All Sorts of Dairy Substitutions

[cat lover]

Butter

1 cup dairy free soy margarine, (reduce the salt in recipe by 1/2 tsp if recipe calls for unsalted)

1 cup canola oil ( for many baked recipes that use butter to coagulate, emulsify or stabilize, soy margarine will be the better choice. Oil works well as part of meat and vegetable dishes as well as sauces.)

Buttermilk

1 cup soymilk combined with 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Allow mixture to rest in the refrigerator for five minutes so that the mixture will thicken correctly.

1 cup plain soy yogurt

2/3 cup soy sour cream blended with 1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk



Light Cream

1 cup dairy free soy coffee cream

1 cup soymilk mixed with 1/4 cup melted dairy free soy margarine

1 cup whole coconut milk

1 cup soymilk mixed with 1/4 cup soymilk powder

Heavy Cream

1/4 cup soy half & half, mixed with 1/4 cup soy margarine, melted, and 1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk

1 cup cream of coconut

Creme Fraiche

1/2 cup soy sour cream processed with 1/2 cup soy cream cheese

1/2 cup plain soy yogurt processed with 1/2 cup soy cream cheese

2/3 cup extra firm silken tofu processed with 1/3 cup soy yogurt or soy sour cream

Ghee( Ghee is a clarified butter without any solid milk particles or water. Ghee is used in India and throughout the South Asia in daily cooking.)

1 cup melted soy margarine

1 cup canola oil

Milk

Dairy free soy, rice, or nut milk

Evaporated Milk

1 cup soy coffee creamer

1 cup plain soy yogurt

Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 cup vanilla soy ice cream, melted over low heat with 2 T soymilk powder until slightly thickened

Sour Cream

1 cup soy sour cream

1 cup soy yogurt mixed with 1 tbsp soymilk powder and salt to taste

1 cup extra firm silken tofu blended or processed with 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

[Audrey]

These are just AWESOME!! We have a VONS here with a super soy section. We buy a soy sour cream that tastes just like the real thing, at least to us. We use it in salad dressings, on baked potatoes, everywhere.

[cat lover]

We have to shop all over to get most of our soy products now, but when my DS's were small we lived in an area where it was more readily available.

[Audrey]

It's interesting....I live in Santa Barbara. Some folks consider this a big city. It's actually on the smaller side for California. I think we have like 150,000 people. Some items, we're fortunate, we can get easily. Other items, we'll buy when we're down in Los Angeles.

[cat lover]

We live in a very rural area, the whole county only has 10,000 people! So very small, we have one grocry, one pharmacy, one funeral home, and our only "store" is a dollar general and it has only been here around 4 years. We go around 40 miles round trip to get to another town that has a couple of fast food places and a walmart and radio shack and that is about all they have over us. Then we go 60 miles round trip to get to a bigger city with a FEW more places. To get to any type of shopping at all we have to go 120 miles just to get to the edge of Louisville, KY. LOL

[Audrey]

That's definitely a day trip LOL.

[Chef Mark]

For 2%, 1%, or skim milk, substitute whole milk.

For whole milk substitute half and half.

For half and half substitute light cream.

For light cream substitute heavy cream.

For anything soy, substitute any of the above starting with whole milk or higher.

For anything tofu, substitute any red meat.

[cat lover]

Chef Mark,since I have to sub so many things into fat free for my DH I was wondering on the heavy cream, do you think the light cream will sub okay for it? I'm asking because on the light cream I can get fat free, but never have seen it fat free in the heavy cream so I can't use recipes at this time that calls for it. Sometimes my tries on subs in some recipes just don't work and I hate having to throw things away! lol

[Chef Mark]

Thanks for being a good sport with my sense of humor.

What's a DH?

Sometimes you can substitute light cream for heavy and sometimes you can't.

For example, when making whipped cream you could not use light cream because it won't whip. There's not enough fat in it.

Recipes that require extended cooking of the dairy product run the risk of breaking the light cream, again, not enough fat.

But for most recipes such as a cream sauce or to finish a dish with light cream instead of heavy, yes it can be done. Of course you will also be substituting richness and flavor.

[cat lover]

I answered you over on the 2008 Spring Coffee Chat on the DH, but in case you read this one and don't get over there a DH is dear husband! LOL ( I don't call him dear!) LOL

[midnightmama214]

When I need buttermilk for a recipe, I substitute 1/2c sour cream and 1/2 cup milk for 1 cup buttermilk, or if I don't have milk, buttermilk or sour cream, I mix up a cup of instant milk and add 1tbsp vinagar.:)

[cat lover]

The vinegar works great in milk to make buttermilk; I've done that myself quite often. Awhile back I relocated the powdered buttermilk, so I keep that in the freezer (just to make it last longer) and now I have fresh buttermilk on hand for recipes.

[Pretajouer]

WOW!
Great ideas.
I would have never thought of making such substitutions.
Vinegar!!! very interesting!
Thanks guys. I'm gonna try it.