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Substitutions · 194 dishes here use it
Two ingredients sharing a name. The cheap one is for the pan and the good one is for the finish, and pouring the good one into a hot skillet burns off exactly what you paid for.
Everything below is judged against that job. A swap that covers it is a swap; one that only looks similar is not.
38 of the 194 dishes here that mention olive oil list it as optional — 20% of them. In those, the correct substitution is nothing.
Functional substitution system
For olive oil, the page's working definition is: Two ingredients sharing a name. The cheap one is for the pan and the good one is for the finish, and pouring the good one into a hot skillet burns off exactly what you paid for. 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
a little more than one for one
Instead · 3
one part sesame to four neutral
These dishes list olive oil as optional. They were written to work without it, so no ratio is needed and nothing has to be bought.
Showing 30 of 38. 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.
Showing the 30 shortest of 69.
The company olive oil keeps in this library, counted off required ingredients. A swap that argues with the top two is the wrong swap, whatever a chart says.