Alternative ingredients are ingredients that have not commonly been used due to availability, anti-nutritional factors, or costs. Evaluating these ingredients should be done by chemical analysis, digestibility studies, and feed trials. Before deciding to use an alternative ingredient the potential risk of reducing performance should be compared to the potential decrease in feed costs. The ingredient nutritional value should be considered by understanding and assessing the variation, understanding the impact it will have on dietary energy density and fibre content, considering any mycotoxin risks, and considering any complications with mixing and handling due to the ingredient’s physical characteristics. Formulating diets is a complicated process that needs to provide adequate nutrients to the pig, analyze the ingredients that are included, by palatable to the pig, be able to maintain pellet quality or feed flow, and maximize margin over feed facility cost. Finally, the source of the ingredient needs to be considered, as different processing methods can result in nutritional variation between sources. Overall, alternative ingredients have the potential to save feed costs, but nutrition, handling, availability, and formulation all need to be considered beforehand.