Creative Ingredient Substitutions

Nothings more frustrating than starting to cook or bake and only later realizing you don’t have the correct (or enough) ingredients to finish what you’ve started.  Here are a few creative ingredient substitutions to try next time you’re in a pinch.

Replace 1 cup of mayonnaise with 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Replace 1 tsp of baking powder with  ½ tsp of backing soda plus ½ tsp of cream of tartar.  You can also use ¼ tsp of baking soda plus ½ cup of buttermilk – then decrease the liquid in the recipe by ½ cup.

Replace 1 tsp of allspice with  ½ tsp of cinnamon, ¼ tsp of ginger and ¼ tsp cloves.

Replace 1 cup of brown sugar with 1 cup of white sugar plus ¼ cup of molasses  (decrease the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup), or 1-1/4 cups of confectioners sugar.

Replace 1 cup of beer with 1 cup of chicken broth

Replace 1 cup of ketchup with 1 cup of tomato sauce plus 1 tsp of vinegar and 1 tbsp of sugar

 

Replace 1 cup of buttermilk with 1 cup of plain yogurt, or mix 1 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar with enough milk to make 1 cup.

 

Replace 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup with 1 can of condensed cream of celery, or cream of chicken or golden mushroom soup. 

 

Replace 1 cup of corn syrup with 1 cup of honey or 1-1/4 cups of white sugar plus 1/3 cup of water.

 

Mash 1/2 of a banana with 1/2 tsp of baking powder to replace 1 egg.

 

Replace 1 cup of evaporated milk with 1 cup of light cream.

 

Replace 1 tsp of hot pepper sauce with 3/4 tsp of cayenne pepper plus 1 tsp of vinegar.

 

Replace 1 tsp of lemon juice with 1/2 tsp of vinegar, 1 tsp of white wine or 1 tsp of lime juice.

 

Replace 1 cup of molasses with a mixture of 3/4 cup of brown sugar and 1 tsp of cream of tartar

 

Replace 1 cup of vegetable oil (in baking) with 1 cup of applesauce.