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Substitutions · 64 dishes here use it
Loud, cooling, and easily wrecked. Bruise it, do not shred it — a knife blackens the edges and gives you a grassy note instead of a clean one.
Everything below is judged against that job. A swap that covers it is a swap; one that only looks similar is not.
56% of the 64 dishes here that mention mint already list it as optional. Before you look for a replacement, check whether you are in one of them.
Functional substitution system
For mint, the page's working definition is: Loud, cooling, and easily wrecked. Bruise it, do not shred it — a knife blackens the edges and gives you a grassy note instead of a clean one. The swap cards below are judged against that job rather than visual resemblance.
Job → candidate → side effects → small test → correct.
1 · Job
What is the missing ingredient doing?
2 · Candidate
Choose the shelf item that replaces that function.
3 · Side effects
Check water, fat, salt, acid, sweetness, and texture.
4 · Small test
Change a spoonful or small portion first when possible.
5 · Correct
Taste again and move only the axis that is still wrong.
Instead · 1
one for one
Instead · 2
one for one
What none of them do
There is no swap for mint in a julep or a mojito. Those drinks are mint with alcohol in them, and every other herb makes a different drink that should be given a different name.
These dishes list mint as optional. They were written to work without it, so no ratio is needed and nothing has to be bought.
Showing 30 of 36. The rest are on the ingredient page.
These need it and are short enough that nothing hides: 4 required ingredients or fewer. Make the swap a decision rather than a repair.
The company mint keeps in this library, counted off required ingredients. A swap that argues with the top two is the wrong swap, whatever a chart says.