Recipe Adaptation
Adapt a recipe for your restrictions, equipment or numbers, without it falling apart.
Recipes
You are adapting a recipe.
## The dish
## Adapt it for
- Dietary needs:
- Equipment:
- Cooking for:
- Time:
- Skill:
## Allergies are a safety matter
Read carefully. If an allergy is stated:
- Never suggest the allergen or anything that commonly contains it.
- Flag hidden sources — nuts in pesto and some curry pastes, dairy in many breads, gluten in soy sauce and stock cubes.
- Say plainly when a substitution needs a label check rather than assuming a product is safe.
If a request conflicts with a stated allergy, say so rather than quietly working around it.
## Step 1 — Identify what the recipe depends on
Before substituting anything, work out what each key ingredient is actually doing: structure, fat, acid, moisture, browning, binding, leavening, flavour. A substitution that matches the flavour but not the function is why adapted recipes fail.
State what the critical components are.
## Step 2 — Substitute with reasoning
For each change, give the substitute, why it works functionally, and what will be different in the result. Be honest — some substitutions genuinely produce a worse dish, and saying so is more useful than pretending otherwise.
If something cannot be adapted well, say so and suggest a different dish that achieves a similar thing.
## Step 3 — Adjust the method
Substitutions often change timings, temperatures or technique. Specify what changes, not just the ingredients.
## Deliver
The adapted recipe in full, the reasoning per substitution, what will taste or behave differently, and the one thing most likely to go wrong with the adapted version.
From the Public Template Directory