Out of Baking soda, one case
Can you substitute yeast for baking soda?
3 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Baking powder
3 tsp for every 1 tsp of baking soda
No. Yeast and baking soda both make gas, but yeast needs a kneaded dough and an hour or more to do it, and a baking soda recipe is a quick batter that goes straight into the oven. Yeast also does none of baking soda's other work: it does not neutralize acid, brown the crust or help cookies spread. If you are out of baking soda, use 3 teaspoons of baking powder per teaspoon of baking soda.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- The tweak —
- Use 3 tsp (1 tbsp) per teaspoon of baking soda, mixed into the dry ingredients.
- Best for —
- cookies
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
One casethe full baking soda card
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 tsp baking soda | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baking powdercookies | 3 tspTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Self-rising flourpancakes | 1 cup per cup of flourYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 3 | Whipped egg whitespancakes and waffles | 2 whitesYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| Not a swap | Active dry or instant yeast | not a swapNot for this | Not for this |
| Not a swap | Nutritional yeast | not a swapNot for this | Not for this |
Baking powder
a little tangier if the recipe has buttermilk, yogurt, brown sugar
Baking powder is baking soda with its own acid already added, which is why it takes three times as much to give the same lift.
- Best for
- cookies, banana bread and muffins, pancakes and quick breads
- Taste
- a little tangier if the recipe has buttermilk, yogurt, brown sugar, molasses or natural cocoa
- Prep
- Use 3 tsp (1 tbsp) per teaspoon of baking soda, mixed into the dry ingredients.
- Where it fails
- Recipes that count on soda to neutralize an acid: that acid is now left in, so expect a tangier taste, a paler color and cookies that spread less.
Self-rising flour
paler and slightly tangier in acidic batters
Flour with baking powder and salt mixed in. It replaces the recipe's flour, not the soda itself.
- Best for
- pancakes, biscuits, simple quick breads
- Prep
- Swap it cup for cup for the all-purpose flour, and leave out the baking soda and the salt.
- Where it fails
- Cookies, which come out puffier and more cake-like, and recipes with very little flour.
Whipped egg whites
no change; less browning
Beaten air in place of chemical lift. It works only in batters thin enough to fold.
- Best for
- pancakes and waffles, light cakes
- Prep
- Separate eggs the recipe already uses where you can, whip the whites to soft peaks and fold them in last.
- Where it fails
- Cookies, banana bread and other dense batters, where the air is lost in mixing.
Active dry or instant yeast
bready and slightly fermented
Yeast is a living leavener that ferments slowly inside an elastic dough. Baking soda is a base that reacts with the acid in a batter within seconds.
- Best for
- a different recipe written for yeast: sandwich bread, rolls, pizza dough
- Where it fails
- Cookies, banana bread, muffins, pancakes, soda bread and cakes. The batter sets before the yeast has worked, so the bake is flat and dense and tastes of raw yeast.
To use up the yeast, bake from a yeast recipe. One packet, 2 ¼ tsp, raises about 4 cups of flour.
Nutritional yeast
savory and cheesy
Yeast that has been heated until it is inactive. It is a savory seasoning and makes no gas.
- Best for
- nothing here: it seasons, it does not leaven
- Where it fails
- It gives no rise in any amount and adds a cheese-like taste to a sweet bake.
Tips for substituting baking soda
5 tips- Out of baking soda: 3 tsp baking powder per teaspoon of soda. For ½ tsp of soda, that is 1 ½ tsp baking powder.
- If the recipe already lists baking powder as well, add the 3 tsp per teaspoon of soda on top of what is there.
- Baking soda in a recipe is often there to balance buttermilk, yogurt, brown sugar, molasses or natural cocoa. With baking powder in its place the bake rises but tastes tangier and browns less.
- If yeast is all you have, change what you are making: a yeast bread or rolls from a yeast recipe, not a yeast version of a soda recipe.
- Yeast does not stand in for baking soda outside baking either. It will not soften beans, set a pretzel crust or clean anything.
Questions
5 questionsHow much yeast do I use in place of 1 teaspoon of baking soda?
None: there is no conversion between them. Yeast needs time, warmth and a kneaded dough, and a baking soda recipe gives it none of those. Use 3 teaspoons of baking powder per teaspoon of baking soda.
Can I use yeast in place of baking soda in cookies?
No. Cookie dough is too rich and too dry for yeast to work in the time it takes to bake, and the cookies come out dense with a yeast taste. Use 3 teaspoons of baking powder per teaspoon of soda and expect paler cookies that spread less.
Can I use yeast in place of baking soda in banana bread?
Not in a standard banana bread recipe. Use 3 teaspoons of baking powder per teaspoon of baking soda. Yeasted banana breads exist, but they are kneaded doughs with a rising time and a different recipe from start to finish.
What is the difference between yeast and baking soda?
Yeast is a living organism that ferments sugar and releases gas slowly, which also gives bread its flavor. Baking soda is a mineral base that releases gas at once when it meets an acid and moisture. Yeast suits doughs that are kneaded and left to rise; baking soda suits batters that are mixed and baked straight away.
Can I leave the baking soda out and add nothing?
The bake will be flat, dense and pale, and if the recipe has an acid such as buttermilk it will taste sour. If you have no baking powder either, fold in 2 whipped egg whites per teaspoon of soda in a thin batter, or choose a recipe that does not need a leavener.