Swap It Like It's Hot: Substitutions
Missing an ingredient is not a moral failing, dear.
Picture it: you’re halfway through a recipe, flour on your nose, and the ingredient list demands buttermilk. You do not own buttermilk. Nobody owns buttermilk. Do not put your coat on. Do not abandon dinner. Nearly everything has an understudy already sitting in your kitchen, and Doris is about to introduce you.
One rule before we begin, sunshine: substitutions are for when you’re missing something, not for when you fancy improvising all six ingredients at once. One swap per recipe keeps you a genius; four swaps makes you a cautionary tale.
The Everyday Swaps
| The recipe wants | You use instead | How |
|---|---|---|
| Buttermilk | Milk + lemon juice (or white vinegar) | 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per 250 ml (1 cup) of milk; stir, wait 5–10 minutes until it looks slightly curdled. That’s correct, not broken. |
| Fresh garlic | Garlic granules or powder | About ¼ teaspoon of granules per clove. Add it with the liquids, not to hot dry oil — it burns fast and sulks. |
| Wine (in a savory recipe) | Stock + a splash of vinegar | Same amount of stock, plus about 1 teaspoon of wine or cider vinegar per 100 ml (½ cup) for the tang. Nobody at the table will know. |
| Self-raising flour | Plain (all-purpose) flour + baking powder | 2 teaspoons of baking powder per 150 g (1 cup) of plain flour. Whisk them together before anything else joins the party. |
| Fresh herbs | Dried herbs | Use one third the amount — 1 teaspoon dried for 1 tablespoon fresh — and add them early so they soften and mellow. |
| Fresh onion | Onion granules or powder | About 1 teaspoon per medium onion. You lose the texture, keep the flavor, and skip the crying. |
| Breadcrumbs | Crushed crackers, stale bread, or plain crisps | Bash them in a bag with a rolling pin or sturdy mug. Wonderfully therapeutic. |
| Butter (for frying) | Cooking oil | Swap like for like. Baking is fussier — melted butter and oil behave differently in cakes, so only swap there if the recipe says you may. |
| Sour cream or crème fraîche | Plain yogurt | Swap like for like in dollops and most sauces; add it off the heat so it doesn’t split into cottage-cheese confetti. |
| Tomato passata | Canned chopped tomatoes | Blitz them smooth, or just simmer a bit longer and squash the lumps with your wooden spoon. |
| Stock | Water + a stock cube | That is literally what stock cubes are for, treasure. One cube per 500 ml (2 cups) of hot water. |
| Caster (superfine) sugar | Granulated sugar | Fine for most home baking; it just takes a touch longer to cream into butter. |
| Lemon juice (a splash, savory) | Any pale vinegar | White wine or cider vinegar, same amount. You want the zing, not specifically the lemon. |
What NOT to Substitute
Now the stern bit, and I shall only say it once. Some swaps are not swaps — they are sabotage with a smile.
- Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) are not the same thing. Bicarb is roughly three to four times stronger and needs something acidic to work with. Swap them one-for-one and you’ll get a flat cake or one that tastes of soap and disappointment. If you must: 1 teaspoon of baking powder ≈ ¼ teaspoon of bicarb plus ½ teaspoon of an acid like cream of tartar — and honestly, dear, just buy the right tin.
- Salt types in baking. Table salt is fine and dense; flaky sea salt is fluffy and airy. A teaspoon of table salt carries nearly twice the salt of a teaspoon of flakes. In a pan of soup you can taste and adjust; in a cake batter you cannot, so measure the type the recipe names — or use half the amount and pray.
- Whipping anything that isn’t cream. Milk, single (light) cream, and yogurt will never whip into peaks, no matter how sternly you whisk. You need proper double or heavy whipping cream, at least about 35% fat.
- Margarine or “spreadable” tubs for butter in baking. They’re full of water and behave badly in pastry and biscuits. Fine on toast; treacherous in a tin.
Doris Says
A resourceful tart never lets one missing bottle stop the show, darling — she swaps with confidence and takes full credit. Just keep your hands off my baking soda.