Baking
Best Baking Powder Substitutes
Out of Baking Powder? Here are 1 real substitutes, ranked and ratio-backed.
1. Baking soda + cream of tartar
Ratio: 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar per 1 tsp baking powder
This recreates what baking powder actually is (baking soda + a dry acid) — a close, reliable substitute if mixed fresh right before use.
Best for: baking
Baking powder has exactly one real substitute worth using, and it works because it's not really a substitute at all — it's a recreation of what baking powder actually is: a base (baking soda) combined with a dry acid (cream of tartar) in the right ratio.
This means the substitute is genuinely reliable, not just a rough approximation, as long as it's mixed immediately before use — baking soda and cream of tartar start reacting once combined and moistened, so pre-mixing a large batch to store for later use loses potency over time the way pre-made baking powder (with its stabilizing cornstarch) doesn't.
There isn't a good substitute for baking powder made from baking soda alone without an acid — using plain baking soda in place of baking powder, without adding an acidic ingredient elsewhere in the recipe, will leave a bake flat, since baking soda has no leavening power on its own without something acidic to react against.
Before reaching for the substitute at all, it's worth testing whether the baking powder already in the cabinet actually needs replacing — dropping a spoonful into hot water and watching for a vigorous, immediate fizz is a faster and more honest check than guessing from the purchase date, since a can that's been open a long time in a humid kitchen can lose potency well before any printed expiration date suggests trouble.
The homemade baking-soda-and-cream-of-tartar version also behaves differently in storage than the substitute itself implies — because it skips the cornstarch buffer that keeps commercial baking powder free-flowing, a spoonful mixed slightly ahead of time in a humid kitchen can clump or start reacting prematurely sitting in a measuring spoon, which is a separate practical reason (beyond potency) that this site's guidance insists on mixing it immediately before it goes into the batter.
Need to convert Baking Powder first? See its conversion page.
Frequently asked questions
Is baking soda plus cream of tartar really the same as baking powder?
Functionally yes — that combination is essentially what commercial baking powder is, just without the added cornstarch that keeps the pre-mixed powder shelf-stable, so the homemade version needs to be mixed fresh right before use.
Can I substitute plain baking soda for baking powder without adding anything else?
No — on its own, baking soda just sits there inert in a batter with nothing to trigger it, so skipping the acid step and swapping it in one-for-one produces a dense, flat result rather than the lift the recipe was counting on.
Why does the homemade substitute need to be mixed right before baking?
Because baking soda and cream of tartar begin reacting as soon as they're combined and exposed to moisture — commercial baking powder's cornstarch buffer prevents premature reaction during storage, a stabilizing step the freshly-mixed homemade version doesn't have.
Does altitude change how reliable this substitute is?
High-altitude baking already requires leavening adjustments regardless of whether you're using real or homemade baking powder, so the substitute itself isn't less reliable at altitude — it just inherits whatever altitude adjustment the recipe already calls for.
Does self-rising flour eliminate the need for a baking powder substitute entirely?
If a recipe is flexible enough to use self-rising flour instead of all-purpose plus baking powder separately, yes — though that changes the recipe's flour, not just its leavening, so it's a bigger substitution than swapping baking powder alone.