Turkish Pantry Substitutions: What to Use & Where to Buy

Quick answer: Most Turkish pantry staples have workable substitutes — Aleppo pepper for pul biber, feta for beyaz peynir, date syrup for pekmez — but each swap trades away some authentic flavor. This guide covers 15 key ingredients: the best substitute for each, what you lose, and where to buy the real thing online in the US.

You found a Turkish recipe you love — then hit the ingredient list: biber salçası, nar ekşisi, çörek otu. Your supermarket has never heard of them. The honest truth: some Turkish staples have near-perfect stand-ins hiding in American grocery aisles, while others — pepper paste, tarhana, real Maraş biber — have no true substitute, and the swap will change the dish.

This guide gives you both paths for every ingredient. If you're still building your shelf from scratch, start with our Turkish pantry staples guide, which covers what each ingredient does and why it earns its spot. Here, we focus on the practical question: what do I use tonight, and what should I order for next time?

TG Gourmet has shipped authentic Turkish groceries across the US since 2003 — when we say "the real thing is worth it," two decades of customers back us up.

Key Takeaways

• Aleppo pepper is a near-identical substitute for pul biber; generic red pepper flakes are not — they're hotter and flatter.
• Pepper paste (biber salçası) and tarhana are the two hardest ingredients to fake; substitutes work in a pinch but change the dish noticeably.
• Cheese swaps (feta for beyaz peynir, provolone for kaşar) are the most forgiving substitutions on this list.
• Syrups like pekmez and nar ekşisi can be approximated with date syrup or reduced pomegranate juice, but the depth of slow-reduced fruit must is hard to copy.
• Every ingredient below ships from TG Gourmet's Turkish grocery store, so "can't find it locally" doesn't have to end the recipe.

Which Turkish Spices Are Hardest to Replace?

Turkish spices are where substitutions succeed or fail most dramatically. For a deeper dive into how each one is used, see our essential Turkish spices guide — here's what to do when your rack is missing one.

What can I substitute for pul biber?

Best substitute: Aleppo pepper, which is essentially the Syrian cousin of Turkish pul biber — mild, fruity, sun-dried flakes with a faint oily sheen. If you can't find that either, use crushed red pepper flakes cut with an equal amount of sweet paprika to tame the heat and add back some fruitiness. Why the real thing wins: proper pul biber is de-seeded, sun-dried, and lightly rubbed with oil and salt, giving it a raisiny warmth that blooms in melted butter — the finishing touch on eggs, mantı, and lentil soup. Generic flakes just deliver sharp heat. Find real pul biber in our Turkish spice collection.

What's the difference between Maraş and Urfa biber — can they swap?

Maraş biber is bright, brick-red, and fruity-hot; Urfa biber is nearly black, smoky, and raisin-sweet, thanks to a day-sweating cure that keeps some moisture in the flake. They can substitute for each other, but the dish shifts character — Maraş lifts, Urfa broods. Outside Turkish flakes, the closest stand-in for Urfa is ancho chile powder with a small pinch of smoked paprika; for Maraş, use Aleppo pepper. Why the real thing wins: that slow curing process is the flavor, and no blend recreates it. Both are pantry-changers on grilled meat, hummus, and roasted vegetables.

What can I substitute for sumac?

Best substitute: finely grated lemon zest mixed with a little salt, using about half the amount the recipe calls for. It gives you citrus brightness, though it adds aroma where sumac adds pure, dry tartness. Why the real thing wins: sumac delivers acidity without liquid — shower it over onion salad, grilled fish, or lahmacun and get tang with zero sogginess. Lemon juice can't do that, and zest fades under heat. Inexpensive and long-keeping, sumac is one of the easiest "just buy it" calls here.

What can I substitute for çörek otu (nigella seeds)?

Honest answer: there is no close substitute. Nigella's flavor — faintly oniony, peppery, almost herbal — is its own thing. In a pinch, toasted sesame seeds replicate the visual crunch on breads and simit-style bakes, and a small pinch of dried oregano gestures at the herbal note. Why the real thing wins: çörek otu is what makes Turkish white cheese plates, pide, and poğaça taste unmistakably Turkish. It's also one of the cheapest items in the spice aisle, so this is a "skip the workaround" ingredient if you bake at all.

What About Turkish Pastes and Syrups?

What can I substitute for biber salçası (Turkish pepper paste)?

Best substitute: mix two parts tomato paste with one part pureed roasted red bell pepper, plus a pinch of paprika (and cayenne, if your recipe calls for hot paste). It gets you in the neighborhood for stews and soups. Why the real thing wins: authentic biber salçası is made from red peppers slow-reduced under the sun until they turn sweet, deep, and concentrated — a flavor backbone that tomato paste alone simply doesn't have. It's the secret behind restaurant-level menemen, kısır, and Adana-style marinades. Read our full pepper paste guide, then grab a jar from the paste collection.

What can I substitute for pekmez (grape molasses)?

Best substitute: date syrup, which shares pekmez's dark fruit sweetness, or in baking, a half-and-half blend of honey and unsulphured molasses. Why the real thing wins: pekmez is pure grape must reduced slowly to a glossy syrup — no added sugar, just concentrated fruit with a gentle mineral edge. Stirred into tahini for the classic Turkish breakfast spread (tahin-pekmez), it's irreplaceable; date syrup gets close but reads sweeter and flatter. We covered its history and uses in what is pekmez? — the real bottle lives in our honey & syrups collection.

What can I substitute for nar ekşisi (pomegranate molasses)?

Best substitute: simmer 100% pomegranate juice with a squeeze of lemon and a spoon of sugar until it reduces to a thick syrup — about 4 cups of juice yields roughly half a cup. A balsamic glaze works in emergencies but pushes the dish Italian. Why the real thing wins: proper nar ekşisi balances sour, sweet, and bitter in one pour — it's what makes kısır, gavurdağı salad, and muhammara sing; home reductions usually land too sweet. Find it in our pickles & sauces collection.

What can I substitute for tahini?

Best substitute: unsweetened natural sunflower seed butter, which matches tahini's texture and roasty bitterness better than peanut butter (use peanut butter only where its flavor won't clash). Why the real thing wins: Turkish tahini is typically stone-ground from lightly roasted sesame, giving it a pourable texture and a clean, nutty flavor — essential for hummus, tarator sauce, tahini cookies, and the beloved tahin-pekmez pairing. Seed butters substitute the function, not the flavor. You'll find quality Turkish tahini in our paste and spread collection.

Building your first order? Our full Turkish grocery collection covers everything in this guide — most customers start with pul biber, pepper paste, and tahini.

How Do I Substitute Turkish Cheeses and Dairy?

What can I substitute for kaşar cheese?

Best substitute: mild provolone or a low-moisture mozzarella with a small handful of mild cheddar melted in for flavor. Kashkaval, if your store carries it, is the same cheese family. Why the real thing wins: aged kaşar has a nutty, buttery depth that fresh mozzarella lacks, and it melts into the glossy, stretchy blanket that defines Turkish tost and pide. Browse Turkish cheeses in our cheese collection.

What can I substitute for beyaz peynir (Turkish white cheese)?

Best substitute: feta — the most forgiving swap in this guide. Choose a creamy Bulgarian or French-style feta over a dry, crumbly one, and if it's very salty, soak it in milk for 20 minutes. Why the real thing wins: beyaz peynir is generally creamier, milkier, and less aggressively briny than Greek feta, which matters when the cheese is the star — on a Turkish breakfast plate, in börek filling, or beside melon in summer. For salty white crumbles, feta is fine; for cheese-forward dishes, order the real thing from our cheese selection.

What can I substitute for Turkish süzme yogurt?

Best substitute: full-fat Greek yogurt, strained through cheesecloth in the fridge for a few hours if you need it extra thick. Labneh also works for spreads and mezze. Why the real thing wins: süzme ("strained") yogurt has a dense, almost cream-cheese body and a gentle tang that holds up under hot food — spooned over mantı, iskender, or sizzling butter-pul biber sauce, it won't water out the way thinner yogurts do. Greek yogurt is genuinely close; the difference shows most in garlic yogurt sauces where texture is everything. See our dairy collection for Turkish-style yogurts.

What Can Replace Turkish Meats, Doughs, and Grains?

What can I substitute for sucuk?

Best substitute: Spanish-style dry chorizo or a quality beef pepperoni, sliced and pan-fried the same way. Why the real thing wins: sucuk is a fermented beef sausage seasoned with garlic, cumin, and çemen spices — it releases brick-red, spiced oil into the pan that flavors everything it touches, which is the whole point of sucuklu yumurta (sucuk and eggs). Chorizo's paprika-forward profile lands close but reads distinctly Spanish; pepperoni is greasier and sharper. Authentic sucuk contains no pork. Find it in our main grocery collection.

What can I substitute for yufka?

Best substitute: phyllo dough for börek — stack two phyllo sheets brushed with a milk-egg-oil wash to approximate one thicker yufka sheet. For wraps (dürüm), lavash or a large flour tortilla does the job. Why the real thing wins: yufka is sturdier and more forgiving than tissue-thin phyllo — it bakes into börek with tender-crisp layers rather than shattering flakes, and it doesn't dry out the moment you look away. Check availability in our Turkish grocery collection.

What can I substitute for bulgur?

Best substitute: cracked wheat (nearly identical, just not pre-steamed, so it needs longer cooking). Quinoa works as a gluten-free stand-in for pilafs, and coarse couscous mimics the look — though couscous is pasta, not grain, and tastes flatter. Why the real thing wins: true bulgur is parboiled, dried, and cracked, which gives it that nutty flavor and quick, fluffy cook that makes kısır, bulgur pilavı, and kibbeh work. Fine, medium, and coarse grinds are not interchangeable, so buying the right grade matters. Find bulgur in our grains & legumes collection.

What can I substitute for tarhana?

Honest answer: nothing really substitutes for tarhana. This fermented blend of yogurt, flour, and vegetables — dried and crumbled — is one of the world's oldest instant soups, with a tangy, savory depth that comes only from fermentation. To fake the format: whisk flour into yogurt with tomato and pepper paste, then temper into simmering broth — comforting, but missing the signature sourness. Why the real thing wins: one bag delivers weeks of ten-minute dinners that taste like a Turkish grandmother's kitchen. Find it in our Turkish grocery store.

Turkish Ingredient Substitution Table

Stop substituting, start stocking. Substitutes rescue tonight's dinner — but the real ingredients are what make Turkish food taste like Turkey. TG Gourmet has brought the taste of home to US kitchens since 2003. Fill one cart from our Turkish grocery collection and retire this substitution guide for good.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Aleppo pepper the same as pul biber?

They're extremely close relatives — both are sun-dried, mild, fruity red pepper flakes from the same regional tradition. Turkish pul biber (often Maraş biber) is the standard in Turkish kitchens, and most US-sold "Aleppo pepper" today is actually grown in Turkey. For nearly all recipes, they're interchangeable.

Are these substitutes exact 1:1 swaps?

Mostly, yes — cheeses, yogurt, and bulgur substitute at equal amounts. The exceptions: use half the amount of lemon zest for sumac, taste as you go when replacing pepper paste with the tomato-paste blend, and treat tarhana and çörek otu substitutes as approximations rather than replacements.

Where can I buy authentic Turkish ingredients in the US?

TG Gourmet (formerly Tulumba) has shipped Turkish groceries nationwide since 2003. Every ingredient in this guide — spices, pastes, syrups, cheeses, sucuk, yufka, bulgur, and tarhana — is available online with delivery across the US, no Turkish market in your city required.

How long do Turkish pantry staples keep?

Dried spices, bulgur, and tarhana keep for many months in airtight containers away from light. Opened jars of pepper paste, tahini, pekmez, and nar ekşisi last weeks to months refrigerated (keep pepper paste topped with a thin film of oil). Cheeses, yogurt, and sucuk follow their label dates.

Can I make pomegranate molasses at home?

Yes — simmer pure pomegranate juice with lemon juice and a little sugar until reduced to a thick syrup, about 45–60 minutes. It works, but commercial Turkish nar ekşisi made from tart pomegranate varieties has a sour-bitter complexity that sweet US supermarket juice can't fully match.

What are the three most worth-buying "real" ingredients?

Based on how much they change your cooking versus their substitutes: biber salçası (no substitute captures it), pul biber (transforms everything from eggs to soup), and nar ekşisi (one bottle upgrades every salad and marinade). All three are shelf-stable and ship easily.