Ayran substitutes

Not a substitute so much as the recipe: this is what ayran is, and it takes less time than finding a bottle.

Best for

drinking with kebabs and pide, yogurt soups such as yayla corbasi, marinades for chicken and lamb, batters and doughs, cold cucumber soups

Use plain full-fat or low-fat yogurt with live cultures and no sugar or vanilla. Whisk or blend it cold until completely smooth, then taste for salt, because yogurts vary enormously in tartness and thickness. Greek and strained yogurts are much thicker, so use one part yogurt to one and a half parts water. Add a quarter teaspoon of dried mint per glass if you want the classic version.

Thin, cultured, sour dairy that already has the acidity and pouring consistency ayran needs.

Best for

marinades for chicken and lamb, batters, pancakes and flatbread doughs, cold soups, salad dressings, drinking, once diluted

In cooking this is an excellent swap and needs almost no adjustment. It is a little thicker and noticeably more sour than ayran, with a buttery note ayran does not have, so a marinade tastes tangier and a soup tastes richer. For drinking it is heavier than ayran, so dilute it with a third to a half as much cold water and salt it lightly. Do not use sweetened or buttermilk-flavoured drinks.

Fermented milk drink with a thin body, sharp tang and a very slight natural fizz that echoes carbonated ayran.

Best for

drinking cold, marinades, cold soups, smoothies and savoury drinks

The closest drinking experience, particularly for the fizzy ayran sold in bottles, and it is genuinely refreshing salted. Kefir is tangier and slightly yeasty compared with ayran's clean lactic sourness, and it is thinner, so a soup made with it tastes sharper. It also splits more readily than yogurt when heated, so keep the pan below a simmer and temper it before adding.

The Indian equivalent: yogurt thinned with water and salted, usually with cumin, mint or curry leaf.

Best for

drinking with spicy food, cooling a meal, cold soups, marinades

Structurally identical, which is why it works so well, but bottled chaas and salted lassi are usually seasoned with roasted cumin and sometimes ginger or green chilli, so a Turkish yogurt soup made with it tastes subtly Indian. That is not a disaster, just noticeable. Make sure you buy the salted kind and not sweet or mango lassi, which are a completely different drink.

For when the only yogurt you have is thick and strained.

Best for

drinking, soups, marinades, sauces that need body

Because the whey has been drained out, these are much thicker and more concentrated, so they need more water than plain yogurt and they still finish richer and creamier in the mouth than real ayran, which is deliberately thin and quenching. In a soup that richness is welcome; in a glass alongside a heavy kebab it can feel cloying, so add more water than you think you need.

The dairy-free answer, using plain unsweetened coconut, soy, almond or oat yogurt.

Best for

dairy-free drinks, vegan marinades, cold soups, dressings

Plant yogurts are usually less acidic than dairy yogurt and sometimes carry a bean or coconut flavour, so the drink tastes flatter and less sharply refreshing; the lemon juice restores the missing tang. Coconut yogurt is the richest and reads as slightly sweet, soy the most neutral. In a marinade you also lose the lactic acid that helps tenderise meat, so lean on the lemon and a longer soak.

The two swaps people reach for that genuinely do not work, worth stating plainly.

Best for

nothing here

Milk soured with lemon juice or vinegar gives you acidity but none of ayran's cultured tang, and it will curdle into grainy flecks the moment it meets a hot soup. Sweetened drinking yogurts, sweet lassi and flavoured kefir turn a savoury dish sugary in a way you cannot correct with salt. If none of the substitutes above are available, plain water with a squeeze of lemon in a marinade is more honest than either of these.