# HELP! What can I substitute for vegetable oil??

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-can-i-substitute-for-vegetable-oil/360302>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 11, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-can-i-substitute-for-vegetable-oil/360302 "2006-06-11T15:07:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-can-i-substitute-for-vegetable-oil/360302/1 "2006-06-11T15:07:45Z")

</div>

I just started making some blueberry muffins from a box, and thought I had everything - but it turns out I’m missing the 1/4 cup of vegetable oil.

Rather than trek to the store, I’m hoping to find something that I can subtitute for the oil. I have butter, margarine, and Crisco. Will any of these work? How important is the vegetable oil?

Please help quick! I’ve already started mixing.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-can-i-substitute-for-vegetable-oil/360302/2 "2006-06-11T15:19:32Z")

</div>

I would think melted butter would be fine. Or the margerine.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-can-i-substitute-for-vegetable-oil/360302/3 "2006-06-11T15:29:41Z")

</div>

I’d recommend the melted butter as well. If you have something else moist around (applesauce is usually good) and want to try reducing the fat content of the muffins, you could do half-and-half. Keep an eye on the baking time, though.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-can-i-substitute-for-vegetable-oil/360302/4 "2006-06-11T15:49:28Z")

</div>

THanks for the advice. We went w/ margarine and they seem to have come out great. Haven’t tasted them though…so I guess we’ll see! 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-what-can-i-substitute-for-vegetable-oil/360302/5 "2006-06-12T01:04:49Z")

</div>

(For future reference, obviously . . .)

You can also substitute an equal amount of applesauce for the oil in baking. (I haven’t tried it myself, but have read about it quite a bit.)