No matter how well-stocked your pantry is, you will eventually, inevitably begin to cook a dish before you realize that you’re missing one of the key ingredients. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to find a viable substitute.
Some of my favorite ingredient substitutions include:
- 1 cup yogurt instead of
- 1 cup of buttermilk
- 7/8 cup vegetable oil instead of 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons flour instead of 1 cup cake flour
- 1 cup plain yogurt instead of one cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon dried herbs instead of 1 tablespoon fresh herbs
- 1 cup butter instead of 1 cup shortening
- 1/4 cup cocoa instead of 1 (1-ounce) square unsweetened chocolate
However, recently, I found myself making a simple spaghetti sauce on a weeknight and realized after I had started sauteing the onions and had an open can of tomatoes staring at me, dripping red juice down the sides of the can that I was missing tomato paste.
The only thing left to do was find a substitute. Since I had nothing remotely akin to tomato paste in my cabinets I turned to Twitter for advice on how to compensate for the lack of thickening agent in my sauce. Kalyn told me to cook the sauce down until it was thick enough to spoon over pasta. I cooked the sauce about an hour longer than the original recipe called for and it turned out perfectly.
Simple Meat Sauce
(Adapted from The Perfect Pantry)
Makes enough sauce for 1-1/2 lbs of pasta or 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 28 oz. can of whole, peeled tomatoes
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 tsp ground oregano
1 cup water
Salt, black pepper and sugar, to taste
1. In a small stockpot over medium-low heat, brown the beef in olive oil. When the meat is thoroughly browned, add the onion and cook until the onion is translucent. Drain off the excess oil.
2. Add tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano and water. Simmer, uncovered, for one hour or until the sauce is thick and rich. Season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Serve over the pasta of your choice.
What are your favorite recipe tricks and ingredient substitutions?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting. What is the calorie difference between the oil and butter? That may be a good idea even if I have butter in the house.
Today I used 1 cup yogurt instead of sourcream in waffles. It worked perfectly!
I’m very often substituting various things for gluten. Another blog recently suggested using a portobello mushroom cap instead of a pizza crust…I love this idea!
I’m always substituting smoky things when a recipe calls for ham, bacon or pork. My favorite substitutes are barbecue sauce (in soups and stews), smoked paprika, urfa and aleppo peppers, and the adobo sauce that chipotles come packed in.