What to use instead of capers
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Salty sour bursts in a hot pan sauce
Small enough to stay whole and cured hard enough to survive the pan, so each one is a concentrated hit of salt and acid against the butter.
Green olives, chopped smallRan out
1:1 by volume
Oilier and milder with no floral mustard note. They soften into the sauce instead of staying tight.
Cornichons or dill pickle, finely choppedRan out
1:1 by volume
More vinegar, less salt, and a crunch that survives about two minutes in a hot pan. Add them at the end.
Caper berries, stem removed and slicedRan out
1 berry per 1 tsp capers
Milder and seedier, with the same flavour spread more thinly. They look better on the plate.
Preserved lemon rind, diced fineRan out
2 tsp per 1 tbsp capers, rinsed first
Salt and citrus without the sourness. Softer, so you lose the pop, and the sauce goes noticeably more perfumed.
What doesn't work: Extra lemon juice in place of the capers in a piccata. It covers the sour and nothing else. There is no salt going in, no burst of concentrated flavour, and the sauce ends up thin and one-note however much you add.
Salt-cured accent scattered over cold rich food
Intensely salty and sour in a very small piece, so it interrupts fat like smoked salmon or pate without a spoonful of dressing.
Cornichons, sliced into coinsRan out
1:1 by volume
Crunchier and sharper with far less salt. They sit visibly on the plate rather than disappearing.
Pickled red onionRan out
1 tbsp per 1 tbsp capers
Sweeter and much milder, so a bagel with lox loses its salt spike. Better colour and more crunch.
Chopped green olives or tapenadeRan out
1:1 for chopped olives, 1/2 tsp tapenade per 1 tsp capers
Rounder and oilier. Tapenade spreads rather than scattering, so it changes how the plate looks entirely.
What doesn't work: Anchovy chopped over the top. It sits in the same salt-cured register and it melts. The fillet dissolves into whatever it touches and seasons the whole plate evenly, which loses the bright interruption that was the point of the caper.
Salt-packed capers need a rinse and a ten-minute soak. Brined ones only need draining, and rinsing washes off most of what you bought them for.