Margarine/Butter Substitute

"Ghee" is clarified butter that is often used in Indian cuisine. Apparently they make a vegan version too! I found ghee at my local Indian grocer. They had a couple of varieties, one of which was hydrogenated and the other was mostly palm oil. Either way, not healthy. But it works better than regular oil as a butter substitute and doesn't contain any soy. Several brands are available, so if you can't find any at a store near you just do a google search.

Spreadable Oil

I read somewhere that olive oil will solidify if you leave it in the fridge for a bit. So, I put a bit of first cold pressed oil into the refrigerator, and voila out came spreadable olive oil. Its not quite the same as margarine, but with a little bit of salt it could be adequate.

Make sure the oil you use says "first cold pressed" on the bottle. The oil is darker and greener than the cheaper stuff commonly used in cooking. First pressed oil comes from the initial pressing of the olives so has a great deal more flavor. This won't make any difference as far as solidifying is concerned, but the taste is so much better!

Margarine and Oil Conversion

Online search to find a soy-free, dairy-free, non-hydrogenated vegan margarine is so far unsuccessful.

I found a recipe for homemade that I haven't tried, but here it is:

http://www.angelfire.com/mi/FAST/margarine.html

it has artificial flavoring though, gross!


For use in baking, here is a conversion for substituting oil for margarine.

1 cup margarine = 3/4 cup oil