I often run into specific recipes that call for some ingredient or other that I’ve either run out of, can’t find locally, or don’t want to pay the premium price demanded to have shipped into the Canadian backwoods. The culinary supply lines for exotic goods are indeed stretched a bit thin up here at times when the snow is piling up so I’ve compiled a list of substitutions that work using what I consider pantry staples best stocked at all times. Wholesale use elsewhere as replacements may or may not work as well but everything on this list has been tested by my very own hands.
Also note that this is an evolving post. I’ll add more substitutes as I test and evaluate them. Stay tuned!
1. Hummus needs tahini – Answer: Peanut butter
I can get tahini, also known as ‘sesame paste’, but it’s an hour drive to the big city and sometimes I catch myself empty while making a batch of hummus. From scratch of course… sheesh. What sort of rookie do you think I am? In that instance, half the measure of ordinary peanut butter in place of the tahini works just fine. A sample of guinea pigs at my last party couldn’t tell the difference even after I told them which batch used each.
2. Caesar salad dressing needs anchovy fillets – Answer: Asian fish sauce
I appreciate the flavour that real anchovy fillets can add to everything from puttanesca sauce to caesar salad but a small tin of them here costs a fortune as an import. I also have a hard time using the whole tin at once and storing them once opened never seems to work as well. A cheap bottle of Asian fish sauce is actually made from anchovies if you inspect the label carefully. A few spoons of that in my dressing before I blend it up and you’d never know the fillets were missing.
3. Baking needs buttermilk – Answer: Clabbered milk
I love using buttermilk for a tangy addition to all manner of things and sometimes only the genuine article will do. If however you only need a small amount in baking you can make what’s called ‘clabbered milk’ as a substitute. Regular full fat milk – this doesn’t work well with non-fat – gets a dose of acid and will curdle slightly in about five minutes at room temperature. I prefer lemon juice but plain vinegar works too. Just avoid heavily flavoured vinegar for this little trick. Use a tablespoon per cup but no more unless you want to accidentally make cheese.
Bonus tip: Most liquid buttermilk you buy in the stores isn’t actually real buttermilk either. It’s “artificially soured” at the factory rather than being a byproduct of the butter making process as it used to be. For the genuine article you can actually buy powdered versions which work quite well rehydrated or go all 1850s and make your own butter at home which has the added bonus of giving you insanely good butter in the bargain. Start looking for a cow to adopt now.
4. Mashed potatoes or Mac ‘N Cheese needs fresh milk or cream – Answer: Evaporated milk from a tin
Murphy’s kitchen law says that you’ll run out of milk right as your potatoes finish boiling or your mac and cheese cravings peak. Usually at 3am when the stores are closed. Just use a one-to-one substitution of shelf-stable evaporated milk from a tin. You don’t even need to thin it with water to simulate ‘regular’ dairy. That trick doesn’t really work well anyway because of the slightly cooked flavour evaporated milk picks up in the canning process. Your potatoes and pasta however will appreciate the extra richness as long as you’re careful to grab the ‘regular’ versions instead of ‘non-fat’. The latter tastes horrible to me so check those labels before you toss them in your basket.
5. Sandwiches need mayonnaise – Answer: Make your own with oil, an egg, a lemon, and a blender in 30 seconds
You’ve just made the mother of all sandwiches and reach for the mayo to add the finishing touch but all you get is the ‘clank clank clank’ of the knife at the bottom of the empty jar. This is less about a substitution than a reminder that you can make your own in seconds.
This tip has moved to its own page because it’s just that good.
6. A cooked recipe needs sour cream – Answer: Strain plain yogurt for thirty minutes
Lots of baking and cooking needs sour cream for tart character. This trade won’t work as well in cold applications like dips but anything where heat is applied, it’s hard to tell the difference. I’m talking banana bread to paprikash here. Plain yogurt will work most of those places but tends to be a bit wetter than sour cream. Simply place it in a strainer or double layer of cheesecloth over another bowl or in the sink to drain off excess whey for thirty minutes. I get better results with full fat versions but low- and non-fat examples work nearly as well.
Bonus tip: For a treat try draining the yogurt considerably longer to make ‘yogurt cheese’. Twenty four hours in the fridge draining will give you something closer to cream cheese in texture which can be a useful ingredient lots of places.
7. Soups, stews, and most anything else needs chicken or vegetable stock – Answer: Nutritional yeast
I realize that a funky ingredient like nutritional yeast might not be on everyone’s shelf but it should be. Not just the privy of vegetarian hippies any longer it can be found in most any grocery these days. If you don’t have time to make your own chicken or vegetable stock from scratch and find your pantry empty of premade versions, a tablespoon dissolved into two cups of hot water or other liquid from a recipe and then used in context will give you a chicken-ish taste after simmering a short while. Apart from being shelf stable for years and nutritionally beneficial in general, it makes for an instant answer to stock shortcomings without resorting to bouillon cubes laden with salt or other chemically tricky powders. Plus vegetarians will love you almost as much as your chickens for using it instead.
Bonus tip: Nutritional yeast is a great topping on hot popcorn where it will ‘melt’ a bit. It can also make an egg-less ‘scramble’ sauteed with crumbled firm tofu when a vegetarian shows up unexpectedly for breakfast.
