A substitution is not a matter of finding something that looks similar. It is a question about what the missing ingredient was doing in the dish: supplying acid, salt, fat, sweetness, umami, body, or aroma. Answer that question and most swaps are obvious, because several things on the shelf do the same job. Ignore it and the swap fails, which is why apple cider vinegar does not replace balsamic in a glaze even though both are vinegar, and why a spoon of fish sauce does replace anchovies in a puttanesca even though one is a liquid from Vietnam and the other is a fish from Cantabria. This chart is organized by job rather than by alphabet for that reason. The ratio is where to start; the reason is why it works; the notes are where it does not.
Acids
| Out of |
Use |
Ratio |
Why it works, and the catch |
| Sherry vinegar |
Red wine vinegar plus a pinch of sugar; or aged balsamic cut with white wine vinegar |
1:1 |
Sherry vinegar is nutty and mellow; red wine vinegar is sharper and needs the sugar. Balsamic alone is too sweet. |
| Balsamic (aged, for finishing) |
Saba or a reduction of cheap balsamic; a drop of sherry vinegar and honey |
1:1 |
The job is sweet-sour syrup. Saba is cooked must, the same base. Never substitute white or cider vinegar. |
| White wine vinegar |
Champagne vinegar, rice vinegar, or lemon juice |
1:1 |
All clean, light acids. Rice vinegar is a little sweeter; lemon adds aroma. |
| Red wine vinegar |
Sherry vinegar, or white wine vinegar with a splash of red wine |
1:1 |
The color barely matters; the tannic edge does. Sherry is the closest. |
| Rice vinegar |
White wine vinegar with a pinch of sugar |
1:1 |
Rice vinegar is milder and slightly sweet; the sugar closes the gap. |
| Lemon juice |
Lime juice, white wine vinegar, or yuzu juice |
1:1; yuzu at 2:3 |
Yuzu is more aromatic and slightly less sharp; use less. Vinegar loses the citrus aroma. |
| Verjuice |
Half lemon juice, half white grape juice; or diluted white wine vinegar |
1:1 |
Verjuice is gently tart and grapey; both mixes land nearby. |
| Preserved lemon |
Lemon zest plus flaky salt, mashed together |
1 tsp zest + 1/4 tsp salt per tbsp preserved rind |
Gets the salt-and-peel note; misses the fermented depth. Close enough in a tagine. |
| Capers |
Chopped green olives; or cornichons |
1:1 |
Briny and sharp. Olives are richer; cornichons more acidic. Neither has the mustard note. |
| Cornichons |
Capers, or any small sour pickle |
1:1 |
The job is crunch and acid beside fat. |
Salt and umami
| Out of |
Use |
Ratio |
Why it works, and the catch |
| Anchovies (in a sauce) |
Fish sauce; colatura; a spoon of mushroom garum; a teaspoon of miso |
1 fillet ≈ 1/2 tsp fish sauce or colatura |
All deliver glutamate and salt; the fish sauces are the truest match. Garum and miso are savory without the fish. |
| Fish sauce |
Colatura; soy sauce plus a mashed anchovy; garum |
1:1 |
Colatura is the Italian original of the same thing. Soy alone is flatter. |
| Soy sauce |
Tamari; garum diluted with a little water; fish sauce cut by half |
1:1; fish sauce 1:2 |
Tamari is the nearest. Fish sauce is saltier and fishier. |
| Parmigiano (grated, for finishing) |
Pecorino; aged Gouda; a spoon of garum for the savory note without cheese |
1:1 |
Pecorino is saltier and sharper; use a little less. Garum covers the umami, not the texture. |
| Bottarga |
Grated cured egg yolk; anchovy plus lemon zest |
1:1 |
Both get salt, richness and sea; neither is the same. |
| Flaky finishing salt |
Coarse sea salt, crushed; kosher salt |
1:1 by pinch, not by spoon |
The crunch is lost; the seasoning is not. See the salting guide for spoon conversions. |
| Dried mushrooms |
Mushroom garum or mushroom powder; a spoon of soy |
1 tbsp garum per 1/2 oz dried mushrooms |
You lose the texture and the soaking liquid; you keep the depth. |
Sweet
| Out of |
Use |
Ratio |
Why it works, and the catch |
| Honey |
Maple syrup; agave; golden syrup |
1:1 |
All liquid sugars. Maple is thinner and tastes of maple; use the darkest you have. |
| Maple syrup |
Honey thinned with a little water; brown sugar dissolved in water |
1:1; sugar 3/4 cup + 1/4 cup water per cup syrup |
The maple flavor is gone; the sweetness and liquidity stay. |
| Brown sugar |
White sugar plus molasses; or plus a spoon of maple |
1 cup + 1 tbsp molasses |
Brown sugar is white sugar with molasses returned to it. |
| Dulce de leche |
Caramel sauce; or sweetened condensed milk cooked down |
1:1 |
Dulce de leche is milk-based and toasty; caramel is sugar-based and darker. |
| Jam (in a glaze or sauce) |
Marmalade; honey plus a squeeze of citrus; fruit paste thinned |
1:1 |
The job is sweet fruit and body. Marmalade adds bitterness. |
| Marmalade |
Apricot jam plus orange zest |
1:1 |
Gets the citrus; misses the peel's bitterness. |
Heat and spice
| Out of |
Use |
Ratio |
Why it works, and the catch |
| Hot sauce (vinegar-based) |
Chile flakes plus a splash of vinegar; harissa thinned; a pinch of cayenne and lemon |
To taste |
The job is acid plus heat. Match both or it tastes wrong. |
| Harissa |
Chili crisp plus tomato paste and cumin; hot sauce plus smoked paprika |
1:1 |
Harissa is a paste of chile, garlic, spice; both mixes get close. |
| Chili crisp |
Chile flakes fried briefly in oil with sliced garlic |
1 tbsp flakes + 3 tbsp oil per 1/4 cup crisp |
Five minutes and you have made it; the crunch is the garlic. |
| Smoked paprika |
Sweet paprika plus a drop of liquid smoke or a pinch of chipotle |
1:1 |
Sweet paprika has the color and fruit, not the smoke. |
| Espelette pepper |
Aleppo pepper; mild paprika plus a pinch of cayenne |
1:1 |
All mild, fruity chiles with gentle heat. |
| Black pepper |
White pepper (half); grains of paradise; a pinch of chile |
1:1 with grains of paradise |
White pepper is hotter and earthier; use less. |
| Cinnamon (Ceylon) |
Cassia at two-thirds the amount |
2:3 |
Cassia is stronger and hotter; it is what most "cinnamon" already is. |
| Saffron |
Turmeric for color only, a tiny pinch |
1/4 tsp turmeric per pinch saffron |
Gets the yellow; nothing gets the flavor. Honest recipes say so. |
| Vanilla bean |
Vanilla extract or paste |
1 bean ≈ 1 tbsp extract or paste |
Paste keeps the seeds; extract keeps the aroma; both lose the pod. |
Fats and dairy
| Out of |
Use |
Ratio |
Why it works, and the catch |
| Extra virgin olive oil (finishing) |
A good nut oil; brown butter |
1:1 |
Both bring aroma and fat; neither is olive. |
| Butter (in a sauce) |
Olive oil at 3/4 the amount; a spoon of tahini for body |
3:4 |
Oil is 100% fat, butter about 80%; use less. |
| Buttermilk |
Milk plus a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar per cup, rested 5 minutes; thinned yogurt |
1:1 |
The job is acid and tang; soured milk supplies both. |
| Heavy cream (in a sauce) |
Whole milk plus butter; a spoon of tahini; the starchy pasta water, whisked |
3/4 cup milk + 1/4 cup melted butter |
Pasta water emulsifies without cream; see the pasta method. |
| Crème fraîche |
Sour cream; full-fat Greek yogurt |
1:1 |
Both curdle more easily in heat; add off the boil. |
| Tahini |
Smooth nut butter thinned with a little sesame oil |
1:1 |
Gets the body and nuttiness; the sesame oil restores the flavor. |
| Nut butter |
Tahini plus a spoon of honey |
1:1 |
Tahini is less sweet and more bitter; the honey balances. |
Body and aromatics
| Out of |
Use |
Ratio |
Why it works, and the catch |
| Tomato paste |
Passata reduced by half; sun-dried tomato paste; ketchup in a pinch, with less sugar elsewhere |
2:1 passata; 1:1 the others |
The job is concentrated tomato and body. |
| Tinned whole tomatoes |
Passata; crushed tomatoes; fresh tomatoes peeled, in season |
1:1 |
Passata is smoother; whole tomatoes give texture. |
| Dijon mustard |
Whole-grain mustard; dry mustard plus a splash of white wine vinegar |
1:1; 1 tsp dry + 1 tsp vinegar per tbsp |
Dijon's job in a vinaigrette is emulsifying and heat; both substitutes emulsify. |
| Garlic (fresh) |
Garlic confit; a pinch of granulated garlic; the smashed clove from a jar of marinated olives |
1 clove ≈ 1/4 tsp granulated |
Confit is sweeter and gentler; granulated is flat but honest. |
| Shallot |
Red onion, finely chopped, rinsed |
1 shallot ≈ 2 tbsp onion |
Rinsing tames the raw bite. |
| Fresh herbs (in cooking) |
Dried at one third; or a spoon of pesto or chermoula |
1:3 |
Dried herbs are concentrated and lose the fresh note; the pastes keep it. |
| Wine (in a pan sauce) |
Stock plus a splash of vinegar; verjuice; a little vermouth |
1:1 |
The job is liquid plus acid. Vermouth is what many restaurants use anyway. |
| Stock |
Water plus a spoon of garum or miso; the soaking water from dried mushrooms; a Parmigiano rind simmered in water |
1:1 |
All supply the savory depth stock exists for. |
| Breadcrumbs |
Crushed crackers; crushed nuts; grated stale bread |
1:1 |
The job is crunch and absorption. |
The swaps that only sound reasonable
Balsamic for any other vinegar in a vinaigrette: too sweet, and it turns everything brown. Honey for sugar in a caramel: it burns at a lower temperature and foams. Table salt for kosher, spoon for spoon: twice the sodium, per our salting guide. Olive oil for butter in a cake by volume: the crumb changes and the flavor competes. Truffle oil for fresh truffle: a different substance, per our truffle guide. Cocoa powder for chocolate in a recipe that melts it: cocoa has very little fat compared with chocolate and will not set. Rice vinegar for sherry vinegar in gazpacho: too mild to carry it. Imitation vanilla for a bean in a custard, where vanilla is the point: you will taste the difference; anywhere else, you will not.
The principle, so you can improvise beyond the chart
Name the job. Acid, salt, umami, sweet, fat, heat, body, aroma. Find the jar on the shelf that does that job, match the intensity (fish sauce is stronger than anchovy, cassia stronger than Ceylon, Diamond Crystal weaker than table salt), start with two-thirds of the amount, and taste. Most substitutions fail on intensity rather than on kind. The vinegar guide, the hot sauce guide and the anchovy guide each go deeper on the swaps within one category. Everything on the chart's "use" side is at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, and ships nationwide from theambrosianpantry.com, which is a more useful sentence than it sounds at six o'clock.
Sources & Further Reading
