Baking Soda Substitutes: What to Use When You Run Out
Out of baking soda? Learn how to use baking powder or yeast to successfully leaven your baked goods without compromising texture.
Best substitutes
| Replace with | Ratio | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Baking Powder | 3 tsp baking powder | cookies, cakes, muffins |
| Self-Rising Flour | 1:1 for AP Flour | pancakes, biscuits |
| Whipped Egg Whites | Use recipe's eggs | waffles, sponge cakes |
How Baking Soda Works
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a pure alkaline powder. In baking, it requires two things to work: an acid (like buttermilk, lemon juice, or brown sugar) and moisture. When combined, a chemical reaction occurs instantly, creating carbon dioxide bubbles that lift your batter and make it light and fluffy. Because it acts immediately, batters made with baking soda should be baked right away. Substituting it requires understanding how to replace both its leavening power and its alkaline nature.
The Best Substitute: Baking Powder
If you don’t have baking soda, baking powder is your best alternative. Baking powder actually contains baking soda, plus a powdered acid (usually cream of tartar). However, because baking powder is a complete leavening package, it is significantly weaker than pure baking soda.
To substitute, use 3 teaspoons of baking powder for every 1 teaspoon of baking soda required in the recipe.
Crucial Adjustment: Because your recipe already contains an acidic ingredient (meant to react with the missing baking soda), adding baking powder (which brings its own acid) can make the final product taste slightly metallic or overly tangy. To fix this, you should also replace the acidic liquid in your recipe with a neutral one. For example, if the recipe calls for buttermilk, swap it for regular milk.
Self-Rising Flour
If you are making cookies, pancakes, or biscuits, you can swap your regular all-purpose flour for self-rising flour. Self-rising flour already contains baking powder and salt. Simply omit the baking soda and salt from your recipe entirely, and use the self-rising flour as a 1:1 replacement for the regular flour. Again, you may want to swap acidic liquids (like buttermilk) for neutral milk.
Whipped Egg Whites
If you are completely out of chemical leaveners, you can use mechanical leavening for certain recipes like pancakes, waffles, or light sponge cakes. Separate your eggs, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, and gently fold them into your batter right before cooking. The trapped air will expand in the heat and lift the batter.