Ingredient Substitutions: A Simple Cheat Sheet
You are halfway through a recipe and realize you are out of one thing. Before you stop and run to the store, there is a good chance you can swap it for something already in your kitchen. Here is a quick cheat sheet of substitutions that hold up.
Dairy
- Buttermilk (1 cup): 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar plus milk to make 1 cup. Let it sit 5 minutes.
- Heavy cream (1 cup): 3/4 cup milk plus 1/4 cup melted butter, for most cooking uses.
- Sour cream (1 cup): 1 cup plain Greek yogurt.
- Milk (1 cup): any unsweetened plant milk, one to one.
Baking
- 1 egg: 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, or 1 mashed banana, or 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed plus 3 tablespoons water (rested 5 minutes).
- Baking powder (1 tsp): 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar.
- Brown sugar (1 cup): 1 cup white sugar plus 1 tablespoon molasses.
- All-purpose flour, thickening: cornstarch, using half the amount.
Fats and oils
- Butter, for cooking: an equal amount of olive or neutral oil.
- Vegetable oil, in baking: melted butter or unsweetened applesauce.
Aromatics and pantry
- Fresh garlic (1 clove): 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder.
- Fresh herbs (1 tablespoon): 1 teaspoon dried.
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice: 1/2 tablespoon vinegar.
A faster way to find swaps
Keep this page handy, or let the recipe do it for you. Gratly shows common substitutions right on the recipe you are cooking, so you do not have to search mid-recipe. It is a free browser extension (Chrome, Edge, Brave) that also gives you a clean recipe view, cook mode, and serving scaling.
FAQ
Do substitutions change the result? Sometimes a little. Swaps work best for small amounts and for cooking more than delicate baking. Taste as you go.
What if I need to convert the whole recipe, like making it dairy-free? For a full conversion, Gratly's paid plans can rewrite a recipe for a diet like dairy-free or vegan. The basic substitution list above is free to use anytime.
Cook without the last-minute store run
Add Gratly to Chrome for free and get substitutions and a clean recipe on any site. Related: how to scale a recipe.
Cooking around an allergy rather than a shortage? Substitutions are a starting point, not a safety check. See how to read a recipe's ingredient list properly.