Whether you or someone you love has allergies or you don’t have time or energy to head to the grocery store — there are plenty of reasons why you may need to use ingredient swaps. 

We have found ourselves in quite the pickle when we started a recipe only to realize we ran out of an integral ingredient! With a little creativity and resilience, you can make a comparable dish — or discover something brand new!

Check out this guide to some of our favorite ingredient swaps. You can use these tips to adapt a recipe to fit your taste or allergies, or if your neighbor is running low on ingredients to lend too!

Ingredient Swaps

Eggs

• 1 egg = 1 Flax egg (1 Tbsp Manitoba Milling Smooth Whole-Milled Flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water)

Flour

• 1 cup self rising flour = 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 teaspoon baking powder +½ teaspoon salt + ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup all purpose flour = 1 cup whole wheat flour = 1 cup bread flour
  • Wheat flour and bread flour may result in extra structure/chew than all purpose flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour = ¾ cup chickpea flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour = almond flour
  • Replacing all flour with almond flour may result in a more crumbly product

Sugar

• 1 cup sugar = 1 cup applesauce 
  • Reduce liquid in recipe by 1/4
• 1 cup sugar =  1 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup sugar =  1 cup honey
• 1 cup honey = 1 cup agave syrup
• Pitted dates
  • In less precise recipes such as smoothies, add in pitted dates for a boost of sweetness

oil

• Replace oil with Smooth Whole Milled Flaxseed at a 3:1 ratio in baked goods
  • In recipes like whole grain breads, you can replace 100% of the oil, but you might need to add a little additional water, since some of what you have already added will be absorbed by the milled flaxseed .  
  • In recipes like muffins, you might prefer to only replace some of the oil with milled flaxseed.  For example, in place of 1/2 cup oil, you could use 6 tbsp. oil and 6 tbsp. Smooth Whole Milled Flaxseed.  If your muffin batter looks a bit dry, add a splash of liquid.

Butter

• 1 cup butter = 1 cup canned pumpkin, mashed yams or mashed banana
  • To preserve the structure of baked goods, you may want to only replace some of the butter the recipe calls for
• Soft or silken tofu 
  • Use to replace half of butter in a recipe
• Vegetable oil 
  • Replace some of the butter with a neutral oil such as vegetable oil
• 1 cup butter = 1 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup vegetable oil = 1 cup canola oil, coconut oil, avocado oil

Sour Cream

• 1 cup sour cream = 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream = 1 cup greek yogurt

Milk

• 1 cup milk = 1 cup plant-based beverage (flax, almond, soy, etc)
• Heavy cream or half and half
  • Use water to dilute cream, as needed
• 1 cup buttermilk = 1 cup milk + 1 Tablespoon vinegar

For even more ideas, check out our guide to baking swaps here!

Recipes to Try

See how easy it is to try these ingredient swaps by trying one of these recipes!

• Oat Streusel Muffins
• Chewy Fruit and Nut Lactation Cookies
• Vegan Apple Cider Donuts
• Quick and Crispy Fish Tacos
• Flaxseed Pesto Mayo
• Eggless Flaxseed Burgers
• Vegan Potato Pancakes with Flax
• Flaxseed Meatball and Veggie Soup

What is your favorite way to repurpose ingredients? Send us a message on instagram @manitobamilling for a chance to be featured!