It’s a Thursday night. You just got home from a long day of classes followed by a study group session and you’re hungry. As you start to get out all your ingredients for the recipe you were planning to make, you realize you’re missing garlic! The whole night is basically ruined now. You’d have to go all the way to the grocery store, buy fresh garlic, and lose even more sleep from the little amount that you already have. Might as well not make it. But wait! You have minced garlic sitting in your fridge, which is a perfect substitution for fresh garlic in a recipe.
There are many ingredient substitutions that can save you from going to the grocery store every time you are missing an ingredient. Here are some common ingredient substitutions that you should keep in your fridge and pantry for when a trip to the grocery store is too daunting:
Minced garlic or garlic powder are perfect substitutes for fresh garlic in a pinch. Depending on what you are looking for in a recipe, garlic powder is good for a garlic essence, whereas minced garlic will still give you that fresh garlic flavor and texture.
Don’t have any jalapeños on hand? Get spicy with some dried ingredients like cayenne, crushed red pepper flakes, or chili powder. Plenty of everyday spices can be used to substitute that kick for a jalapeño in a recipe. If you are missing out on the crunch too, trade the jalapeño for a similar pepper, like bell pepper, serrano pepper, or poblano pepper.
Lots of other ingredients are interchangeable too, not just jalapeños and garlic. The other day, I was missing bok choy for my ramen, so I substituted cabbage instead and it tasted almost the same. Bok choy, cabbage, and collard greens can often be switched out in recipes. Vegetables with similar textures can be substituted as well, like broccoli and cauliflower or carrots and green beans.
Another common ingredient in recipes that can be interchanged is corn syrup. Corn syrup can be interchangeably used with sugar-water (or simple syrup), honey, or agave.
If a recipe calls for something different like ground lamb or ground pork, you can easily substitute it with ground beef or ground chicken. Any meat that has a similar texture can be substituted in recipes. If you don’t have a cut of beef and want to substitute chicken, go ahead! Just remember that cooking times might be different when you change meat.
A very simple hack for when you don’t have sour cream for a recipe is to substitute it with plain yogurt, or vice versa. If you are missing the tanginess of the sour cream, add a squeeze of lemon juice.
Tomato products are often interchangeable too. Whether it’s grape tomatoes, pasta sauce, canned tomatoes, or even ketchup, tomato products can often be switched. For example, one time I didn’t have enough grape tomatoes to make the TikTok famous tomato-feta pasta, so I diced some Roma tomatoes instead and it worked like a charm.
At the end of the day, it is often better to use what you have than to go out and get new ingredients. You are saving yourself time, gas, money, and food in the process! Plus, you get to experiment with different ingredients in the kitchen and possibly find something that works better or tastes better.