HalalInstead helps you cook and shop halal in a US kitchen. We answer two questions: what can I use instead of wine, pork, gelatin and other non-halal ingredients, and how do I check whether a food, brand or ingredient is halal.
What you will find here
- Swaps you can trust. Every swap comes with amounts, the dishes it suits, and where the advice comes from. When we have tested a swap in our own kitchen, the page says so and shows what we used and what changed. Otherwise we link to the published kitchen tests and cooking references we relied on.
- Clear answers on halal status. For questions like “is vanilla extract halal?”, we explain what halal certifiers and named scholars say, where they differ, and how you can check a label yourself. We do not issue religious rulings.
- Dated checks. Brands change recipes and restaurants change suppliers. Every brand, chain or store check shows the date we last checked it and the source we used.
Who is behind HalalInstead
HalalInstead is written by Subhan Ullah. HalalInstead is run from Pakistan by Subhan Ullah. It answers the questions Muslim home cooks in the US ask most about recipes, ingredients and food labels, with every source linked.
Subhan Ullah lives in Pakistan. When we run our own recipe tests or take photos, they are done in Subhan Ullah’s own kitchen with ingredients available there, and the page says so. Information about US brands, restaurant chains and stores comes from company statements, ingredient lists and halal certifier listings, which we link to and date. We do not visit US stores in person.
Read more on the author page and in our editorial policy.
Corrections and suggestions
If you spot something out of date or wrong, please tell us through the contact page. We fix errors and note the update on the page.