Salad Cream substitute

Best substitute

Thinned mayonnaise with vinegar, mustard and sugar

4 tablespoons mayonnaise plus 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon water replaces about 5 tablespoons salad cream

Best for egg sandwiches

Close match

Close enough that most people would not spot the difference in a sandwich. You are putting back exactly what commercial salad cream has and mayonnaise does not: acid, sweetness and mustard heat. It stays slightly richer than the real thing because mayonnaise carries more oil, which is easy to correct with a little more water.

Other salad cream substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Miracle Whip
Different taste
Use the same amount
The nearest ready-made equivalent in North America, since like salad cream it is a lower-oil sweetened dressing rather than a true mayonnaise.
What changes
It is noticeably sweeter and carries more paprika and spice, and it has less of salad cream's sharp mustard bite, so a sandwich made with it tastes rounder and more American.
Best for
sandwiches, potato and macaroni salad, coleslaw, when you cannot buy salad cream at all
Add 2 teaspoons of vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon of English mustard per 4 tablespoons to sharpen it toward salad cream. Do not add sugar, it already has plenty.
3Plain mayonnaise
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
The substitution everyone reaches for first, and it is the honest weak option.
What changes
It will hold a sandwich together and taste perfectly pleasant, but the sharp sweet edge disappears completely, so the whole thing reads as richer, oilier and duller. Cheese, egg and potato in particular need salad cream's acidity to stop them tasting cloying.
Best for
binding sandwich fillings, when nothing else is available, recipes using under a tablespoon
If you have only mayonnaise and nothing else, even just stirring in a splash of any vinegar and a pinch of sugar closes most of the gap. Lemon juice works too but tastes citrusy rather than vinegary.
4Greek yoghurt with vinegar, mustard and sugar
Different taste
4 tablespoons yoghurt plus 2 teaspoons vinegar, 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 teaspoon sugar
Lighter and lower in fat, and genuinely good in coleslaw and potato salad.
What changes
The tang comes from lactic acid as well as vinegar, so it tastes fresher and more dairy-sour, and slightly less sweet-sharp. It is thicker than salad cream unless you loosen it with milk.
Best for
coleslaw, potato salad, salad dressings, lower-fat cooking, dipping
This will split if you heat it, and it goes watery if it sits dressed for hours, so make it close to serving. Use full-fat yoghurt, because low-fat versions are thin and chalky.
5Creamy French dressing or ranch
Different taste
Use the same amount
Right consistency, wrong flavour, but useful in a pinch.
What changes
Both pour like salad cream and both are sweet-sharp, but ranch brings buttermilk, garlic and dried herbs and creamy French brings tomato and paprika. Neither tastes British, and in an egg sandwich the herbs are obvious.
Best for
green salads, coleslaw, dipping chips and crudites, sandwich fillings where herbs are welcome
Ranch works better than creamy French in savoury sandwiches. If you want to steer either toward salad cream, add half a teaspoon of English mustard and a squeeze of vinegar.
6Tartare sauce, thinned
Taste and texture differ
3 tablespoons tartare sauce plus 1 tablespoon water or milk
A reasonable emergency option with fish, since it shares the vinegar-and-mustard backbone.
What changes
The capers and chopped gherkins are the problem: they make it lumpy and much more pickled, so it is obviously a different sauce rather than a stand-in.
Best for
fish and seafood, fish finger sandwiches, chip shop-style plates
Push it through a sieve if you want it smooth. Do not use it in a green salad or a potato salad, where the pickle flavour dominates everything.

What is Salad Cream?

Salad Cream is Salad cream is a pale, pourable British dressing made from vinegar, sugar, mustard, egg yolk and a modest amount of oil, sold most famously as Heinz salad cream and much sharper and thinner than mayonnaise.

Cooking tips

Salad cream splits if you heat it, because it is a loose emulsion with a lot of acid in it. Stir it into a warm potato salad off the heat, and never boil it into a sauce.
It is sharper than mayonnaise, so it needs less of everything else. If you are swapping salad cream into a recipe written for mayonnaise, hold back any lemon juice, vinegar or mustard the recipe calls for until you have tasted it.
The traditional British pairings are egg sandwiches, tomato and lettuce sandwiches, cold new potatoes and a chip butty, and in each case it is the sweet-sour hit rather than the creaminess that makes the combination work. Season with black pepper rather than more salt, since salad cream is already salty.
To make a version from scratch, whisk an egg yolk with a teaspoon of English mustard and a tablespoon of vinegar, drizzle in 4 tablespoons of a neutral oil to emulsify, then loosen with 2 tablespoons of milk and sweeten with a teaspoon of sugar. It keeps three days in the fridge and tastes markedly better than the bottle.
Warm salad cream from a cupboard-temperature bottle coats better than cold, but keep opened bottles refrigerated. It separates slightly in the fridge, so shake before pouring.

Frequently asked questions

Is salad cream just mayonnaise?

No, and this is the whole reason people are disappointed when they swap one for the other. Mayonnaise is an oil-heavy emulsion built for richness. Salad cream has far less oil and much more vinegar, sugar and mustard, so it is thinner, sharper, sweeter and tangier. Legally in the UK it cannot even be called mayonnaise because of the low oil content.

Can I just leave salad cream out?

In a sandwich, only if you replace it with something moist, or the filling will be dry. In a potato salad or coleslaw you cannot really, because it is the dressing. The good news is that the thirty-second mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard and sugar mix genuinely works, so leaving it out is rarely necessary.

What is the closest thing to salad cream in America?

Miracle Whip, which sits in the same category of low-oil sweetened dressing. It is sweeter and more spiced and less mustardy, so add 2 teaspoons of vinegar and a little English mustard per 4 tablespoons. Some British import shops and larger supermarkets stock Heinz salad cream in the international aisle.

Can I use salad cream in coleslaw?

Yes, and many British recipes prefer it, because the vinegar and sugar do the work you would otherwise do with a separate dressing. It is thinner than mayonnaise, so use about three quarters of the amount and dress the cabbage no more than an hour ahead, since the extra liquid draws water out fast.

Is salad cream the same as thousand island or Russian dressing?

No. Those are mayonnaise-based and contain tomato ketchup or chilli sauce, which makes them pink, sweeter in a tomato way and much thicker. Salad cream is pale ivory and its sharpness comes from vinegar and mustard rather than tomato.

Related substitutes

More sauces & condiments substitutes

Salad Cream substitute

Other salad cream substitutes

2Miracle Whip

3Plain mayonnaise

4Greek yoghurt with vinegar, mustard and sugar

5Creamy French dressing or ranch

6Tartare sauce, thinned