Emergency Cooking Substitutions and Equivalents

If you ever find yourself in the middle of cooking a recipe and discover you are missing an ingredient, fear not. Try a substitution from Sunset’s New Easy Basics cookbook (March 1997) when there’s no time to get to the store.

Shopping for recipes isn’t always straightforward. Our equivalent yields guide is handy when you need to figure out how many lemons to buy for a recipe that calls for 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (the answer: 1).

You’ll be able to make conversions effortlessly with our weights and measures guide below.

Emergency Substitutions

Equivalence is based on how product functions in recipe, not on sweetness.

Cake flour
Amount: 1 cup cake flour (109 g)
Substitution: 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons

Baking powder
Amount: 1 teaspoon baking powder
Substitution: ¼ teaspoon baking soda plus ½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Active dry yeast
Amount: 1 package (1¾ teaspoons) active dry yeast
Substitution: 1 compressed yeast cake, crumbled

Cornstarch (used for thickening)
Amount: 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Substitution: 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Buttermilk or sour milk
Amount: 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk or sour milk
Substitutions: 1 cup (240 ml) plain yogurt or 1 tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar or lemon juice stirred into 1 cup (240 ml) milk and allowed to stand for 5 minutes

Corn syrup
Amount: 1 cup (240 ml) corn syrup
Substitution: 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar plus ¼ cup (60 ml) liquid
Note: Use a liquid called for in the recipe.

Honey
Amount: 1 cup (240 ml) honey
Substitution: 1¼ (250 g) granulated sugar plus ¼ cup (60 ml) liquid.
Note: Use a liquid called for in the recipe.

Egg yolks (used for thickening)
Amount: 2 egg yolks
Substitution: 1 whole egg

Unsweetened chocolate
Amount: 1 square (1 oz./30g) unsweetened chocolate
Substitution: 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon (15 ml) melted butter or margarine

Semisweet baking chocolate
Amount: 1 ounce semisweet baking chocolate
Substitution: 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate plus 1 tablespoon sugar

Tomatoes
Amount: 1 can (about 1 lb./455 g) tomatoes
Substitution: 2½ cups (323 g) chopped, peeled, fresh tomatoes, simmered for about 10 minutes

Catsup or tomato-based chili sauce
Amount: 1 cup (240 ml) catsup or tomato-based chili sauce
Substitution: 1 can (8 oz./240 ml) tomato sauce plus ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons (30 ml) white vinegar

Dry mustard
Amount: 1 teaspoon dry mustard
Substitution: 1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Grated fresh ginger
Amount: ½ teaspoon fresh ginger
Substitution: ¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Sliced leeks
Amount: ½ cup (50 g) sliced leeks
Substitutions: ½ (80 g) sliced shallots or ½ cup (50 g) green onions

EQUIVALENT YIELDS

Lemon
Amount: 1 lemon
Yield: 3 tablespoons (45 ml) lemon juice and 1 tablespoon grated peel

Orange
Amount: 1 medium-size orange
Yield: ⅓-½ (80-120 ml) orange juice and 2 tablespoons grated peel

Bell pepper
Amount: 1 medium-size bell pepper
Yield: 1 cup (150 g) chopped

Carrot
Amount: 1 medium-size carrot
Yield: ½ cup (65 g) chopped

Celery
Amount: 1 medium-size stalk celery
Yield: ½ cup (60 g) chopped

Garlic
Amount: 2 small cloves garlic
Yield: 1 teaspoon minced

Green onion (white part only)
Amount: 1 medium-size green onion
Yield: 1 tablespoon chopped

Onion
Amount: 1 medium-size onion
Yield: ¾-1 cup (128-170 g) chopped

Egg whites
Amount: 8 large egg whites
Yield: 1 cup (240 ml)

Semifirm/firm cheese (Cheddar, jack, Swiss)
Amount: 4 ounces semifirm/firm cheese
Yield: 1 cup (113 g) lightly packed shredded cheese

Hard cheese (Parmesan, Romano)
Amount: 1½ hard cheese
Yield: ½ cup (40 g) grated cheese

Butter or margarine
Amount: ¼ pound (1 stick) butter or margarine
Yield: ½ cup (4 oz./115 g)

Whipping cream
Amount: 1 cup whipping cream
Yield: 2 cups (470 ml) whipped cream

Granulated sugar
Amount: 1 pound granulated sugar
Yield: 2⅓ cups (470 g)

Brown sugar
Amount: 1 pound brown sugar
Yield: 2⅓ cups (513 g) firmly packed

Powdered sugar
Amount: 1 pound powdered sugar
Yield: 3¾ cups (450 g) unsifted or 4½ cups sifted

Baking chocolate (semisweet or unsweetened)
Amount: 1 square baking chocolate
Yield: 1 ounce (30 g)

Walnuts or almonds
Amount: 4 ounces walnuts or almonds
Yield: ¾-1 cup (94-125 g) chopped nuts

Dry bread
Amount: 1 sandwich-size slice crisp, dry bread
Yield: ¼ cup (25 g) fine crumbs

Fresh bread
Amount: 1 sandwich-size slice fresh bread
Yield: 1 cup (45 g) soft crumbs

Graham crackers
Yield: 14-16 squares graham crackers
Yield: 1 cup (85 g) crumbs

Vanilla wafers
Amount: 22-24 vanilla wafers
Yield: 1 cup (80 g) crumbs

Chocolate wafers
Amount: 18 chocolate wafers
Yield: 1 cup (125 g) crumbs

Dry yeast
Amount: 1 package dry yeast
Yield: 1¾ teaspoons (7 g)

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Liquid measure equivalents

3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon (15 ml)

2 tablespoons = 1 fluid ounce (30 ml)

4 tablespoons = ¼ cup (60 ml)

5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon = ⅓ (80 ml)

8 tablespoons = ½ cup or 4 fluid ounces (120 ml)

10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons = ⅔ cup (160 ml)

12 tablespoons = ¾ cup (180 ml)

16 tablespoons = 1 cup or 8 fluid ounces (240 ml)

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons = ⅜ cup (90 ml)

½ cup + 2 tablespoons = ⅝ cup (150 ml)

¾ cup + 2 tablespoons = ⅞ cup (210 ml)

2 cups = 16 fluid ounces or 1 pint (470 ml)

4 cups = 2 pints or 1 quart (950 ml)

1 quart = .946 liters (950 ml)

1 liter = 1.06 quarts

4 quarts = 1 gallon (3.8 liters)

Dry measure equivalents

2 pints = 1 quart

Weights or avoirdupois equivalents

16 ounces = 1 pound (455 g)

2.2 pounds = 1 kilo