By Science + Fourchette
Transforming your diet so that it becomes more plant-based involves many small changes in the kitchen. Whether it's for your health, the environment or animal welfare, your dietary decisions will impact your culinary experiences—for the better! Here's how to replace animal fats with plant-based options without changing the taste of your dishes.
Making a choice
If your culinary repertoire revolves around butter or lard, you’ll be happy to know that there are many plant-based alternatives. Olive oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, and more. Yes, you’ve got options!
Replace your repertoire
Substituting a plant-based oil for butter can be a good idea if you want to reduce your saturated fat intake or experience lactose intolerance. In general, the same amount of oil can be substituted for butter. For example, you can use one tablespoon of oil if a recipe calls for one tablespoon of butter. Simple, isn't it?
Taste, taste, and taste some more
Not all plant-based fats have the same flavours. Some taste more pronounced and add a flair to your dishes. For example, organic unrefined canola oil has a slightly "buttery" taste. Others are neutral (like grapeseed oil, which is deodorized) or deodorized (such as deodorized avocado oil), which means they won't taste anything. Keep that in mind before you start cooking!
Mild, medium, or high
Some oils are more heat tolerant than others. At very high temperatures, forget about delicate cold-pressed oils with lower smoke points. Instead, opt for robust oils, such as sunflower oil for cooking, grapeseed oil and deodorized avocado oil.
Make sure you read: the smoke point demystified
To make batters rise
When it comes to substituting fats in baking, there are always a few things to remember. Butter has its own unique flavour that can be difficult to replicate with oil. It may be necessary to add essences or aromatics to compensate for this difference.
If you decide to replace the butter with oil in a cake, for example, you will need to adjust the amount of liquid to obtain the right consistency. As a general rule, 20% of the total weight should be removed. For example, a recipe that calls for 100 g of butter will use 80 g of plant-based oil (or about 80 ml). You will enjoy a lighter, less greasy taste! There will always be a bit of trial and error, but that's the fun of cooking, right?
Butter or coconut oil?
Coconut oil can produce a similar effect to butter. At room temperature, coconut oil is actually solid. You can easily use it to make shortbread doughs, pie crusts, and some types of cookies. Simply use the same amount of coconut oil as you would butter.
Organic virgin coconut oil has a coconut flavour, so keep that in mind when substituting it in a recipe. If you don't want that flavour, use organic deodorized coconut oil. Coconut oil can make baked goods moister and airier than butter. It's definitely a winner!