Read here to learn about the healthiest substitute for ghee! Many ethnic dishes call for ghee as a main ingredient. Meanwhile, ghee is hard to find and if you do happen to find it in the supermarket, its going to be expensive! Non withstanding ghee is still a great cooking fat because of it’s dairy free, has a high smoke point and great nutty flavor. To learn more about the healthiest ghee alternatives that wont break the bank or the smoke point read this short article.
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Best Substitute for Ghee
There are plenty of websites that tout about many ghee substitutes, in fact there are a lot of them. While they all may work from a cooking standpoint (due to their high smoke points) they aren’t all actually good for you.
Ghee is good for you in small quantities. It’s a much healthier option then cooking with other types of fat at high temperatures. But if you can’t use ghee, you might as well use another fat that’s equally healthy.
Here is a list of all of the ghee substitutes. Not including the healthy ones. In the section below I’ll go over my top choices for gluten free, dairy free, vegan and anti-inflammatory diets.
- Clarified Butter
- Butter
- Sunflower Oil
- Canola Oil
- Rapeseed Oil
- Sesame Seed Oil
- Toasted Sesame Seed Oil
- Mustard Seed Oil
- Vegetable Oil
- Coconut Oil
- Soybean Oil
Not all of these are healthy. I mean we all know that soybean oil is like eating cancer. Vegetable oil isn’t so great for you either since it produces inflammation. Many of these oils are super high in omega-6’s fatty acids which is partially what makes them inflammatory. Other factors such as the way they’re chemically extracted also contribute to their “unhealthy-ness.”
But Fear not. After going over what ghee is and why it’s dairy free (yes shocking, I know). I’ll get into the list of the options that are actually health supportive.
What is Ghee
Ghee is a fascinating ingredient because despite the fact that it’s made from butter, its completely dairy free and can be tolerated by lactose intolerant and paleo eaters. Ghee is made by slowly simmering butter until the liquid has evaporated and all that is left is the butter fat. Then the butter fat is strained through a cheese cloth.
Since the milk solids have been removed ghee is technically dairy free! The butter fat is toasted until it has a golden brown nutty flavor. Ghee is exceptional for cooking food at a high temperature since it has a smoke point of 482 degrees F.
Is Ghee Gluten Free?
Yes! Ghee is completely gluten free and is therefore suitable for those on a gluten free diet to eat. Since ghee comes from butter, which is naturally gluten free, ghee is gluten free as well. It’s pretty are to say that almost all brands of ghee you buy will be gluten free unless they’ve been combined with other ingredients.
Read this quick article explaining why Butter is gluten free and how to figure out if it is contaminated with gluten or not.
Is Ghee Dairy Free?
Ghee is a fascinating ingredient because despite the fact that it’s made from butter, its completely dairy free and can be tolerated by lactose intolerant and paleo eaters. Since all of the milk solids are cooked out of the ghee and only the butterfat is left, butter is technically dairy free. So ghee is great for those who are on a diary free or vegetarian diet but it’s not vegan since it’s derived from real dairy.
Ghee is also easier to digest then other fats and can be great for those who have digestive issues!
butter is the next best substitute for ghee. It’s also the easiest to use since it’s common and easy to find. Unless you are vegan, chances are that there is some butter sitting in your fridge right now. The smoke point of butter is lower than that of clarified butter and ghee at 302. It’s also easy to use butter as a ghee alternative since you can swap them out at a 1:1 ratio. So you can use regular butter instead of ghee as long as you aren’t cooking at high temperatures. If you do the butter will burn and the food will taste bitter.
Yes there are many types of oils that you can substitute for ghee because they have a high smoke point and a nutty flavor. These oils include olive oil, toasted sesame oil, sesame oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil, soybean oil and canola oil.
What Are The Best Substitutes For Ghee?
Clarified Butter – Clarified butter is probably the best substitute for ghee in terms of flavor and cook-ability. You can swap out ghee for clarified butter at a 1:1 ratio which makes it simple to use as a ghee alternative. Clarified butter still has some of the milk solids which lowers its smoke point slightly to 450. Making it suitable for most types of cooking.
Butter – After clarified butter, butter is the next best substitute for ghee. It’s also the easiest to use since it’s common and easy to find. Unless you are vegan, chances are that there is some butter sitting in your fridge right now. The smoke point of butter is lower than that of clarified butter and ghee at 302. It’s also easy to use butter as a ghee alternative since you can swap them out at a 1:1 ratio.
Coconut Oil – Coconut’s nutty flavor and consistency make it a great substitute for ghee since both will infuse the food with a nutty flavor. The smoke point for olive oil is also pretty high, ringing in at 350 the same as butter. When using coconut oil as a ghee alternative use a 3:4 ratio.
Olive Oil – Olive oil has a high smoke point and a strong nutty flavor which makes it a suitable substitute for ghee. It’s not my favorite choice since the flavor isn’t the same. But if you don’t like the flavor of ghee using olive oil may actually be a better choice. Olive oil has a smoke point of 400. But if you’re frying the oil the smoke point drops to about 350-375 degrees.
What Are Vegan Substitutes For Ghee?
Coconut Oil – Coconut’s nutty flavor and consistency make it a great substitute for ghee since both will infuse the food with a nutty flavor. The smoke point for olive oil is also pretty high, ringing in at 350 the same as butter. When using coconut oil as a ghee alternative use a 3:4 ratio.
Olive Oil – Olive oil has a high smoke point and a strong nutty flavor which makes it a suitable substitute for ghee. It’s not my favorite choice since the flavor isn’t the same. But if you don’t like the flavor of ghee using olive oil may actually be a better choice. Olive oil has a smoke point of 400. But if you’re frying the oil the smoke point drops to about 350-375 degrees.
Toasted Sesame Oil – Sesame oil is a great alternative for ghee because it’s extracted from fresh sesame seeds which gives it a toasty and nutty aroma, just like ghee! I’ve added toasted sesame oil on to my life of healthy substitutes for ghee since it has anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants. The smoke point of sesame oil is even higher than gee at 520 degrees! Substitute sesame oil for ghee at a 2:3 ratio.
What is the Difference Between Ghee and Clarified Butter?
The difference between ghee and clarifed butter is that ghee is cooked longer and is strained after cooking to ensure that there are no milk solids left. Clarified butter is cooked for less time and still has some milk in it.
- So ghee has a longer shelf life than clarified butter.
- also ghee doesn’t need to be refrigerated and clarified butter does.
- Ghee is dairy free and clarified butter is not.
- Paleo and dairy free people can eat ghee but not clarified butter.
So even though ghee and clarified butter are similar, they aren’t exactly the same. But the similarities is what makes clarified butter a great substitute for ghee.
What Are the Smoke Points and Ratios for Healthy Ghee Alternatives?
I listed the ratios and smoke points for each of the ghee substitutes in the section above but these charts make it much easier to see the difference between different ghee alternatives. So you can quickly decide which one you want to use!
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