Substitutions

Common Equivalents

The substitutions listed below are provided to help with the small language gap that exists between American and British cuisine. Some of the food equivalents listed are not the ideal equivalent, however in a situation where a product is often unavailable or not in circulation, it’s incredibly useful to know the best-fitting substitute for a particular ingredient.

Some of the equivalents listed are not representative of the exact language. “Sausages”, for example, are also known as “sausages” in the UK, but are sometimes referred to as “bangers” as in “bangers and mash”, hence this is noted.

A

aged cheddar cheese farmhouse cheddar cheese
All Spice / Pumpkin pie spice Mixed Spice
all-purpose flour plain flour
allspice mixed spice

B

bacon streaky bacon
baked potato jacket potato
baking sheet baking tray
baking soda bicarbonate of soda
baron of beef two sirloins in one roast
beef cut from the rump silverside
beef stock brown stock
beer with lemonade shandy
beet beetroot
bell pepper, green pepper capsicum
black cod coal fish/coley
blueberry bilberry
bologna polony
bouillon cube stock cubes
bread flour strong flour
broiler grill
brown sugar barbados sugar
Brown Sugar Barbados Sugar

C

cake/baking pan cake tin
canadian bacon back bacon
candied fruit glace fruits, candied peel
canned tuna tinned tuna
catsup, tomato tomato ketchup
celery rib celery stick
cheesecloth muslin
chicken or fish stock white stock
chicory endive
chocolate sprinkles chocolate vermicelli
chop cutlet
cilantro coriander, fresh
clams cockles
clotted cream devonshire cream
coffee sugar sugar crystals
concentrated fruit syrup cordial
concord grapes black grapes
confectioner’s / powdered sugar icing sugar
cooked oatmeal porridge
cookies, crackers biscuits
corn maize
corned beef, canned pressed ham corned beef, bully beef, salt beef
cornstarch cornflour
cotton candy candyfloss
crawfish crayfish
cream, light, half-and-half single cream
cumberland sauce oxford sauce
cupcake fairy cake
custard sauce, baked custard custard

D

dark ale brown ale
deep baking dish pie dish
dessert pudding
dhana cilantro
dill pickled gherkin pickled hungarian gherkin
doughnut ring doughnut

E

eggplant aubergine
endive chicory
english muffin crumpet
extract (vanilla, etc.) essence

F

farina semolina
farmers cheese curd cheese
fat from roasted meat dripping
fatback pork fat
fava beans broad beans
filberts hazelnuts
finely granulated sugar caster sugar
fish sticks fish fingers
flank steak skirt steak
For 1/2 teaspoon: Use 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice Cream of Tartar
For 1/4 teaspoon: use 8 drops of Tabasco (or other hot pepper sauce) Ground Red Pepper
For each cup: Measure 1 cup of all-purpose flour, remove 2 Tablespoons and replace with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch Cake flour
For each cup: Mix 1 cup of plain yogurt or sour cream mixed with ¼ cup skim milk (use only 1 cup of the mixture) Buttermilk
For each cup: use 1 cup granulated sugar mixed with 1 Tablespoon molasses Brown sugar
For one cup: Combine 1 cup tomato sauce, ¼ brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons vinegar, 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon, dash of ground cloves and dash of allspice Chili Sauce
french-fried potatoes, fries chips
frosting icing
fruit juice beverage squash

G

ginger snap ginger nut
golden raisins sultanas
graham crackers digestive biscuits
green beans french beans, haricot beans
ground beef, minced steak, mince meat mince
ground meats minced meats

H

ham gammon
hamburger bun bap
hard candy boiled sweet
hard cider cider
hard cider made from pears perry
hard rectangular currant cookie garibaldi
hard-cooked eggs hard-boiled eggs
heaping spoonful heaped spoonful
heavy cream double cream

J

jelly doughnut doughnut
jumbo shrimp king prawns

L

lady finger or boudoir biscuits sponge finger
lamb chop chump chop
large cut of meat to roast joint
large head savoy cabbage large green cabbage
large zucchini marrow
large, thick, round piece of ham gammon
lemon-lime soda lemonade
light brown cane sugar demerara sugar
light corn syrup golden syrup
light corn syrup golden syrup
light cream/thick milk channel island milk/single cream
liverwurst liver sausage
lox smoked salmond

M

maize, sweetcorn etc corn
meat turnover cornish pasty
meatball faggot/collops
molasses treacle
mozzarella or scmorzel cheese caerphilly cheese
muscats (white raisins) sultanas

N

navy bean haricot bean

P

papaya paw paw
pastry shell patty case
peanut groundnut
pie tart
pig’s foot pig’s trotter
pimiento peppers sweet peppers
pit stone
plain yogurt natural yoghurt
plum pudding plum duff
pork shoulder roast hand of pork
porterhouse steak sirloin steak
potato chips crisps
powdered candy sherbet
Pumpkin Pie Spice For 1 teaspoon: Combine 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon allspice, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Q

quiche pan flan tin

R

raisins/seedless, golden sultanas
Raw Sugar Demerara Sugar
raw sugar demerara sugar
raw, unrefined sugar muscovado sugar
Replace with honey Corn syrup
roast large cut of meat with bone
romaine lettuce cos lettuce
round steak/stewing beef chuck steak
rutabagas swede

S

salad cress watercress
saran wrap clingfilm
sausages bangers
scallions, green onions spring or salad onions
seeded stoned
seeds pips
self-rising flour self-raising flour
shortening, vegetable margarine/butter/lard
shoyu sauce tamari sauce
shredded coconut desiccated coconut
shrimp prawns
sirloin rump steak
skillet frying pan
slice rasher
small pork sausage chipolata
small shrimp prawn
small silvery fish whitebait
small turbot brill
smoked haddock finnan haddie
smoked herring kipper
spatula fish slice
spatula fish slice
sprinkles, non-pareils hundreds and thousands
steaks cutlets
strain, strainer sieve
string beans runner beans, french beans
stuffing mixture for meat or fish forcemeat
superfine sugar castor sugar
sweet or bell peppers capsicums

T

taffy toffee
Tart aAples Cooking Apples
tart apples cooking apples
Tenderloin Fillet steak
tenderloin steak fillet steak
to bake an empty pastry case to bake blind
to beat or whip to whip or whisk
to broil to grill
to clean fish to gut fish
to shuck to hull
to strain to sift
tomato paste tomato puree
tuna tunny

U

Use Amaretto Almond extract
Use green onion or scallion tops instead Chives
Use plain yogurt Sour cream
Use red onion Shallots

V

vanilla bean vanilla pod
variety meats (liver, kidney etc) offal
vienna sausages hot dogs

W

wax paper greaseproof paper
white raisins (muscats) sultanas
white snapper or porgy sea bream
whole-kernel corn sweetcorn
wholegrain flour wholemeal flour
wholemeal, wholewheat bread brown bread

Y

yellow squash vegetable marrow

Z

zucchini courgette