'Nduja substitutes

A two-part build that supplies the heat from one ingredient and the cured pork from the other.

Best for

nduja pasta, spicy tomato sauces, pizza, beans and greens, spread on toast when warmed

Prep

Mash the minced salami and chile paste together with a teaspoon of olive oil, then start it in a cold pan over low heat so the fat renders out into the oil.

This is the closest you will get without buying 'nduja, and it is close enough that most people would not query it. Mince the salami as finely as you can, almost to a paste, so it melts into the sauce rather than sitting in it as chunks. What is still missing is the fermented sharpness that comes from 'nduja's own long ferment, so the result tastes a little cleaner and less funky. It also will not spread like 'nduja does, so it is better in cooked dishes than on bruschetta.

Mallorcan spreadable cured pork sausage heavy with pimenton.

Best for

spreading on toast, stirring into pasta, melting over eggs, pizza

Prep

Use exactly as 'nduja, rendering it slowly in a low pan; add chilli separately if you want the heat level to match.

Structurally almost identical: soft, spreadable, cured, fatty, and it melts into a sauce exactly the way 'nduja does. The flavour swings noticeably though. Sobrasada is seasoned with sweet and smoked pimenton rather than fresh-dried Calabrian chilli, so it is much milder in heat and much smokier and sweeter, and a pasta made with it tastes warm and paprika-rich rather than sharp and burning. Add a quarter teaspoon of chilli flakes or a little chile paste per 60g to bring the heat back.

Hot southern Italian dry salami chopped very fine and loosened with oil.

Best for

pasta sauces, pizza, braised greens, ragu

Prep

Chop to a rough paste, work in the olive oil, and render on low heat for three or four minutes before adding anything else.

The best single-ingredient Italian option. Same country, same chilli tradition, same fermented tang, so the flavour lands in the right place. What it lacks is softness and fat: 'nduja is roughly half fat and spreads like butter, while soppressata is firm and lean by comparison, so the sauce it makes is less rich and less unctuous. The teaspoon of olive oil per portion is not optional if you want the same glossy coating on the pasta.

Soft raw pork sausage seasoned with chilli, vinegar and spices, sold loose or in casings.

Best for

pasta sauces, beans, eggs, pizza, weeknight cooking

Prep

Squeeze from the casing, break up in a pan and cook until fully done and the fat has separated, about 8 minutes.

Widely available, soft enough to break up like 'nduja, and it renders plenty of red-stained fat, which is genuinely the most important thing. The differences are real though: it is raw rather than cured, so there is no fermented tang, and Mexican chorizo is built on vinegar, cumin, oregano and often cinnamon or clove, all of which push the dish away from Italy. It is also much less salty, so you will need to add salt. Cook it thoroughly, as with any raw sausage.

North African chilli paste combined with cured Italian pork belly.

Best for

pasta, roasted vegetables, braises, when Calabrian chilli is unavailable

Prep

Render the diced pancetta slowly from cold, then stir the harissa into the rendered fat for thirty seconds before adding liquid.

A workable improvisation with one thing to watch: harissa contains caraway, coriander and often cumin, which 'nduja does not, so the dish picks up a distinctly North African perfume that some people love and some find jarring in an Italian sauce. Use half as much harissa as you would chile paste and rely on the pancetta for salt and fat. Pancetta renders beautifully, so the texture end of this works very well.

Crushed Calabrian chillies packed in oil, with no meat at all.

Best for

vegetarian versions, when you only want the heat, finishing a dish

Prep

Warm the paste in olive oil for thirty seconds to bloom it, then add tomato, beans or pasta water.

Be honest with yourself about what this does and does not do. It nails the specific fruity, smoky, slow-building heat that makes 'nduja recognisable, and it brings oil to coat the pasta. What is entirely absent is the cured pork depth, so the dish tastes bright and hot but thin and one-note where it should be savoury and round. For a meat-free version, close some of that gap with a mashed anchovy fillet or a teaspoon of tomato paste cooked in the oil, plus a little extra salt.