Missing an Ingredient? Here’s a Quick Guide to Ingredient Substitutions

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Alternative ingredients: cauliflower can replace potatoes

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Here is a list of potential substitutes for ingredients, so that you can satisfy your cravings without leaving the house and go shopping. Keep it in handy!

We’re sure the following scenario happened to you, too: you crave something good, sweet or salty, a main dish or a dessert, you search for the recipe, you gather all the necessary ingredients from your kitchen and then you realize… you’re missing one! Or a few more.

Well, don’t worry and don’t frown, we’ve got your back.

  • Replace baking powder with dry yeast, baking soda or egg whites foam. Half a teaspoon of baking soda replaces five grams of baking powder. Whip two or three egg whites and you get the equivalent of a baking powder bag.
  • Replace butter with vegetable fat. Or sunflower oil with butter. Also, olive oil can be replaced with butter or vegetable oil.
  • Sugar can be replaced with honey. It’s a healthier and natural alternative that will soothe your sweet cravings.
  • If you need eggs to bind a composition, you can use food starch instead. Half a teaspoon should do the trick.
  • For an extra flavor, instead of vanilla essence, you can use a lemon or an orange peel. 
  • Replace coriander with parsley and basil with bay leaves.
  • Are you thinking of a dessert made with raisins? Use plums or dates instead. 
  • Use semolina to coat a baking tray instead of walnuts or nuts. 
  • Substitute starch with flour. 
  • For muffins, pancakes or desserts that require eggs, if you don’t have any in your fridge, you can use 60 grams of banana puree or 75 grams of grated apples and you will get the same tasty results.
  • Agar, a jellying agent found in natural stores, can be used to replace the common gelatin.
  • Need cocoa for a dessert? Bitter chocolate is a perfect substitute for it.
  • Instead of yogurt, you can always use whipped milk, fresh cow cheese or skimmed cream.
  • Quinoa is a healthy and nutritious cereal. It can substitute rice or pasta just as easy.
  • Cauliflower can substitute potatoes.
  • You can replace croutons with walnuts. 
  • Instead of breadcrumbs, you can smash a few cornflakes.
  • Nutmeg can replace cinnamon.
  • Mascarpone cheese can be replaced with skimmed ricotta, Greek yogurt or skimmed cow cheese.
  • Cream of tartar can be substituted with a mix from 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and another 2 tablespoons of vinegar.
  • Run out of lemon juice? Use 1 tablespoon of white vinegar instead.
  • Need mayonnaise? Use 1 cup of sour cream mixed with 1 cup of yogurt.
  • If you don’t have any mustard in the house, you can always make your own recipe: mix 1 tablespoon of dried mustard + 1 tablespoon of water + 1 tablespoon of vinegar + 1 tablespoon of sugar. It’s really that simple!
  • If you fancy a chocolate, you can mix 3 tablespoons of cocoa plus 1 tablespoon of butter or regular margarine or vegetable oil, and then enjoy the familiar taste.
  • If you don’t have any fresh garlic at hand, you can always use 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder instead.
  • In vegetable juices, you can substitute carrots with cucumbers. One large cucumber will replace 5 medium carrots. If you want to make soup, you can replace carrots with squash, because they have a similar color and earthy taste, and it will not alter the soup’s taste. Parsnip, beets and zucchini are also great substitutes for carrots, depending on what you want to cook.
  • Leek is a great substitute for onion, if you want to make soups, for instance.

So, what do you think, will our list help you get through your cravings and satisfy your appetite? Tell us what other ingredient substitutes you are using in your daily life!

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