There are really a lot of alternatives out there when you urgently need a fill-in for vegetable oil. The questions you need to ask yourself are "what is it I need it for?" and "how health-conscious do I need to be when opting for one of the subs?".
If you are in middle of cooking something mouth-watering and have suddenly noticed an empty vegetable oil bottle, then do not fret. There is no need to run to the store. You can easily utilize provisions present in your kitchen to substitute veggie oil and make a good dish. In the end, it all boils down to the type of food you are preparing. Just make sure that you don’t make any mistake in the measurement as it can easily lead to cooking disasters.
Understand the properties of the substitute and only then experiment while cooking.
When you urgently need to coat a cooking pan pre-cooking and have completely run out of vegetable oil, safely use cooking spray. It comes in various flavors and makes a good substitute for vegetable oil for this purpose. It also happens to be quite easily available in the market. But if you have other greater purposes that you need veg oil for, check out the elaborate list below.
Good Substitutes for Vegetable Oil
(Unsweetened, All-Natural) Applesauce
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with ¾ to 1 cup of unsweetened, all-natural Applesauce.
– This is a classic low-fat option when compared to other oils.
– This substitute is grand for even those who cannot consume food cooked in soy oil due to allergies.
Use it for baking cakes and cookies. It will give you the most moist and delicious results ever.
It also does its job pretty well when used in strongly-flavored, fairly dense muffins, quick breads, and baked goods containing chocolate.
(Mashed) Ripe Bananas
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with ¾ cup of mashed ripe Bananas
Use this specially when you make rich cakes and breads or while baking. Sheer, decadent magic!!!
Prune Purée
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with ¾ to 1 cup of Prune Purée
This will give you a darker baked product, given the naturally deep color of the fruit.
Reduce the amount of sweetener or sugar that you use in the recipe as Prune purée is sweet.
Since puréed prune tends to render baked goods rather dry, you will need to add some extra fat-free milk or water to the preparation for maintaining the texture.
Purée often adds a nice flavor to baked goodies. Try using it when making spice bread.
Apple or Pear Fruit Butter
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with ¾ cup of Apple or Pear Fruit Butter
Reduce the amount of sweetener or sugar that you use in the recipe. Fruit butters are sweet and, therefore, end up sweetening your baked item.
Ideal for baking purposes of goodies which have natural fall flavors. Try using it when making cinnamon-flavored zucchini bread for just the sake of experimentation and you will be surprised.
Pumpkin Purée
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with 1 cup of Pumpkin Purée
Works great for baked goodies, like cranberry bread.
(Crushed) Pineapple
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with ¾ cup of drained and crushed Pineapple
Grand for baked goodies.
Is greatly complimentary with quick breads or cookies.
Cranberry Juice
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with 1 cup of Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice
– This fill-in will give exceptionally soft and moist baked delights.
– It will not tamper with the original taste of the recipe.
Best used for cupcakes.
Yogurt
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with 1 cup of Plain No-fat or Low-fat Yogurt OR Vanilla Yogurt
– You will need to reduce the amount of water, milk, or any other liquid you use in the recipe for yogurt adds water to the dish.
– Your dish will get a slightly tangy taste to it.
It is actually perfect as a sub when making quick bread varieties. Use this when making low-fat banana, cranberry, or zucchini bread without fear.
Coconut Oil
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with 1 cup of Coconut Oil OR Cold-pressed Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
Armed with capric acid, caprylic acid, lauric acid (44%), and myristic acid (16.8%) , coconut oil is a very good fill-in for vegetable oil since its consistency is identical to that of veggie oil when heated.
– Please make it a point to ensure that all the other ingredients are at the room temperature. Coconut oil hardens and solidifies when it comes into contact with cold items. You need to avoid this.
– You need to use a wooden spoon when heating coconut oil to prevent yourself from getting scalded.
Special Note:
According to Kris-Etherton – a panel-member of the Dietary Reference Intakes for Macronutrients of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and Institute of Medicine –
“… even though coconut oil is cholesterol-free, it is still a saturated fat that needs to be limited in the diet and if you are looking for real health benefits, switch from saturated fats to unsaturated fats by using vegetable oils like soybean, canola, corn, or olive oil.”
Think well before using Coconut Oil as a Vegetable Oil substitute.
Extra Light Olive Oil
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with 1 cup of Extra Light Olive Oil
– This variety has the mildest flavor of all the olive oil varieties available.
– Choose only high quality virgin oil from a good brand as its taste can differ from product to product.
You can replace veg oil with extra virgin olive oil for making sauces, salads, and marinades.
Using olive oil for making fries may not be a good idea as it does not have a high boiling point which is required for deep-frying unless you have a super high-quality product with a very high smoke point above 400° F (204° C) at hand.
Mayonnaise
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with 1 cup of molten Mayonnaise
You won’t notice a great difference in the taste with Vegetable Oil.
This substitute works well when baking or pan-frying fish and meat, especially chicken, and when stir-frying vegetables.
Butter
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with 1 cup of molten Butter (salted or unsalted)
– Butter will definitely give a richer product both taste- and texture-wise.
– When using the salted variety, keep in mind that you will need to adjust the amount of salt you add accordingly.
You can use butter for baking (esp. brownies and cornbread) and frying stuff.
Lard
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with 1 cup of lard
The plus point of using lard is that the difference in taste between lard and vegetable oil is not very noticeable.
Use it especially for frying.
Vegetable Shortening
» Replace 1 Cup Vegetable Oil with 1 cup of vegetable shortening
Vegetable shortening is best used as a substitute when frying foodstuffs.
Finally, what matters is healthy food which is also easy on your palate. Though it is really difficult to find an alternative that will retain the exact taste of vegetable oil, you might find one that tastes better!
