Figuring out where to buy soy lecithin depends on how you plan to use it.
Soy lecithin is a food additive available in powder, granule, and liquid form. You might also find it in pill form, sold as a supplement.
Many people use all the forms to add to their food daily to reap the suspected health benefits of lecithin, including lower cholesterol and antioxidant properties.
Soy lecithin in recipes thickens, emulsifies, and creates a pleasant texture in foods made from dough like bread and cakes. Lecithin is often used to replace some animal-based ingredients in vegan and vegetarian foods.
Where To Find Soy Lecithin In the Grocery Store
You can find soy lecithin in the baking section of the grocery store if the store carries it. You might also find the supplements in the pharmacy or supplement section of the grocery store.
If you’re looking for granules or liquid soy lecithin for cooking, you still might find the granules in the pharmacy section of a grocery store if the story carries it at all.
The powder, granulated, and liquid forms work in recipes to condition doughs, add healthy fats, and emulsify ingredients together for a smoother result. It helps chefs make fancy and decorative foam on food or the top of drinks.
You can add it to your food in small amounts as a supplement, even if the recipe doesn’t call for the ingredient.
Where To Buy Soy Lecithin Near Me
Most grocery stores don’t carry soy lecithin as a baking ingredient, but some larger stores might have it in the supplements and health food aisle.
The grocery stores most likely to sell soy lecithin prioritize organic and healthy choices. Health-food stores near you probably carry it in some form, too.
- Whole Foods grocery stores carry granules that you can use in recipes and supplements.
- Vons stores stock liquid lecithin near the pharmacy area in their meal replacement aisle.
- GNC health-food stores typically carry the granules and the supplement form.
- Wegmans stores have the granulated form, usually in the baking aisle near the flour.
- Kroger sells granulated soy lecithin in the vitamin aisle.
If you don’t live near these stores and wonder where to buy soy lecithin locally, check your nearby health-food stores or independently owned organic grocers for the ingredient.
Other grocery stores like Walmart Supercenters might have the supplements, but it’s unlikely they’ll carry it in a form you can use in recipes.
How To Buy Soy Lecithin Online
If you can’t find where to buy soy lecithin locally, you can order it online from most large stores and specialty shops that ship.
Whole Foods doesn’t ship, so you can’t get it from them if you don’t live nearby. You can order soy lecithin from the following sites:
- Amazon has many options, from powder to liquid products.
- Walmart sells soy lecithin granules in different brands, supplements, and liquid soy lecithin.
- GNC ships most of its products and carries soy lecithin granules and supplements.
- The Vitamin Shoppe offers a competitive price on liquid soy lecithin and sells granules and supplements.
- Modernist Pantry sells powder and liquid soy lecithin. This store also sells many other unique ingredients that are hard to find in local grocery stores.
If you only need to order one item and you have an Amazon Prime membership, you can get free shipping without the need to reach Walmart’s $35 or GNC’s $49 minimum order for free shipping.
Unless you live near a Whole Foods or a well-stocked health-food store, you’ll probably have to order the liquid, powder, or granule forms online.
Many other health-food and grocery stores that sell online carry it in one of the forms, usually granulated.
Can’t Find Soy Lecithin? See Top Alternatives
If you can’t figure out where to find soy lecithin in grocery store aisles and can’t wait to buy it online, you can use a few different substitutes to complete your recipe.
Since lecithin acts as an emulsifier and thickener in recipes, you’ll need to substitute with ingredients that serve the same purpose.
Sunflower Lecithin
It seems unlikely that you’ll find this if you can’t find soy lecithin since they’re a similar product. But if your local GNC is out of soy lecithin and happens to have sunflower lecithin on the shelf, you can use it as a one-to-one substitute.
If the recipe calls for liquid lecithin, use liquid sunflower lecithin. If it calls for granules, try to get the sunflower lecithin granules as a substitute.
Start small if you want to add lecithin to a recipe that doesn’t call for it. If you want to add it to help condition bread dough, use the same amount of sunflower lecithin granules as you would soy lecithin granules.
If you substitute with liquid, use about half the amount of the granules called for, or leave it out.
Adding a liquid ingredient in place of a dry one can change the texture of a dough or batter and cause a less desirable outcome.
Egg Yolks
Egg yolks work as a substitute for liquid soy lecithin. They add fat and emulsifying properties as the lecithin would.
Eggs contain about 20% lecithin and often appear in recipes as a binding agent, making them the perfect choice for a lecithin substitute.
Add the same amount of egg yolk you first mix into a thinner liquid in the recipe. If you need to cook the sauce for a long time, egg yolk might not work well because the egg will cook.
In that case, try adding milk a little at a time to the sauce to thicken it instead.
Xanthan Gum
This powder comes from ground sugars pulled from corn. Recipes that make gluten-free sauces and baked goods often call for xanthan gum as an emulsifier.
Because gluten-free products are popular and take up more shelf space in grocery stores than ever before, you may be able to find xanthan gum in stores that don’t carry soy lecithin.
Walmart Supercenters, especially in large cities, often carry this in the baking aisle or an aisle dedicated to gluten-free products. Other large grocery stores may sell it in either place, too.
To use xanthan gum for cooking, use the same amount as the soy lecithin granules called for in the recipe.
