Substitutes for vegetable shortening

Vegetable shortening substitutes

Shortening is pure fat with no water, which makes pastry flaky and keeps cookies from spreading. Pick a swap by whether the recipe uses the shortening solid or melted.

What vegetable shortening does

Shortening is 100% fat with no water. It makes tender, flaky pastry, soft cookies that spread less, and fluffy frosting.

Quick reference

SubstituteAmount
Butter or stick margarine Sources vary1 cup butter or stick margarineper 1 cup vegetable shortening
Lard Sources vary⅞ cup lardper 1 cup vegetable shortening
Vegetable oil (only when the recipe melts the shortening) Sources vary1 cup vegetable oilper 1 cup vegetable shortening

When the substitute matters

  • Cookies and cakes: butter or stick margarine, with a little less salt if it is salted.
  • Pie crust and biscuits: lard keeps the flakiness.
  • Recipes that melt the shortening: vegetable oil, cup for cup.
  • Avoid tub spreads: they hold too much water.

The substitutes, in detail

Butter or stick margarine

Amount: 1 cup butter or stick margarine per 1 cup vegetable shortening

Sources vary

Land O'Lakes, Hershey's and Colorado State Extension say 1 cup. North Dakota State, Mississippi State and Utah State Extension (copies of one chart) say 1⅛ cups, because butter is part water. Range 1 to 1⅛ cups.

  1. If the butter or margarine is salted, cut the salt in the recipe by ½ teaspoon.

Best for

  • cookies
  • cakes
  • quick breads

Not for

  • cookies that must hold a sharp shape (they spread more)
  • very flaky pastry

What changes

Richer flavour and more browning. Butter is part water, so cookies spread more and pastry is less flaky; Hershey's notes baked goods may be slightly denser.

Sources: Land O'Lakes·Hershey's·Colorado State University Extension·North Dakota State University Extension·Saskatchewan Health Authority (provincial government health agency, Canada)·Tasting Table

Lard

Amount: ⅞ cup lard per 1 cup vegetable shortening

Sources vary

Extension charts say 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons (⅞ cup). Tasting Table and L'Academie say 1 cup.

  1. Measure 1 cup of lard, then remove 2 tablespoons.

Best for

  • pie crust
  • biscuits
  • savoury baking

Not for

  • delicate sweet bakes where a savoury note would show

What changes

Tender, flaky results with a slightly savoury flavour.

Sources: North Dakota State University Extension·Tasting Table·L'Academie

Vegetable oil (only when the recipe melts the shortening)

Amount: 1 cup vegetable oil per 1 cup vegetable shortening

Sources vary

The extension chart gives 1 cup oil for 1 cup melted shortening and says not to use oil otherwise. Purdue gives ⅞ cup oil per cup of shortening in baking. Tasting Table says 1:1.

Best for

  • recipes that call for melted shortening

Not for

  • recipes that cream solid shortening with sugar (cookies, frosting)
  • pie crust and biscuits, where solid fat is cut in

What changes

A liquid fat cannot be creamed or cut in, so it only stands in where the shortening is melted anyway.

  • vegan
  • dairy-free
Sources: North Dakota State University Extension·Purdue Extension·Tasting Table

Don't use

  • Tub-style margarine spreads

    Tasting Table: choose stick margarine over tub-style spreads; Texas A&M notes low-fat spreads give a lower-quality result when replacing butter.

How we source this

Each swap is backed by at least two independent sources, including a test kitchen, university extension service or product maker. The amounts replace one unit of the original ingredient and do not work in reverse. See the full source list.

Sources

Related substitute pages