Molokhia substitutes

The same plant in the form most cooks actually use, including in Egypt.

Best for

the real dish, cooking out of season, anyone within reach of a Middle Eastern grocery

The frozen block of finely chopped leaves is the standard ingredient, not a compromise, and it behaves exactly like fresh. Dried molokhia is darker, noticeably more bitter and thickens less, so soak it in hot broth for ten minutes and taste before you commit the pot to it.

The best engineered swap, because it splits molokhia's two jobs between two vegetables.

Best for

molokhia soup with chicken, beef or rabbit, getting the right thickness, when no Middle Eastern shop is nearby

For a pound of molokhia use about half a pound of thinly sliced okra and half a pound of spinach, and simmer until the okra collapses. You get real slipperiness and roughly the right body. The flavour is sweeter and more distinctly okra, and the texture is chunkier unless you blitz it briefly with a stick blender.

The answer most recipes give, and the one that only solves half the problem.

Best for

when okra is unavailable too, a quick green soup, children and cautious eaters

Spinach has no mucilage, so the broth stays thin and the soup tastes like seasoned spinach water rather than molokhia. If you go this route, thicken separately: about one teaspoon of cornstarch slurried in cold water per two cups of broth, added at the end. Also cook it briefly, since spinach collapses in two minutes.

A thick-leaved climbing green that is genuinely a little mucilaginous when cooked.

Best for

getting some natural thickening from a leaf, Asian and African grocers where it is common, summer, when it is in season

The best of the leafy greens for this job, because it does slightly thicken the broth on its own. It is milder and juicier than molokhia and never reaches the same viscosity, so a spoonful of okra alongside it closes the gap. The stems are tough; strip the leaves off.

Succulent, faintly sour and faintly slippery, which is closer to molokhia than most greens get.

Best for

farmers markets and Turkish grocers, where it is cheap, adding a lemony edge, smaller batches

Genuinely slick when cooked and pleasantly tart, so it fits the dish better than spinach does. It is rarely sold in the quantity a pot of molokhia needs, and it never thickens as much, so treat it as a good partial swap rather than a full one.

Closer to molokhia in flavour than spinach is: earthier, more mineral, faintly bitter.

Best for

African and Caribbean grocers, flavour accuracy over texture, stews rather than thin soups

The taste is a good match, which is worth a lot, but there is no slipperiness at all, so the soup will be thin unless you add okra or a starch slurry. They are sturdier than spinach and want five to ten minutes rather than two.

The supermarket fallback, chosen for flavour rather than for any resemblance in texture.

Best for

when only ordinary supermarket greens are available, hearty green stews, using up leaves you already have

Earthier and more mineral than molokhia, sturdier so they need eight to ten minutes, and no thickening whatsoever. Strip out the thick ribs or chop them fine and start them earlier. Add a starch slurry if you want any body at all.