MAKE IT MEATLESS |
Ingredient |
Substitute |
Meat |
Beans, cheese, seitan (wheat meat), tempeh (cultured soybeans), textured vegetable protein (TVP), tofu |
Meat/seafood stocks |
Vegetable stock, water in which beans, pasta, or vegetables have been cooked, vegetable bouillon cubes, miso (fermented soybean paste) diluted with water |
Seasoned or smoked meats |
Flavored soy meat substitutes, crumbled tofu seasoned with fennel, parsley, and garlic, canned chipotle chiles, roasted vegetables, toasted nuts, smoked tofu, smoked cheeses |
Gelatin |
Agar-agar (powder or flakes), arrowroot (powder), guar gum (made from seeds), xanthan gum (made from corn), kudzu powder |
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MAKE IT VEGAN |
Ingredient |
Substitute |
Buttermilk |
Clabbered soymilk (1 cup soymilk mixed with 2 tsp. lemon juice or white vinegar) |
Cheese
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Soy- and nut-based cheeses |
Cheese or ricotta cheese |
Crumbled tofu |
Eggs |
Ener-G Egg Replacer, 1 mashed banana or 1/4 cup applesauce per egg (best for baked goods); 1 Tbs. agar flakes whisked into 1 Tbs. water and chilled for 5 minutes (for an egg white substitute), 1 Tbs. ground flaxseeds simmered in 3 Tbs. boiling water for 2 minutes |
Mayonnaise |
Soy-based mayonnaise |
Milk |
Nut milk, rice milk, soymilk |
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MAKE IT LOW-FAT |
Ingredient |
Substitute |
Creamy soups and sauces |
Nonfat strained yogurt, soymilk, puréed roasted vegetables, cooking rice in soup then puréeing it |
Oil in baked goods |
Applesauce, puréed bananas, puréed cooked prunes |
Oil for sautéing |
Vegetable stock, wine, vinegar |
Salad dressing |
Vinegar or citrus juice thickened with puréed roasted red peppers, carrots, onions, or garlic |
Sour cream |
Strained nonfat yogurt |
White sauce |
Puréed white beans |
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MAKE IT ALLERGEN-FREE |
Ingredient |
Substitute |
Butter |
Clarified butter (milk solids have been removed), olive oil, sesame oil |
Chocolate |
Carob |
Cows’ milk |
Goats’ milk, soymilk, rice milk, nut milk |
Cows’ milk cheese |
Goat cheese, sheep cheese, soy cheese, nut cheese |
Eggs |
Ener-G Egg Replacer, 1 mashed banana or 1/4 cup applesauce per egg (best for baked goods); 1 Tbs. agar flakes whisked into 1 Tbs. water and chilled for 5 minutes (for an egg white substitute), 1 Tbs. ground flaxseeds simmered in 3 Tbs. boiling water for 2 minutes |
Peanuts |
Almonds |
Wheat flour (for baking) |
Flours made from barley, buckwheat, corn, kamut, oats, rice, rye, spelt |
Wheat pasta |
Pasta made from corn, spelt, kamut, quinoa, rice |
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MAKE IT ETHNIC |
Origin |
Ingredient |
Substitute |
Americas |
Cactus pads (nopales) |
Green beans, okra |
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Chayote squash |
Yellow or green pattypan squash or zucchini |
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Poblano or Anaheim chiles |
Minced jalapeño chiles and green bell pepper |
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Posole (dried hominy) |
Canned white hominy |
Asian |
Bok choy (Chinese white cabbage) |
Beet greens, kale, Swiss chard |
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Chinese cooking wine |
Dry sherry |
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Chinese five-spice powder |
Mixture of anise seed or star anise, fennel seed, cinnamon, black peppercorns, and cloves |
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Galangal (Thai ginger) |
Fresh ginger |
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Lemongrass |
Lemon zest |
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Lotus root |
Jicama or water chestnuts |
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Mirin (Japanese rice wine) |
Sweet white wine |
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Nam pla (Thai fish sauce) |
Soy sauce and lime juice |
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Rice wine vinegar |
Cider vinegar, white wine vinegar |
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Sesame oil |
1 Tbs. sesame seeds fried in 1/2 cup vegetable oil |
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Thai basil |
Italian basil |
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Water chestnuts |
Jicama |
Indian |
Atta (chapati flour) |
1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour plus 1/2 cup sifted whole-wheat flour |
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Chana dal |
Split yellow peas |
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Curry powder |
Mixture of ground ginger, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric and fennel |
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Garam masala |
Mixture of 1 tsp. cardamom seeds, 1 Tbs. cumin seed, 1 Tbs. coriander seed, 2 tsp. black peppercorns, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. cloves, and 1 tsp. nutmeg |
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Jaggery (coarse palm sugar) |
Date sugar or brown sugar |
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Toor dal, urad dal, mung dal |
Red lentils |
Mediterranean |
Broccoli rabe |
Broccoli plus arugula or dandelion greens |
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Cannellini beans |
Great Northern beans, navy beans, red kidney beans |
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Fava beans |
Lima beans or butter beans |
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Fennel |
Celery plus some fennel or anise seeds |
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Parmesan cheese |
Any hard, aged grating cheese such as Asiago, Romano or aged Monterey Jack |
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Pine nuts |
Walnuts or a mixture of walnuts and almonds |
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MAKE IT ALCOHOL-FREE |
Ingredient |
Substitute |
Red wine |
Pomegranate juice or 1/2 cup water with 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar |
White wine |
Vegetable stock, apple juice, carrot juice |
Wine or beer |
Non-alcoholic wine or beer |
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