Truffle Oil substitute

Best substitute

Ground dried porcini plus good olive oil

Use ½ tsp porcini powder plus 1 tbsp olive oil for every 1 tsp truffle oil

Best for pasta

Different taste

Grind a few dried porcini pieces to a fine powder in a spice grinder, then stir into oil or sprinkle straight over the finished dish.

Other truffle oil substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Truffle salt or truffle paste (tapenade)
Close match
Use ¼ tsp truffle salt or ½ tsp truffle paste for every 1 tsp truffle oil
Truffle salt is coarse salt scented the same way as truffle oil; truffle paste blends real truffle pieces with mushroom and oil.
What changes
Best for
fries, eggs, pasta, steak, risotto, toast
Closest match in aroma of anything here, since it is usually the same aroma compound with actual truffle or mushroom pieces alongside. Truffle salt brings salt with it, so cut the other salt in the dish. Truffle paste adds mushroomy body, which makes it more useful than the oil in a sauce.
3Garlic-infused olive oil plus finely grated parmesan
Different taste
Use 1 tbsp infused oil plus 1 tbsp parmesan for every 1 tsp truffle oil
The combination most restaurant truffle fries are actually delivering: aromatic fat plus salty savoury cheese.
What changes
Best for
fries, popcorn, pasta, roast potatoes, pizza
Reads as garlicky and cheesy rather than truffly, and almost nobody minds. It supplies the two sensations people want from truffle oil, which are perfume and richness, and adds salt and umami on top. If you have no infused oil, warm a smashed garlic clove in olive oil for five minutes and fish it out.
4Mushrooms browned hard in butter
Taste and texture differ
Use 2 oz mushrooms for every serving, in place of a drizzle
Brown cremini, chestnut or shiitake mushrooms in butter until the edges are properly crisp, then finish with a splash of soy sauce and a scrape of garlic.
What changes
Best for
pasta, risotto, eggs, toast, polenta, steak
More umami and more depth than truffle oil, plus real texture, so in many dishes this is an upgrade rather than a compromise. What you lose is the perfume that hits you before you taste anything, which is the specific pleasure of truffle oil. Get the pan hot and do not crowd it, or the mushrooms steam instead of browning.
5Toasted walnut oil or hazelnut oil
Different taste
Use the same amount
A nut oil used the same way truffle oil is: drizzled on at the end as an aromatic finishing fat.
What changes
Best for
salads, roasted vegetables, pasta, goat cheese, steamed greens
Nutty and rich with a faintly earthy edge, and it occupies the same role as an expensive finishing oil, so the dish still feels deliberate. It reads clearly as nut rather than truffle. Never heat it; the flavour is fragile and it goes rancid fast, so keep it in the fridge once opened.
6Nothing at all, with better salt and acid instead
Different taste
Omit
The genuinely correct answer for a great many recipes that list truffle oil as a garnish.
What changes
Best for
pasta, fries, risotto, eggs, mashed potato, pizza
If the truffle oil was a drizzle at the end, omitting it costs you a perfume, not the dish. Season the food properly, finish with flaky salt and a squeeze of lemon, and it will taste better than the same dish given a heavy hand of synthetic truffle. This is not a cop-out: over-truffled food is a much more common failure than under-truffled food.

What is Truffle Oil?

Truffle Oil is Truffle oil is a neutral oil, usually olive or grapeseed, carrying truffle aroma, which in almost every commercial bottle comes from a synthetic aroma compound rather than from actual truffles.

Cooking tips

Truffle oil is a finishing aromatic, never a cooking fat. Heat destroys the aroma compound within seconds and leaves you with plain oil, so add it off the heat and ideally at the table.
Use less than you think. A quarter teaspoon perfumes an entire bowl of pasta; a tablespoon tastes like petrol. This is the single most common mistake people make with it, and the same restraint applies to truffle salt and truffle paste.
Most bottles labelled truffle oil contain no truffle, just a synthetic aroma compound in a neutral oil. That is not a problem you need to fix, but it does mean substitutes made from real mushrooms taste different rather than worse, and they usually add savoury depth the oil never had.
Ground dried porcini is the workhorse here. Keep a bag, grind a few pieces to powder, and you have a mushroom seasoning for risotto, gravy, burgers, pasta and soup. Half a teaspoon goes a long way.
If you do own truffle oil, keep it in the dark and use it within a few months of opening. The aroma fades noticeably and the base oil goes stale faster than plain olive oil does.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave truffle oil out?

Yes, in nearly every case. It is a garnish that supplies aroma and nothing else, so nothing structural in the dish depends on it. Season the food well, finish with flaky salt and a little lemon, and you will not miss it.

What tastes most like truffle oil?

Truffle salt or truffle paste, because they usually carry the same aroma compound. Among things that are not truffle products, ground dried porcini with olive oil and a little raw garlic comes closest, though it is earthier and lacks truffle oil's sharp top note.

Can I use truffle oil for frying or sauteing?

No, and this is worth being firm about. Heat destroys the aroma within seconds, so you are paying a lot of money for ordinary olive or grapeseed oil. Cook in a normal oil and add a few drops of truffle oil off the heat at the end.

Is truffle oil made from real truffles?

Almost always no. The aroma in the great majority of bottles comes from a synthetic compound, not from truffles, which is why professional cooks are often dismissive of it. Truffle paste and truffle salt more commonly contain some genuine truffle, though the aroma is still usually boosted the same way.

How much porcini powder replaces truffle oil?

About half a teaspoon of ground dried porcini per teaspoon of truffle oil, stirred into a tablespoon of olive oil or sprinkled straight on the food. Start there and add more only after tasting, because it builds quickly.

Related substitutes

More oils & fats substitutes

Truffle Oil substitute

Other truffle oil substitutes

2Truffle salt or truffle paste (tapenade)

3Garlic-infused olive oil plus finely grated parmesan

4Mushrooms browned hard in butter

5Toasted walnut oil or hazelnut oil

6Nothing at all, with better salt and acid instead