Raw food substitution lists are integral to your raw food kitchen.
Here is a raw food substitution list that you may find comes in handy.
It's preferable to have everything on your raw food diet shopping list before you attempt to make a recipe. But of course sometimes substitutions are necessary because you might not have all the right raw food ingredients on hand.
I almost always substitute cashews for macadamia nuts (and vice versa) depending on what's on sale at my local health food store. For example, I've made raw alfredo sauce and raw mayonnaise with both cashews or macadamia nuts because both nuts are very creamy and oily. If interested in nut substitutions you may also find this podcast about nut substitutions useful.
Please let me know if you have any substitution tips.
Raw food substitution list
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar = 1 tablespoon honey (not vegan) = 1 tablespoon medjool dates (but not all recipes can use dates instead - depends on the recipe)
- 1 tablespoon hemp oil = 1 tablespoon cold pressed olive oil
- 1 vanilla bean = 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cocoa = 1 teaspoon carob powder
- 1 cup walnuts = 1 cup pecans
- 1 cup cashews = 1 cup macadamia nuts
- 1 tablespoon Nama Shoyu = 1 tablespoon Braggs Liquid = 1 tablespoon soy sauce (not raw)
- 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds = 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon fresh herbs = 1/2 tablespoon dried herbs
I hope you have found these raw food substitutions useful. Please add comments below and I'll update this list periodically.
Comments
Top voted
Staci Hall
Mar 31, 2013
Staci Hall
Apr 01, 2013
The Rawtarian
Apr 01, 2013
All
deer4
Jul 21, 2021
Hi! What can I use as a substitute for bananas? Also cashews? Thank You!
Vegan Garden
Mar 14, 2016
That's a great idea!..I am so impressed… I am not very skilled at this sort of thing, but you make it look so easy!
The Rawtarian
Mar 15, 2016
Thanks!
ChrisRaw
Jan 05, 2016
Hey Laura,
when i wanna use carob instead of cacoa, do i have to add more off the wet stuff aswell because i have double the amount of powder?
Like in the raw chocolates, raw choc truffel or raw choc fudge e.g.?
The Rawtarian
Jan 06, 2016
Hi Chris -- it depends on the scale of the recipe. In most cases, you'll be fine leaving the rest of the recipe as is, since usually cocoa powder is a small amount of ingredients in relation to the rest of the recipe.
Some minor exceptions come to mind, like in the case of my 1 minutes chocolate fudge: https://www.therawtarian.com/raw-chocolate-fudge-1-minute
ChrisRaw
Jan 08, 2016
I tested some mixes and made the fudge with
5 tablespoons Carob (instead of 3 cacao)
4 teaspoons Coconut oil (instead of 2)
2 teaspoons honey (´same /the honey i got is a wild mountain honey, so its very intense, maybe a little more honey needed otherwise)
The Rawtarian
Jan 12, 2016
Chris - thanks for sharing your amounts!
It's comments like yours that make the raw community awesome.
Hannah
Feb 12, 2015
Hey,
I was just wondering what you could use as a substitute for dates as this seems to appear as a main/base ingredient in a lot of sweet raw recipes? And also what the ratio of dates:substitute item would be?
Thank you :) x
The Rawtarian
Feb 12, 2015
Hi Hannah! It definitely depends on the recipe, and in general I don't recommend substituting.. (I recommend looking for a recipe that works for you with all ingredients as written.)
That being said, raisins and dried prunes are excellent substitutions for dates. For example, in a raw pie crust using raisins or dried prunes instead is totally fine. Generally, dried prunes are a bit more moist than raisins.
Janace
Oct 02, 2014
This is so helpful! Can you add the equivalent for pure vanilla powder?
The Rawtarian
Oct 06, 2014
1:1 ratio for pure vanilla powder :)
Kathy Derrick
Jul 01, 2014
Can I substitute raw almonds for raw cashews in a crust recipe?
Thanks!
The Rawtarian
Jul 06, 2014
Hi Kathy! In a CRUST recipe, yes!
Staci Hall
Apr 01, 2013
The Rawtarian
Apr 01, 2013
Staci Hall
Mar 31, 2013
The Rawtarian
Mar 31, 2013
The Rawtarian
Mar 24, 2013
Robin Schick
Mar 22, 2013
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