5 Best White Wine Vinegar Substitutes (Updated 2024)

Name: Top 5 White Wine Vinegar Substitutes
Ingredients: Sherry Vinegar; Rice Vinegar; Apple Cider Vinegar; Lemon Juice; Balsamic Vinegar

Updated Mar 7, 2023Recipe Marker

Are you curious about what is the best substitute for white wine vinegar? Stick around as we share our top alternatives.

The sour flavor of white wine vinegar adds tang to cream sauces, pasta, potato salad, and other dishes. Compared to regular vinegar, it has a stronger sour and more acidic flavor.

Its bold flavor goes well with vegetables and other ingredients. Sometimes, when a recipe requires a sour kick, white wine vinegar is used by cooks.

In this article, we are going to explore the best white wine vinegar substitute for cooking. In case you run out of this ingredient, you can use what’s sitting in your kitchen cabinet.

Best Substitute for White Wine Vinegar

In case you don’t have any white wine vinegar, worry not.

There are several alternatives to use that mimic its taste and flavor. Here are some of the best substitutes to use for your cooking.

1. Sherry Vinegar

Substitute a tablespoon of sherry vinegar for white wine vinegar. If you’re looking for a very similar tang, this is a good substitute. Sherry vinegar has a robust sour tone and provides a relatively balanced acidic character.

It is perfect for pasta, stews, and meat dishes. Because it is white, sherry vinegar doesn’t affect the color of sauces.

2. Rice Vinegar

A less acidic type of vinegar to use is white rice vinegar, perfect for stir fry and salad dressing. It has a delicate, sour taste that also works well for meat and fish dishes.

Rice wine vinegar is an excellent substitute because it has a similar flavor profile. However, the only difference is the mild, sweet flavor of the rice vinegar.

Try using one tablespoon of rice vinegar for your cooking and add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

In case you don’t have rice vinegar at home, you can also use apple cider vinegar. Although the tanginess is stronger, you can always add water to balance out the taste.

The color of this vinegar is white, therefore, you can use it for dishes you don’t want to be altered in color.

Apple cider vinegar isn’t recommended as a substitute when making vinaigrettes, however, because of the slight difference in flavor.

Apple cider vinegar has an intense flavor not suited for the delicate taste of the sauce.

4. Lemon Juice

If all you have are lemons in your kitchen, use them. Lemon juice offers a similarly tangy taste but is milder because of the lack of acetic acid. Add salt to intensify the flavor and add regular vinegar.

Note that lemon juice is only applicable to achieve a sour taste. However, if you are making pasta or stew, this ingredient won’t do the trick.

5. Balsamic Vinegar

Surprisingly, another great substitute is balsamic vinegar. It has a rich and intense flavor that tastes almost the same as the white wine variety.

Balsamic is made from concentrated wine grape juice from the region of Italy.

The only downside of using this vinegar is it makes the sauce darker because it is brown in color. If you are making pasta, opt for a different substitute.

What Is White Wine Vinegar?

White wine vinegar is made from fermented white wine. Depending on the white wine used, the taste varies, but it bears similarity to the tang in rice vinegar and red wine vinegar.

This ingredient is common in French cuisine, especially in soups, stews, and Béarnaise sauces.

Some people prefer it because it is clear in color and doesn’t affect the shade of the food while cooking, unlike red wine vinegar.

How to Make White Wine Vinegar

Making this kind of vinegar is simple. First, you need a good-quality wine with about 10 percent alcohol.

Note that this ABV content is significant because higher alcohol content inhibits the activity of the bacteria and too low ABV won’t keep the vinegar.

The easiest way to make your own wine vinegar is by leaving a 3/4-full bottle open in a warm place. The natural oxidation process will do all the work. To finish, put a cheesecloth on top of the bottle to ensure you don’t get fruit flies.

Another way to make this vinegar is by combining 4 cups of white wine and 1 cup of mother vinegar into a glass container. Again, cover the container with cheesecloth.

Conclusion

If you need ingredients that can mimic the strong, sour flavor profile of white wine vinegar, you can use the mentioned white wine vinegar substitutes.

Depending on the dish you’re about to make, use a substitute that has a milder or stronger tangy taste.

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