Skip to main content

Questions about possible substitutions for an ingredient. Please indicate the reason for substitution.

This tag is for questions about possible substitutions for an ingredient. Common reasons for substitution may include:

  • Dietary restrictions (nutrition, allergies, etc.);
  • Unavailability or expense;
  • Personal preference or taste.

Guidelines for substitution questions:

A good substitution question should:

  1. Indicate the reason for the substitution. Allergies, unavailability, and taste are all different problems requiring different solutions.

  2. Have a practical reason behind them. Don't use vague reasons like "healthier" or "better tasting", as these are subjective and do not help to narrow the field of candidates.

  3. Be specific to a single ingredient. We understand that people with allergies or strong food aversions may want to avoid a wide range of similar foods, such as all dairy or all grains. However, it's often not even possible to substitute foods within a category, let alone come up with a single set of substitution rules for the entire category. Keep it simple and focused.

  4. Be specific to a particular recipe or type of recipe. The same ingredient may have many different uses (taste, texture, chemical reactions, etc.) depending on the recipe it is used in.

Substitution questions not following the above guidelines are likely to receive poor answers and may be closed.