A unique pork salami paste originating in Italy, nduja is made from the head, skin, and off-cuts of pork. It is a common sandwich filler and is also used to infuse a complex pork flavour into everyday meals like pizza or roasted pork.
Being such a specialised ingredient, nduja is hard to find outside of Italy. So, what can you use from your local supermarket instead?
Our 4 Substitutes for Nduja
The key component that makes nduja stand apart from other pork spreads is its intense heat from the hot chilli peppers blended in with the pork trimmings. So let’s see what we can do to swap it out.
Here are our top 4 substitutes for nduja:
1) Chorizo
Even though it may be a Spanish sausage, and not Italian, chorizo still makes one of the best substitutes for nduja.
Made predominantly from pork and pork fat, chorizo is flavoured with paprika. This gives it that hot hit that nduja is loved for.
However, paprika is more of a smoky heat than an intense burn like the hot chilli pepper provided by nduja.
Do not let this slight difference put you off from using chorizo as a substitute though. You can still get the intense spicy pork flavour of nduja with chorizo. It may just be a little bit removed.
If you still find chorizo to be too mild for your nduja tastes, then you can always add some extra heat with your own chillies or chilli sauce.
Blench Chorizo Into a Paste
Chorizo is usually sold as a hard sausage. To make it a spreadable food like nduja, you will need to blend it up until it is the right consistency. This is when some extra chilli oil or even just some plain water will come in handy.
2) Pepperoni
Unlike nduja, pepperoni is made using a mix of pork and often beef, giving it more of a complex flavour than nduja.
However, pepperoni is treated with the same serving intent of pizza toppings and sandwiches so holds many of the same flavour values as nduja.
Both types of meat are also the same vibrant red colour, adding a comparable aesthetic to the dishes they are used in.
In terms of consistency, you will need to use a food processor to make pepperoni a decently spreadable texture.
If you add other spreadable meats like spam then you will be able to create a much easier pepperoni spread, which can be used as nduja typically is.
Select the Right Pepperoni
Most pepperoni has a spicy undertone anyway, but you will need to buy a spicy pepperoni to get close to the same level of heat as nduja spread.
3) Soppressata
Soppressata is another dry-cured salami meat like pepperoni, made mostly in Italy. That is why many of its flavours match that of nduja as they are both made with Italian cuisine in mind.
Usually, soppressata is flavoured using garlic, oregano, and fennel. This makes the meat develop a deep, earthy flavour while curing and can make any dish so much tastier.
The ingredients used to treat soppressata are prone to change depending on where in Italy the meat is cut and cured. The one consistent flavour of soppressata is its spice.
This heat is mostly created using chilli flakes which are not as hot as the chilli peppers mixed into nduja, but they do create enough of a kick to make soppressata a suitable substitute for nduja.
Opt for Pork Soppressata
Just like its use of herbs and spices, the meat that soppressata is made with can also vary depending on where you buy it. To make the best nduja substitute, make sure you buy pork soppressata.
4) Lamb Sausage
Being the only lamb substitute on this list means that you will have to put a little bit more work into lamb sausage to make it resemble nduja better, but the effort will be worth it.
Lamb tends to be more tender than pork, making it easier to break up into a paste.
You may want to slightly cook the broken-up lamb sausage before you blend it up just to give it the tougher texture of nduja paste.
However, as you would expect, lamb sausage will not carry the distinct pork flavour of nduja. Though if you add your own chillies then you can still get that sharp heat from lamb sausage.
Buy from Your Local Butcher
Lamb will never taste exactly like pork, but lamb sausages made from lamb shoulder are less likely to taste gamey.
You will need to buy lamb sausages from your local butcher to ensure that they are selling you lamb shoulder sausages as the fresh sausages in supermarkets are not always clear.
Other Substitutes for Nduja
The above substitutes can become quite expensive, even when brought from your supermarket. So here are a few cheaper alternatives to substitute nduja:
- Vegan Nduja – Make your own nduja at home using sundried tomatoes, chilli peppers and olive oil. It will be way cheaper than the meat paste itself and is also vegan friendly.
- Pork Spread – Though it lacks the spice of nduja, regular pork spread mixed with some of your own chilli flakes will make an effective budget nduja substitute.
Summary
Though nduja is a rare ingredient outside of Italy, there are plenty of other spicey meats available that you can turn into a paste to replicate the unique nduja spread.
Chorizo may be a Spanish sausage but it is the meat that most closely resembles nduja. Especially when blended with extra chilli oil.