Substituting Shortening for Oil
Shortening is made from solidified vegetable oil. When it comes to cooking applications or frying savory items such as stir-fries, you can absolutely use shortening instead of oil by simply allowing it to melt in the pan before adding the ingredients. To use shortening as a substitute for oil in baking, you can swap the two using equal amounts. This can be to substitute any type of cooking oil—avocado oil, vegetable oil, olive oil, and other cooking oils. Though it is important to note that because shortening is a solid fat, using shortening instead of oil can change the texture of baked goods. Shortening can add more air to the batter when beaten, giving the end product more of a cake-like structure compared to the more dense structure oil gives. The best way to use shortening in place of oil in recipes? Melt it first. If you have a baking recipe that calls for mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately, you can melt the shortening first in the microwave or on the stove top. Just be sure to allow the shortening to cool to room temperature before combining it into the other wet ingredients. You can also substitute shortening for cooking oil in most instances where you need a bit for satuéing or even deep-frying. Feel free to melt some shortening in the pan to make a stir-fry or fried chicken. Now that you know you can use shortening instead of oil in your recipes, go ahead and keep baking that pan of brownies or cake recipe.
