Just because you have no Mortadella on hand, it doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy Mortadella sandwiches, comfort snacks, and worth trying appetizers. Go for the best Mortadella substitute you may already have to make a quick replacement.
The one who is a crazy eater of Italian foods must carry this recipe staple on hand. But in the case, you are in hurry and forget to spot Mortadella in your shopping cart, stay calm. We’ve got you covered ahead. Let’s read.
Mortadella Substitute
Mortadella is an Italian recipe essential that is nothing but an emulsified sausage. It’s a salami-type sausage potentially made of pork and flavored with herbs and pistachios. The extra pork fat doesn’t melt while processing and gives a quite pretty marbled structure embedded with unmelted fat spots just like polka dots.
The perfectly balanced proportion of spices and fatty pork makes Mortadella the mainstay in the preparation of pasta, sandwiches, salads, appetizers, cheese platters, burritos and many more.
Owing to its versatility, you may think how it is possible to substitute Mortadella in the recipes. Well, it’s quite natural. But you can definitely replace this Italian sausage with other sausages and cold meat cuts.
As the ingredient profile of Mortadella depicts the use of pig fat, so it causes various diet restrictions religiously. Besides, it also doesn’t compliment a vegetarian diet. And most of the time, Mortadella is confined to only certain regional grocery stores.
Whatever the case, you must know how to replace Mortadella in your beloved recipes which you’re going to learn here.
1. Bologna (Similar Texture)
Bologna is another finely processed Italian sausage you can use instead of mortadella. You can consider it as a kind version of Mortadella with a quite similar texture and mouthfeel. It largely contains ground beef with a fewer portion of pork.
The extensive processing of this meaty blend gives a delicate spongy texture to the bologna. In terms of flavor, it’s more versatile than Mortadella. Based on which proportion of ingredients is used, bologna offers a broad flavor spectrum ranging from mildly sweet to spicy and saltier. However, it cannot mimic the rich fatty bite of Mortadella as it doesn’t contain fat cubes and embedded pistachios.
Bologna comes in handy while making a comfort cheese platter, an appealing starter, rich creamy pasta, and delicious casserole. It’s worth getting substitute you can get easily from local grocery stores as compared to scarcely available Mortadella.
2. Galantine (Similar Flavor)
Are you missing a rich umami bite of Mortadella? Go for galantine rather than trying fine deli bologna. It’s also a processed, stuffed, and cooked meaty sausage that originated first in France.
The rich mouth melting fatty bite comes from a perfectly manipulated combination of pork, poultry, and beef. The overall flavor is quite similar yet complex and savory it gets from added seasonings olives, pistachios, herbs and spices. Its chunkier cuts are incredible to flavor salads, sandwiches, pizza, and pasta.
3. Olive Loaf (Easy To Get)
Olive loaf is another great Mortadella substitute you can get easily. Although it can be served in so many ways, it does its best in sandwiches and savory wraps. Olive loaf packs goodness of both Mortadella and olives in one serving. So, if you are craving olive-based flavor coupled with Mortadella richness, the olive loaf is there for you.
Another good thing is that it’s already cooked, so just slice it up and add it to the dish. Its crumbled olive containing texture gives chunkier bites to the dish and can also overpower the overall flavor. So, you need to adjust the quantity of other flavorings while using olive loaf as a Mortadella alternative.
4. Thuringer (Similarly Versatile)
Ask for a spicy sausage bite rather than subtle Mortadella, Thuringer is a must-try substitute. Similarly loaded with pork fat, veal or beef, this sausage is a pretty much considerable replacement for Mortadella.
The texture is plain without any spotted fat, yet offers a savory spicy kick that lingers on the palate significantly. Thuringer gets its spicy flavor from a variety of seasonings and spices including mustard with palatable smoky undertones.
The best thing is that you can consume it raw, fried, grilled or even baked. Just slice up the sausage and wrap up in sandwiches or savory rolls, top up on pizza or deliciously cooked creamy pasta.
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Vegetarian Substitute For Mortadella
No doubt, Mortadella is an Italian recipe essential and spots a reasonable space in the culinary world, but it isn’t vegetarian. And if you’re a vegetarian or follow a vegan diet for some reason, what you can do to replace Mortadella? We had the same question earlier and work hard on it. After doing some culinary experiments, we found some vegetarian alternatives for Mortadella you can get on hands easily. Also check out the best vegetarian ham substitute and spot out which suits you the most.
5. Tofurky Ham
Tofurky ham is a plant-based meatless ham you can switch with Mortadella. Although there’s no fatty mouth melting sensation, it offers an incredibly balanced and enriched texture you can bite on deliciously.
The tender smoky flavor of Tofurky ham is perfectly complimented with the seasoning combo. Serve Tofurky ham slices with gravy, hold them between bread slice or top up vegetable salad, pizza or pasta.
6. Gardein Sausage
Gardein has revolutionized the culinary world by offering a wide range of meat-less products to satisfy vegetarian diet. You can even substitute Mortadella using gardein sausage in every recipe that calls for Italian pork-based or meat-based sausage.
The overall texture is tender, juicy, and plain not as delicate as Mortadella. Its flavor will not disappoint you at all when used in sandwiches, savory wraps, and rolls. Unpack these sausages, heat them in a skillet and serve either as a side or mainstay with sauce of your choice.
FAQs
Can You Substitute Mortadella With Capicola?
You can switch mortadella with capicola as both are cured meat cuts with a pack of unique flavor kick. Before doing a replacement, you must know that capicola can replace mortadella in terms of texture. However, when compared on the basis of flavor, capicola is a little milder, less fatty yet saltier and spicier than mortadella.
So, round up the capicola flavor by tossing it to Italian dips, salads, casseroles, and sandwiches. You can also top up your beloved pasta dishes or pizza slices with capicola chunks.
Does mortadella need to be cooked?
The good thing about mortadella is that you can enjoy it as is. As it’s a cured or processed meaty sausage and cooked while manufacturing, so it doesn’t need to be cooked. That’s a reason it is served as cold meat cut and thus directly eaten. However, you can also toss it to the skillet and heat a bit before incorporating to any dish.
Is Mortadella And Ham The Same?
No, mortadella and ham are not the same. For ease, you can consider mortadella as a kind of ham. But ham is leaner meat cut with fewer calories and fat content. On the other side, mortadella is richer fatty meat cut with a lot of calories.
So, there will be a far difference in the final recipe flavor if you replace mortadella with ham. Thereby, go for any other closer alternative to mortadella instead of ham.
