'I don't like peaches so I substituted carrots. It wasn't very good': 25 Chefs and bakers who substituted ingredients and spoiled their meals

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Feb 5, 2025 5:00 PM EST

If you thought the worst thing that could happen while making caramel is the sugar burning, think again. 

You never know just how bad one person can be at cooking or baking until you witness it for yourself. There are some basics that you assume everyone knows, but then you watch your friend making food and they'll casually say something like "You don't have to wash or peel carrots" or "I used baking powder instead of flour, but I think these biscuits will still turn out fine." It makes you question everything you know about the fine arts of cooking and baking. And more often than not, taking any kind of recipe shortcut will result in a complete flop.

When trying to eat more vegan or vegetarian, you need to use substitutions all the time. It's the fastest way to figure out that almond milk burns quickly and does not really taste like milk in many recipes. You'll start to wonder why your recipes are turning out undercooked or raw just because you used applesauce instead of butter. Unless you follow a proper set of directions to a T, you're going to be eating a lot of unfortunate foods. The people below have some very funny foods they ruined with their own substitutions: give them a read and see if you've ever messed up anything this badly! 

And as for the caramel mentioned before, that one got really messed up: the cook melted the spoon right into the caramel! You can read the rest of their tale in photo #15. 

Up next, read about the entitled cafe customer who demanded free coffee: "[She] said I should honor it because she's a loyal customer."

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  • 01
    'Just to be clear Phil, you gave this recipe 1 star because you substituted vinegar in place of the pumpkin puree'
    via Simple stripes on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    Quick question Jessica, why have you done this?

    This was on a recipe for peach ice cream Jessica I don't like peaches so I substituted carrots. It wasn't very good. It needs more sweetness REPLY
    via u/reckonedstormlight

    I hope you enjoyed your 3/5 star carrot ice cream! 

  • 03

    Yuck yuck yuck

    Just spent an hour making mac and cheese using vanilla creamer instead of half&half SHAMROCK VANILLA CREAM HALF&HALF
    via u/zross51234

    The chef reports, "It was weirdly good. Was clear that it would've been amazing had I not f***** up."

  • 04

    Sometimes you just want to add an egg!

    This person added an unnecessary egg and got mad the cake was ruined Helpful (2) I noticed there were NO eggs in this recipe, so I added one. What a disappointment. The edges were baked and the middle was complete mush...even after I put it back in the oven for 40 minutes!
    via u/Banana_Skirt
  • 05
    This is what happens when you use bread flour instead of regular flour These are supposed to be crepes
    via u/smol__artist_
  • 06

    Brenda you cannot live this way

    Brenda says This is bubbling and rising but tastes foul. I had a spoonful then my husband did. He nearly vomited. There's no way I'm making bread with this. Melanie McDonald says Please don't eat raw sourdough starter. It is intended to be baked with, not eaten as it is. Also it contains raw flour which can cause food poisoning.
    via u/theficklemermaid
  • 07

    What an otherwise beautiful-looking sauce

    Decided to make a nice rosè pasta sauce for dinner and suddenly realized I added vanilla flavored Greek yogurt instead plain...
    via u/JimmyLegs45
  • 08
    allrecipes.com/recipe/25 :D ... Find a recipe or ingredient а e livia 11/18/2018 I can't have sugar and it was good Helpful (2) Jfordmom1 ✰✰✰✰ 12/13/2017 Got excited with sugarless cookies but I need glutten free too so doesn't help me I mark not those ingredients in my search Helpful (0)
    via u/scienceforbid
  • 09

    That's unfortunate

    tried to make dairy-free crab rangoon. the "cream cheese" i used was mostly coconut oil and dissolved.
    via u/Juniper_001
  • 10

    Sage, sausage, it's almost the same thing

    This recipe for Thanksgiving Stuffing mamaleenda Sorry but I tried this and it was awful. It was dry and the flavor, even if it wasn't dry, was not good. A lot of the flavor issue could have been attributable to the sausage I chose - I did use Italian sausage - and didn't vary from the recipe. It was disappointing - hardly anyone (group of about 17 tried it and I ended up dumping about 7/8 of the pan. I wanted to try to salvage but knew I was kidding myself about anyone eating the leftovers. Sor
    via u/tea_books_gas
  • 11

    This might be good if you know ahead of time what you're eating...

    My college used cornbread as a substitute for regular cake batter.
    via u/Re_Set1991

    This cake looks a little underbaked, though. And who knows if they warned the students about the substitution before they took that first bite! 

  • 12
    Christopher Tiffany I substituted tofu for the steak, corn pops for the potatoes, and used some dandelions instead of the jalapenos. It was awful!! Never again!!
    via u/D4b513
  • 13

    As long as he likes the results, so be it

    Andrew Allen I highly recommend this recipe. For this I replaced the mash with pastry. With the filling a little salty I added chicken and mushroom and removed the fish mix and prawns. 1 Reply ^ | arthursmummy → Andrew Allen So you made a chicken and mushroom pie with pastry, instead of a fish pie with mashed potatoes?! It just amuses me that you've highly recommended this recipe after making something completely different! ;)
    via u/AvocadosAtLaw95
  • 14
    mike n says They look great! I don't have an oven and was wondering if you have ever tried making them on the stove top? REPLY NOPE! Valerie Lugonja says
    via u/nothankyoumaam
  • 15
    A bad cook I don't blame the recipe for what happened. I should have stopped after dropping the eggs or after spilling half a bag of sugar. But yet. Things got really bad when making the caramel. I was using a cheap spoon made of cheap plastic. I didn't realize it was melting, because the caramel would stick to the spoon and distort the spoon. The melted plastic sort of mixed with the caramel before cementing to the pot. I owe my housemate a new pot. My tip: use a heat resistant spoon. <3
    via u/ButchTheDoggo
  • 16
    lucy 1/1000 I would give this rating if I could! I don't know how this is supposed to be a chocolate- chip cookie recipe, it doesn't say when to add chocolate chips and how many chips to add. And since when do chocolate-chips cookies have peanut butter!!? Jaclyn This isn't a chocolate chip cookie recipe. This is a peanut butter cookie recipe.
    via u/nothankyoumaam
  • 17

    Vanilla yogurt is personally responsible for so many of these cooking fails

    Accidentally put vanilla yogurt on my nachos thinking it was sour cream.
    via u/Mystic-harmony

    The original poster reports that "It actually wasn't terrible," but that they still scraped it off and tried to add the sour cream as intended. 

  • 18

    Milk is what made the difference in the golden milk recipe, huh?

    WELDON BYINGTON I first tried it with water, not very good that way, milk made all the difference DOWNSHIFTOLOGY You definitely need some sort of milk for this golden milk recipe!
    via u/Illustrious_Half3588

    This guy was trying to take the methodology of making powdered hot chocolate with water and applying it to this. No wonder it didn't turn out quite right (much like hot chocolate made with water). 

  • 19
    Didn't have any butter so tried using margarine for cookies...
    via u/Conman1186
  • 20

    Hmm

    Kirsten Klang We used Pepsi so I'm not sure if that was why it was a bit too sweet but I think we will use regular soy sauce next time if I don't have a Coke. REPLY Beth Pierce There isn't any Coke or Pepsi in this recipe.
    via u/Significant-End-1559
  • 21

    Please, no cheese in the brownie mix

    YUWANA says Hi Jessica, just curios, could I change the coconut with shredded cheddar cheese? Will it works flavor-wise? And do I need to change composition of other ingredients? Thanks a lot. Reply Jessica Holmes says Hi Yuwana, no I don't recommend using cheese in this brownie recipe. I hope you enjoy them!
    via u/Brandonitis
  • 22
    ChaosAE I didn't have potatoes, so I substituted rice. Didn't have paprika, so I used another spice. I didn't have tomato sauce, so I used tomato paste. A whole can not a half can - I don't believe in waste. My friend gave me the recipe - she said you couldn't beat it. There must be something wrong with her, I couldn't even eat it.
    via u/safadancer
  • 23

    You saved yourself from a wicked toothache

    Accidentally used powdered sugar instead of flour 9823 FOR COMPLE
    via u/annobashode
  • 24
    The only review on a recipe for vegetarian french onion soup I haven't made this recipe that I have made French onion and never ever, ever, ever has it had meat in it MAYTWIST03 Yes, but its usually made with beef broth. ANONYMOUS do you think vegan and vegetarian are the same? they are not. vegetarians use chicken and beef broth regularly. JEFF B. REPLY ...
    via u/earth__wyrm

    This person 1) didn't make the recipe, and 2) didn't want meat in it? What is Maytwist03 even trying to get across with their 1-star review? General dissatisfaction? 

  • 25

    Commenters were quick to tell Vickie that she wasted food

    Vickie says I made the recipe for the sun dried tomatoes and they are great. Since I did not eat them all so I put them in the refrigerator as suggested not a good idea by the next morning the oil had solidified. So in the trash they went.
    via u/softbutton

    One person informed her that "It is normal for oil to congeal in the fridge. It goes back to normal consistency when you take them out. FYI." Oh well, now she knows for next time. 

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