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. We pulled some substitution tips from our classic Sunset’s New Easy Basics cookbook (1997) when you find yourself in a pinch. 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