Salami substitute

Substitutes for Salami with ratios

1. 2Pepperoni

   Different taste

   Use the same amount

   Italian-American cured sausage seasoned heavily with paprika and chilli.

   What changes

   Best for

   sandwiches, pizza, pasta bakes, snacking

   Prep. Use as is for cold applications; for hot dishes dice and render slowly in a little oil.

   Also a salami, just a specific and highly seasoned one, so it slots straight in. What changes is the flavour direction: pepperoni is sweeter and warmer from the paprika and carries a definite chilli heat, so an antipasto plate made with it tastes redder and spicier and less about garlic and black pepper. In a hot dish it renders far more orange fat than Genoa salami does, which is welcome in a sauce and less welcome in a cold sandwich.

2. 3Capicola (coppa)

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount

   Dry-cured whole pork neck, sliced paper-thin.

   What changes

   Best for

   Italian subs, charcuterie boards, pizza, wraps

   Prep. Have it sliced as thin as the machine will go, and pile it loosely rather than laying it flat so it stays tender.

   A whole-muscle cure rather than a ground one, and that is the whole story. It is silkier and more tender, it comes in translucent sheets rather than firm discs, and it does not crumble. Flavour-wise it is milder and cleaner, with much less of the sharp fermented funk that makes salami taste like salami, and its fat sits in seams rather than being distributed through the meat. Excellent in a sandwich, slightly underpowered on a board where you wanted a punchy slice.

3. 4Mortadella

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount

   Large, finely emulsified cooked Bolognese pork sausage studded with cubes of fat.

   What changes

   Best for

   sandwiches, mortadella and cheese platters, children, when you want something mild

   Prep. Slice thin and use cold; it turns rubbery if you cook it hard, so add it off the heat.

   This is the swap to reach for when the salami's tang is the problem rather than the point. Mortadella is cooked, not fermented, so there is no sourness at all: it is soft, sweet, gently peppery and faintly perfumed with myrtle and mace. Because it is soft it flops rather than snaps, and it will not hold up on a board next to strong cheeses. It is genuinely lovely, just a much quieter ingredient.

4. 5Prosciutto

   Taste and texture differ

   3:4, so use about three quarters as much by weight

   Salt-cured, air-dried Italian ham sliced into paper-thin sheets.

   What changes

   Best for

   charcuterie boards, antipasto, wrapping, pizza

   Prep. Keep it cold until the moment of serving and drape rather than stack; do not cook it beyond a brief warming.

   Reach for it when nothing else cured is available. It delivers the salt and the air-dried savoury depth, but it is sweeter, silkier and considerably saltier per gram, and it has no fermented tang whatsoever, so a plate built on prosciutto tastes elegant and sweet rather than robust and sour. Use a little less than the salami you replaced or the dish will read as too salty. Its fat is soft and melts on contact, which is a real advantage on warm bread or pizza.

5. 6Pancetta or bacon (cooked applications only)

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount by weight

   Cured pork belly, pancetta unsmoked and bacon smoked, both diced and cooked before use.

   What changes

   Best for

   pasta sauces, soups, beans, pizza, baked dishes

   Prep. Dice and start in a cold pan over low heat so the fat renders out before the meat browns.

   Not remotely a substitute on a cold plate, but often the better ingredient when salami was going into a hot dish. Salami is not designed to be cooked and tends to go tough and rubbery while releasing surprisingly little fat; pancetta renders generously and leaves you with flavoured fat to build the sauce in. Bacon does the same but adds smoke, which will push an Italian dish somewhere else, so blanch it briefly in water first if you want to mute that.