconut milk. Instead of peanuts, how about almonds or cashews?

Then their are dietary restrictions. I am trying to cut down on foods high in cholesterol after my heart surgery so I sometimes substitute egg whites for whole eggs in my morning omelets. Or I substitute fat free milk for whole milk or cream in my coffee.

Then there’s taste. Many of my favorite Italian recipes call for prosciutto or pancetta to enhance the dish’s flavor. Yes, it does taste better, but I don’t often have prosciutto or pancetta in my refrigerator, but I usually have some bacon.

So not only are there a lot of great food ingredient substitutions, there are also many reasons for trying them.

3 Responses

  1. 5 stars
    Hi, there is a Indian spiritual diet, called Satvik, the followers are not allowed to eat any onions, garlic, leeks or chives. Their recipes use asafoetida, also called hing, as substitutes for all those things. My sister has gerd and can’t eat them so I use it. It’s a very good swap. Thanks for the fantastic charts

  2. 5 stars
    Thank you so much for all your conversion charts!! These will be enormously helpful for a busy working mom & farmer. I never have enough time in the day to do everything, so your time spent researching is incredibly meaningful to me. Thank you again!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.