What can I use instead?

Use: 1 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar, topped up with milk to 1 cup. Stand 5 minutes.

The acid is the point, not the dairy. It reacts with baking soda for lift and tenderises gluten.

Not for: Do not skip the 5 minutes. Unclabbered milk gives you neither the lift nor the tang.

Use: 3/4 cup milk plus 1/3 cup butter, melted and whisked in.

Restores the fat, which is what stops a sauce splitting and carries the flavour.

Not for: Will not whip. There is no substitute for cream in whipped cream, because the structure comes from the fat globules, not the fat content.

Use: 1 cup plain full-fat yogurt.

Near identical in baking and in a cold sauce. Greek yogurt is thicker and slightly tangier.

Not for: Low-fat yogurt splits when it hits a hot pan. Take the pan off the heat and stir it in at the end.

Use: Sour cream, one for one.

Close in flavour and thickness.

Not for: Creme fraiche has more fat and will not curdle in a simmering sauce. Sour cream can, so add it off the heat.

Use: 1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk plus 1 cup minus 1 tbsp water.

The standard pantry version when there is no fresh milk in the house.

Not for: Slightly leaner, so a custard sets a touch softer.

Use: 1 tbsp ground flaxseed plus 3 tbsp water. Stand 5 minutes until it thickens.

Binds well in muffins, pancakes, cookies and quick breads.

Not for: It cannot aerate. Useless in meringue, angel cake, souffle or anything leavened by whipped egg.

Use: 2 tbsp breadcrumbs plus 2 tbsp milk, mashed to a paste.

A panade holds the mixture together and keeps it juicier than egg does.

Use: 3/4 cup neutral oil.

Works where the recipe melts the butter anyway: brownies, quick breads, many cakes.

Not for: Do not use it where butter is creamed with sugar. Creaming beats air into solid fat, and oil cannot hold it, so the crumb collapses.

Use: 1/4 tsp baking soda plus 5/8 tsp cream of tartar.

Baking powder is soda plus a powdered acid. This rebuilds it.

Not for: Mix it just before use. Once wet it starts reacting, and it will be flat by the time the tin is in the oven.

Use: Nothing reliable.

Use 3 tsp of baking powder per 1 tsp of soda only if there is no acid in the recipe, and expect a different crumb.

Not for: This is the one swap worth refusing. Soda is four times stronger and also browns and alkalises, which is why a soda-leavened cookie spreads and a powder-leavened one puffs.

Use: 1 cup plain flour plus 1 1/2 tsp baking powder plus 1/4 tsp salt.

Whisk it through the flour properly, or you get a bitter patch.

Use: 1 cup plain flour with 2 tbsp removed, replaced by 2 tbsp cornstarch.

Lowers the protein, which is what makes a cake crumb tender rather than chewy.

Use: Plain flour, one for one.

The loaf will be softer and rise slightly less. Perfectly good bread.

Not for: Not for a long-fermented, high-hydration dough, where the extra gluten is doing structural work.

Use: 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, proved in warm liquid first.

Instant can go straight into the flour. Active dry wants waking up.

Use: 2 tbsp plain flour, or 2 tbsp granular tapioca.

Flour needs a couple of minutes of simmering to lose its raw taste.

Not for: Flour clouds a clear sauce. For a glossy glaze or a fruit pie, cornstarch or tapioca is the right answer.

Use: 1 tbsp cornstarch, slaked in cold water first.

Half the amount, because cornstarch has roughly twice the thickening power.

Not for: Cornstarch thins if you boil it hard or hold it hot for a long time, and it breaks down with acid. For a long-simmered gravy, use a flour roux.

Use: A handful of raw potato or a slice of bread, simmered in and then blended.

Starch is starch. This is how a lot of rustic soups were thickened before flour was cheap.

Use: 1 cup white sugar plus 1 tbsp molasses, or white sugar alone at a pinch.

Molasses is the entire difference. Without it you lose the colour, the slight acidity and the chew.

Not for: Straight white sugar makes a cookie crisper and paler. Fine, just not the same cookie.

Use: 1 1/4 cups sugar plus 1/4 cup extra liquid.

Honey is about 17% water and sweeter than sugar, so both need correcting.

Not for: Honey also browns faster. Going the other way, drop the oven by about 15C or the top burns.

Use: Honey, one for one.

Similar sweetness and moisture. Obviously not the same flavour.

Use: 1 cup honey, or 3/4 cup corn syrup plus 1/4 cup molasses.

You are matching an invert sugar, which resists crystallising. That matters in caramel and flapjack.

Use: 1 tsp dried.

One third. Drying concentrates the oils, so less goes further.

Not for: Dried soft herbs are poor: basil, parsley, coriander and chives lose almost everything. Dried hardy herbs are excellent: oregano, thyme, rosemary, bay.

Use: Add them early instead, with the onions.

Not strictly a substitution, but the most common reason dried herbs taste dusty. They need fat, heat and time.

Use: 1/8 tsp garlic powder.

Powder is fine in a rub or a marinade.

Not for: It cannot brown. Anything that starts by softening garlic in oil needs the real thing.

Use: Half a small onion, plus a quarter clove of garlic if the dish is raw.

Shallot sits between onion and garlic, and is milder and sweeter than both.

Use: 1/4 tsp ground ginger.

Ground is warmer and less bright.

Not for: In a stir fry or a dressing the raw heat of fresh ginger is the flavour. Ground tastes like baking.

Use: 1 tbsp vanilla extract.

Add extract off the heat, since alcohol carries the aroma away with it.

Use: 1/2 cup stock plus 1 tsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice.

Wine is doing two jobs: acid and liquid. Stock alone tastes flat.

Use: 1 cup beef stock plus 1 tsp red wine vinegar and a small squeeze of tomato paste.

The paste replaces some of the body and colour the wine would have reduced into.

Use: Water, a bay leaf, a few peppercorns and salt.

Better than water alone, and honest about it: this is thinner than stock and always will be.

Not for: Do not do this in a dish where the stock IS the dish, like a clear soup or a risotto.

Use: Tamari, one for one, which is also gluten free.

Coconut aminos also work but are noticeably sweeter and much less salty, so add salt separately.

Use: 1 tbsp soy sauce plus a small squeeze of lime.

Gets you salt and acid. It does not get you the fermented depth, so expect a lighter dish.

Not for: In a dipping sauce, where fish sauce is most of the flavour, it is worth going without rather than faking it.

Use: 2 tbsp canned tomato or passata, cooked down until it darkens and sticks.

The cooking down is the point. Paste is concentrated and slightly caramelised, not just tomato.

Not for: Ketchup is not a substitute. It is mostly sugar and vinegar and will sweeten the whole pan.

Use: 1 tbsp lime juice, or 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar.

Half the vinegar, because it is sharper and has no fruit behind it.

Not for: In a bake that relies on lemon for both acid and flavour, vinegar reads as sour rather than citrus.

Use: 1 cup rolled oats pulsed a few times, or crushed crackers.

For a crust, crackers brown better. For a binder, oats hold moisture better.

Use: Pecorino, one for one, or Grana Padano.

Pecorino is sheep milk and saltier, so taste before adding more salt.

Use: 1 cup full-fat coconut milk.

Works well anywhere the dish already has spice, chilli or lime to carry the coconut.

Not for: In a delicate cream sauce the coconut is unmistakable. Blended soaked cashews are the neutral option.