Substituting Avocados for Other Ingredients in Baking and Cooking

Avocados can be substituted for several ingredients in baking and cooking, such as butter, shortening, eggs, oil, mayonnaise, and sour cream. Some people use avocados as a vegan substitute for these ingredients, but another reason to go with avocados is the increase in nutritional value.

When you substitute avocado for another fat, you’re getting about 20 vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and "good fats" as opposed to saturated. You’re also reducing the amount of calories in your dish. For instance, 2 tablespoons of avocado only has 50 calories, compared to 2 tablespoons of butter which has more than four times that amount.

It’s easy to swap in avocado — usually, you can just swap 1 cup of butter or oil for 1 cup of avocado. With eggs, though, it’s a different story. Substitute 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup of mashed avocado per egg.

Because of the high quantity of water in an avocado, your baked goods like bread and muffins will come out of the oven much softer and less likely to crumble than if you were to use butter. However, make sure to note that when using avocado in cakes and bread, the baked goods may rise higher and brown quicker. To avoid these things from happening, reduce your oven temperature by about 25 percent and increase your baking time.

Swapping out other fats for avocado is a great way to increase the nutritional value of your dishes and reduce the number of calories. However, when substituting avocado for fats, it's important to take into account the effect that this will have on the texture of baked goods — keep an eye on the oven and adjust the temperature and time accordingly. Finally, always speak to your doctor before making drastic changes to your diet, especially if you are trying to lose or gain weight.