Last Updated on August 25, 2021 by Sindhu
Let’s check out quick and easy substitutes for Eno for your everyday home cooking!
Eno is a fruit salt made up of Sodium bicarbonate, Sodium carbonate, and Citric acid. It is primarily used as an antacid for digestive problems like bloating by neutralizing stomach gases.
But it can also act as a leavening agent and you can find Eno in Indian dishes like khaman dhokla, rava idli, and also in baked goods.
The best substitutes for Eno?
So in case you don’t have Eno in your pantry or you ran out of it and you started cooking a recipe that calls for Eno, then the below substitutes will work just fine and you can continue with your cooking!
Before looking into the Eno substitutes first, let’s have a look at Eno’s composition. It is about 46% of Sodium bicarbonate (Baking soda) and 44% of Citric acid to activate the baking soda and about 10% of salt.
1. Best bet: Baking soda
Baking soda is the best substitute for Eno when mixed with a souring agent. Because the acid in the souring agent such as citric acid activates the Baking soda and that makes the dish light, fluffy and spongy.
1 tsp eno = 1/2 tsp Baking soda + 1/2 tsp citric acid
Alternatively, you can skip the citric acid and substitute eno with just Baking soda if you have any other souring agent in the recipe.
1 tsp eno = 3/4 tsp Baking soda
And just in case you don’t have Citric acid on hand, you can use any of the below substitutes.
Best Citric acid substitutes:
- Lemon juice
- Vinegar
- Sour curd/ Buttermilk
- Cream of tartar
Citric acid is also known as Nimbu salt or Tatri.
2. Second choice: Baking powder
Baking powder is essentially made up of Baking soda and a dry acid. This makes Eno act like a double-acting baking powder.
In double-acting baking powder, the initial release of carbon dioxide takes place when the acid is mixed with liquid and the second release happens when the salts are exposed to heat, like an oven. This gives the baked goods fluffiness.
So when we say Eno is a mix of Baking soda, citric acid, and salt, so that implies, the Baking powder can also be a substitute for Eno.
1 tsp Eno = 2 tsp Baking powder + 1/2 tsp salt
Not to forget that Baking powder is almost 3-4 times stronger than baking soda.
But what if a recipe calls for both Baking soda and baking powder? That would probably mean the baking soda has a limited amount of acid available in the ingredients so it also needs the Baking powder to have the expected results.
Baking soda vs Baking powder
It is often confusing to remember the exact difference between baking soda and baking powder.
Simply put, Baking soda is just a single ingredient called Sodium bicarbonate. So you need to mix it with an acid to use it as a leavening agent.
Whereas baking powder is a mix of Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) and a dry acid. So it just needs water or any other wet ingredient to activate the acid in baking powder. And you don’t specifically need a souring agent like Citric acid.
1 tsp Baking powder = 1/4 tsp Baking soda + Citric acid
or
1 tsp baking powder = 1/2 tsp Eno fruit salt
So when you substitute Baking powder with baking soda, you need additional acid. Vice versa when you substitute baking soda with baking powder, it is ideal to reduce the sour ingredients in the recipe, if at all there are any.
So can we use Eno instead of Baking powder?
Yes! You can. Whenever a dish like cake, bhatura, or pizza dough calls for Baking powder, you can replace it with Eno. But you should be careful in picking the right flavor of Eno.
1 tsp baking powder = 1/2 tsp Eno fruit salt
Eno flavors
Eno is available in various flavors. The plain unflavored one is the most popular, followed by citrus flavors such as lemon, orange which perfectly pairs with Indian dishes. You can also get Eno in cola and ajwain flavors.
When drinking eno for digestive issues, the flavor doesn’t really make a difference and it depends on the personal choice. But when you are using eno for cooking, the flavor should be carefully picked so that it doesn’t affect the taste of the dish.
Final word:
So it is best to substitute Eno with a mix of Baking soda and Citrus acid. Or you can also use Baking powder as the next best substitute!
