Food Substitutions

Every now and then I find myself in the middle of cooking and realize, I don’t have a specific ingredient. What to do? You could turn off the stove and burners and run out to the store, or reference the table below to see if you can find another item to use in its place.

Ingredient Desired	Substitution if you don’t have it
Arrowroot, 1 tsp	Cornstarch, ¾ tsp or 1.1/2 tsp flour
Bread Crumbs, 1 c	Cracker Crumbs ¾ to 1 c
Butter, 1c	Vegetable oil, scant less than 1 c
Buttermilk, 1c	Vinegar or lemon juice, 1 tbsp + warm milk to = 1 c, let stand for 5 minutes
Baking Powder, 1 tsp	Baking soda ¼ tsp + cream of tartar ½ tsp
Broth, 1 c	Bullion cube, 1 (pr 1 tsp granules) + 1 c hot water
Cake Flour, 1 c	All-purpose flour, 1 c – 1 tbsp
Chocolate, Semi-sweet, 1 c	Unsweetened coca, ½ c + 1/3 c sugar + 6 tbsp butter or margarine
Cornstarch, 1 tsp	Flour 2 tsp
Corn Syrup, light, 1 c	Granulated sugar, 1 1/4c + ¼ c water
Corn Syrup, dark, 1 c	Brown sugar, 1 ¼ c + 1 ¼ c water or ¾ c light corn syrup + ¼ cup molasses
Cream, half and half, 1 c	Butter, 1 ½ tbsp + enough whole milk to = 1 c or ½ c light cream + ½ c whole milk
Cream, sour 1 c	Yogurt, 1 c or 1 tbsp lemon juice + enough evaporated or plain milk to make 1 c
Flour, for thickening, 2 tbsp	Cornstarch 1 tbsp
Flour, All-Purpose, 1 c	Cake flour, 1 c + 1 tbsp
Flour, Cake 1 c	All-purpose flour, 1 c – 1 tbsp
Ginger root, grated, 1 tsp	Ginger, ¾ tsp, dry, ground
Herbs, fresh 1 tbsp	Herbs, dried, ½ – ¾ tsp
Honey, 1 c	Sugar 1 ¼ c + ¼ c water
Lemon Juice, 1 tbsp	Vinegar, ½ tbsp
Milk, Whole, 1 c	Skin milk, 1 c + 2 tbsp butter
Milk, sour (buttermilk), 1 c	Vinegar or lemon juice, 1 tbsp + warm milk to = 1 c, let stand for 5 minutes
Mustard, prepared, 1 tbsp	Mustard dry, 1 tsp
Molasses, 1 c	Honey, ½ c or 1 ¼ c brown sugar melted
Oil, cooking, vegetable, 1 c	Butter or margarine, ½ lb
Pine nuts, 1 tbsp	silvered almonds, 1 tbsp
Poultry seasoning, 1 tsp	Sage ½ tsp, thyme ¼ tsp, plus a pinch of marjoram, rosemary, nutmeg and pepper
Pumpkin Pie Spice, 1 tsp	Cinnamon, ½ tsp, ground ginger, ¼ tsp, plus a pinch of allspice and nutmeg
Sugar, light brown, 1 c	Granulated sugar, ½ c + ½ c dark brown sugar
Sugar, dark brown, 1 c	Granulated sugar, 1 c + 1 tbsp molasses or dark corn syrup
Sugar, granulated, 1 c	Confectioners’ sugar, 1 ¾ c or 1 c honey and 1 tsp baking soda
Tomato juice, 1 c	Tomato sauce, ½ c + ½ c water
Tomato paste, 2 tbsp	Tomato sauce, ¼ c reduced by heating to half
Vanilla bean, 1 bean	Pure vanilla Extract, 1 tsp
Vinegar, 1 tbsp	Lemon juice, 2 tbsp
Wine, 1 c	Apple juice/cider, or chicken or beef broth, 1 c
Yogurt, 1 c	Milk, 1 c + 1 tbsp lemon juice, let stand 5 min