Gianduja substitutes
Gianduja substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Melted chocolate blended with hazelnut butter
Same amount as the gianduja
2 parts chocolate to 1 part hazelnut butter by weight
This is essentially the recipe for gianduja. Melt milk or dark chocolate gently, stir in smooth unsweetened hazelnut butter until glossy, and add a spoonful of powdered sugar if you want it sweeter.
Make it: melt good milk or dark chocolate and stir in smooth hazelnut butter or praline paste at roughly one part paste to two parts chocolate by weight. That is genuinely equivalent and it sets properly. Plain milk chocolate works 1:1 if you accept losing all the hazelnut. Nutella works 1:1 by weight in soft applications like a ganache or a cake filling, but it will never set firm, because it contains no cocoa butter, so a molded gianduja bonbon made with Nutella stays soft and greasy. Gianduja is doing two jobs: the cocoa butter gives it structure and snap, and the hazelnut oil gives it aroma and a softer melt, so match whichever one your recipe depends on.
- Verdict —
- Works
- Best for —
- ganache
Updated 19 Aug 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of gianduja | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melted chocolate blended with hazelnut butterganache | Same amount2 parts chocolate to 1 part hazelnut butter by weightWorks | Works |
| 2 | Chocolate blended with praline pasteentremets | Same amount2 parts chocolate to 1 part praline pasteWorks | Works |
| 3 | Milk chocolate aloneganache | Same amountTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Nutella blended with melted chocolateganache | Same amountEqual parts Nutella and melted chocolateWorks | Works |
| 5 | Nutella or another chocolate hazelnut spread alonecake swirls | Same amount by weightSoft applications onlyYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Almond gianduja or chocolate blended with almond butterganache | Same amountTweak it | Tweak it |
Melted chocolate blended with hazelnut butter
similar taste and texture
This is essentially the recipe for gianduja. Melt milk or dark chocolate gently, stir in smooth unsweetened hazelnut butter until glossy, and add a spoonful of powdered sugar if you want it sweeter.
- Best for
- ganache, bonbon fillings, molded giandujotti, cake fillings, spreads
Use milk chocolate for a classic gianduja profile and dark for a more grown-up one. Because you are adding liquid nut fat, the blend is softer than the chocolate you started with, which is exactly how real gianduja behaves.
Chocolate blended with praline paste
similar taste and texture
The same approach but with caramelized hazelnuts instead of plain roasted ones, so you gain a toffee note on top of the hazelnut. Widely used in professional kitchens.
- Best for
- entremets, bonbon fillings, ganache, mousse, layered cakes
Sweeter than a hazelnut butter version because praline paste is roughly half sugar, so reduce added sugar elsewhere. Arguably a richer, more interesting result than shop-bought gianduja.
Milk chocolate alone
different taste, similar texture
Behaves identically in every technical sense: it melts, tempers, sets and thickens a ganache just as gianduja does, because the cocoa butter is the working ingredient.
- Best for
- ganache, molding, coatings, baking, mousse
The loss is entirely in flavor. The filling simply tastes like milk chocolate, with none of the roasted hazelnut perfume that is the whole point of gianduja. Stirring in a quarter cup of finely ground toasted hazelnuts per cup of chocolate brings back some aroma at the cost of a slightly gritty texture.
Nutella blended with melted chocolate
similar taste and texture
The best supermarket-only answer. The chocolate supplies the cocoa butter that lets the mixture set, and the Nutella supplies hazelnut and sweetness.
- Best for
- ganache, cake fillings, bonbon fillings, truffles, spreads
Considerably sweeter than real gianduja, so cut sugar elsewhere. It sets softer than a proper gianduja but firmly enough to slice a truffle or fill a shell, which straight Nutella cannot manage.
Nutella or another chocolate hazelnut spread alone
different taste and texture
Works where the mixture is meant to stay soft: a swirl through a cake, a crepe filling, a ganache that already contains cream, a soft truffle centre.
- Best for
- cake swirls, crepe fillings, soft ganache, buttercream, milkshakes
It will not set, ever, because it is built on palm oil and sugar rather than cocoa butter. Anything molded, dipped, sliced or expected to hold a shape at room temperature will fail. It is also far sweeter and much lighter on hazelnut, so reduce the recipe's sugar noticeably.
Almond gianduja or chocolate blended with almond butter
different taste, similar texture
Same construction with almonds in place of hazelnuts. Sets and behaves exactly the same way.
- Best for
- ganache, bonbons, fillings, spreads
Cleaner and slightly sweeter than hazelnut, closer to a chocolate marzipan in character, without hazelnut's distinctive musky perfume. A respectable confection, just not gianduja.
Questions
5 questionsIs gianduja the same as Nutella?
No, though they are cousins. Gianduja is real chocolate blended with a high proportion of ground roasted hazelnuts, traditionally around a third hazelnut, so it contains cocoa butter and sets firm at room temperature. Nutella is a spread built on sugar and palm oil with cocoa powder and a much smaller amount of hazelnut, so it is far sweeter and stays soft forever. In a recipe, the difference that matters is whether the mixture needs to set.
Can I use Nutella instead of gianduja?
In soft applications yes, in firm ones no. A cake filling, a crepe, a swirl, a soft ganache: Nutella substitutes 1:1 by weight, though you should cut the recipe's sugar because Nutella is roughly half sugar. A molded giandujotto, a dipped bonbon, a sliceable truffle or anything that needs to hold its shape will stay greasy and slumped. Blending Nutella half and half with melted chocolate solves that.
Can I make gianduja at home?
Yes, easily, and it is better than most shop-bought versions. Melt two parts good milk or dark chocolate, stir in one part smooth hazelnut butter or praline paste by weight, and stir until glossy. Let it set at cool room temperature. If you want it sweeter, sift in a little powdered sugar rather than granulated, which would stay gritty.
Can I just leave gianduja out?
Only if the recipe treats it as one flavor among several. If it is the filling, the ganache or the bar itself, it is the recipe, and omitting it leaves you with nothing. The nearest one-ingredient stand-in is plain milk chocolate at 1:1, which works technically and simply tastes of chocolate rather than hazelnut.
Does gianduja contain dairy?
Usually yes, since the classic version is built on milk chocolate and often contains milk powder. Dark gianduja made with dairy-free chocolate does exist and is straightforward to make yourself by blending dark chocolate with hazelnut butter. Always check the label if it matters, and note that hazelnut makes it unsuitable for anyone with a tree nut allergy regardless.
Tips for substituting gianduja
5 tips- Gianduja is softer than plain chocolate because of all the liquid hazelnut oil in it, so a ganache made with it needs less cream. Cut the cream in your recipe by roughly a quarter or the ganache will not set firmly enough to pipe or slice.
- Warm it gently and never above about 40C or 105F. Nut oils make gianduja far more prone to seizing and graining than plain chocolate, and once it has gone grainy you cannot bring it back smooth.
- Do not try to temper it like plain chocolate. The nut fat interferes with cocoa butter crystallization, so for molded giandujotti the practical method is to melt, cool to a thick paste while stirring, pipe or mold it, and chill to set rather than chasing a temper.
- Store it cool, airtight and away from anything aromatic. Hazelnut oil picks up fridge smells with enthusiasm and goes rancid faster than cocoa butter, so a bar left open in the fridge will taste of last night's dinner.
- If a recipe calls for gianduja by weight and you are building your own from chocolate and nut butter, weigh rather than measure by volume. Nut butter is much denser than melted chocolate and eyeballing it throws the set off.