Fine, not everything. But many things.
Everyone’s fridge has one particular staple food that never runs out not because it never finishes, but because it will be consistently replenished even before it runs out. It could be potatoes. It could be rice. It could be eggs. Some wish it to be ice cream. Or chocolate. Or fried chicken…. HMMM fried chicken. As much as I wish mine is fried chicken, it’s not. It’s yogurt. Yeap. You don’t believe me? I don’t believe me either. But it is. Yogurt.
When I bought my first tub of yogurt, it was shoved into the darkest corner of my fridge. No one saw it. No one touched it. Then, the dreaded expiration date came near. Not wanting to just dump my 4 dollars away, I had to eat the little bugger. Trying to finish that tub of yogurt was like standing in the hot dessert sun. Or not being able to fart in a room full of people. Or simply not being allowed to eat fried chicken. It was pure torture.
With desperation on my side, I quickly learned how to whip up sandwich spreads, salad dressings and dips from yogurt. I also started substituting yogurt for milk and oil and then quickly ventured to substituting butter, mayonnaise, sour cream and even ricotta cheese in lasagna. As long as I could use it as a substitute, I did. I knew the cultures would die when used in baking, but yogurt is so much more digestible and our bodies will still be getting the calcium and protein. Then one day, just like that, I was running out of yogurt. And it kept happening again and again. It wasn’t torture to finish it anymore. It was torture having to constantly keep it in stock. On the bright side, farting is reduced thanks to yogurt.
I made my very own “yogurt as a substitute” table just because I can. Also, if you’re like me and need everything to be orderly visually and accessible whenever I need them, this table is a keeper.
| Recipe calls for: | Replace with (plain yogurt) | |
| Butter | 1 cup butter | ½ cup butter + ¼ cup yogurt |
| Oil/Shortening | 1 cup oil | ½ cup oil + ¼ cup & 2 tablespoons yogurt |
| Milk | 1 cup milk | Stir ¾ cup yogurt + ¼ cup water |
| Buttermilk | 1 cup buttermilk | 1 cup yogurt, stirred. |
| Sour Cream | 1 cup sour cream | 1 cup yogurt |
| Mayonnaise | 1 cup mayo | 1 cup yogurt |
| Heavy Cream | 1 cup heavy cream | 1 cup yogurt, strained overnight |
| Ricotta Cheese | 1 cup ricotta cheese | 1 cup yogurt, strained overnight |
| Cream Cheese | 1 cup cream cheese | 1 cup yogurt, strained overnight |
| Eggs | 1 egg | ¼ cup yogurt |
Note:
For some substitutes, yogurt is strained to drain excess liquid off it or it is stirred to thin it out.
If you don’t want to go through the trouble to strain the yogurt, use Greek yogurt instead as it is thicker in nature.
To maintain a rich and creamy consistency of the yogurt, don’t stir it first. Instead, gently fold them in the mixture.
If you don’t want to do a full fledged substitution, do a half substitution instead to still reap 50% of the benefits and fart 50% more.
What else can yogurt substitute?
