Muhammara substitutes

The closest thing sold ready-made: a Catalan sauce of roasted red peppers, nuts, bread and olive oil built on the same architecture.

Best for

serving as a dip with bread, spooning over grilled fish, chicken or lamb, sandwiches and wraps, stirring through roasted vegetables, a meze plate

Almost the same dish from a different sea. Romesco uses almonds or hazelnuts rather than walnuts, so it tastes sweeter and less tannic, and it usually contains tomato and more garlic with a vinegar tang instead of pomegranate molasses, which makes it read as brighter and more Mediterranean and less deep and sweet-sour. The teaspoon of pomegranate molasses closes most of that gap; a pinch of cumin closes the rest.

Not really a substitute at all, but the fastest honest route to the real thing when you have a jar of Turkish pepper paste.

Best for

when the recipe treats muhammara as a component, dips and meze, sauce for kebabs, sandwich spread

Toast the walnuts for five minutes first if you have time, since raw walnuts taste papery. Blitz or pound everything to a coarse paste, then add salt, a pinch of cumin and hot pepper to taste and let it sit fifteen minutes so the breadcrumbs hydrate. This tastes markedly better than any jarred substitute, and it also lets you control the heat, which shop-bought acuka rarely does.

Balkan roasted red pepper relish, which nails the pepper base and needs only the nut and the tang added.

Best for

dips, spreads and sandwiches, topping grilled meat, stirring into rice or bulgur

Ajvar on its own is smoother, sweeter and often has aubergine in it, so it tastes gentler and slightly jammy where muhammara is nutty, chunky and tangy. The ground walnuts fix both body and flavour in one move, and the pomegranate molasses supplies the sour edge. Buy hot ajvar if you want muhammara's warmth, or add a pinch of Aleppo or Maras pepper.

The answer when the reason you are looking for a substitute is a nut allergy rather than an empty cupboard.

Best for

nut-free tables, school and office food, dips and spreads, sauce for grilled vegetables

Toasted sunflower seeds are the better swap: same fat, same coarse grind, slightly sweeter and much less tannic, so the dip tastes rounder and a little flatter, which extra pomegranate molasses corrects. Pumpkin seeds work too but push the colour green-brown and taste noticeably vegetal. Tahini gives you richness and body but pulls the flavour toward sesame, so use it in addition to seeds rather than alone. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds are not tree nuts, but always check with the person you are cooking for and read labels for shared-line warnings.

A supermarket stand-in for the role muhammara plays on a mezze table rather than for its flavour.

Best for

filling a gap on a meze platter, dipping with bread or vegetables, sandwiches

Right colour, right role, wrong character. These dips are creamy and mild, with none of muhammara's coarse texture, walnut tannin or sweet-sour bite, so the plate looks correct and tastes much blander. If you go this route, stir in a teaspoon of pomegranate molasses and a good pinch of Aleppo pepper per half cup, and scatter chopped toasted walnuts over the top for texture.

A North African chilli paste that shares the red pepper base but sits in a completely different place on heat and spice.

Best for

adding heat and depth to a bland pepper dip, marinades, when muhammara is a background flavour in a cooked dish

Do not use harissa one for one. It is far hotter, much more concentrated, and loaded with caraway, coriander and garlic, so a bowl of it in place of muhammara tastes fiery and North African rather than sweet, nutty and Levantine. Used a teaspoon at a time to spike ajvar, romesco or a red pepper dip, it earns its place.