3 days Ago
Thankfully, I'm learning how to make better use of the ingredients that are already in my pantry so I don't have to worry about this issue too much. To further expand my knowledge, I asked the Tasty Community about the ingredient substitutions everyone swears by, and people shared tips I wish I had known way sooner. I rounded up 20 of the best hacks below: 1.
"I always substitute soy sauce in place of Worcestershire sauce." – sleepingsedan9466 2. "For the diabetics out there that need a cheap substitute for rice, barley pairs well with many dishes.
Probably my favorite combo is cooking the barley in a roasted garlic soup base and serving it alongside a saucy poultry dish, like poppyseed chicken ." – stylishasteroid547 4. "OK, I’m kind of weird, but living alone, I don’t like to buy loads of dairy products because I can’t eat them before they go bad.
So if I have chili or tortilla soup or something, I usually just put plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese in it instead of buying sour cream. It’s good on bagels, too! Also, stirring Cinnamon Toast Crunch into cottage cheese is *chef's kiss*." – furryzebra732 5.
"I sometimes make Chinese and Japanese-style meals. Sake, Shaoxing wine, and mirin are expensive, so I use dry or medium sherry (for the first two) and amontillado or cream sherry (for mirin) to replace them. Not authentic, but much cheaper and easier to find.
" –Chris, United Kingdom, 39 7. "If your recipe calls for buttermilk, you can 100% use sour cream instead, and thin it out with milk or water if you need. So, like, if your recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk, you could do 1 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup of milk.
I do this for cakes because I can never find buttermilk, and it works like a charm." –Ginger, Texas, 27 9. "Instead of all-purpose, I use bread flour when making flour tortillas.
" –Allison V., Instagram 11. "I've been subbing yogurt for mayo in salad dressings for years.
" –Carol T., Instagram 12. "You can use maple syrup instead of malted barley extract.
Make sure the maple syrup doesn’t have corn syrup." –Max, New Jersey , 22 14. "Milk with vinegar to substitute for buttermilk.
" –Leah, Virginia, 50 15. "I use evaporated milk in place of heavy cream when making soups and such." –mrstevers, Instagram 16.
"Ground flaxseed when I'm running low on all-purpose flour! But the flour ratio has to be higher than the flaxseed; it’s not a complete substitution. For example, my cake recipe called for 3 cups of flour. I only had 2 3/4 of flour.
Then I used 1/4 a cup of ground flaxseed. The cake baked well and was still delicious!" –Lauren, Virginia, 39 18. "In soups and sauces, use instant potato flakes as a thickener instead of a roux or cornstarch.
" – laughingcoach671 19. "Love to sub shallots for onions in many recipes. They're not so pungent and they can be grated into salad dressings easily with minimal waste.
Never have to wrap up half a shallot like I do with onions for my two-person household." –Carol T., Instagram Do you have a tip that belongs on this list? Let us know in the comments! Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
.
