The Best Simple White Wine Vinegar Substitutes

No white wine vinegar? There’s no need to go out and buy a bottle. Use these simple White Wine Vinegar Substitutes instead.

Best White Wine Vinegar Substitutes

(in order of preference)

1. Rice Wine Vinegar

Also called ‘rice vinegar’ this has a similar, pleasing acidity to white wine vinegar. It’s available in the Asian foods section of my local supermarket.

2. Red Wine Vinegar

You’ll have the different colour and a slightly stronger flavour if you opt for red wine vinegar but in most cases it will be completely fine. If you’re worried about the flavour of the red wine vinegar overpowering your dish, start with less and add more as needed.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

The flavour of apple cider vinegar is slightly more fruity than white wine vinegar. But in a finished dish it’s unlikely you’ll notice.

4. Sherry Vinegar

My favourite vinegar! The colour of sherry vinegar is more brown than the pale straw of white wine vinegar. And the flavour tends to be slightly harder and more acidic. So you may find you’ll need a little less sherry vinegar to match the acid of your white wine vinegar.

5. Champagne Vinegar

I included this further down the list only because champagne vinegar tends to be less readily available than white wine vinegar. But the flavour and acidity levels are close enough that it’s extremely unlikely you’d notice a difference,

6. Lemon / Lime Juice

Citrus juices rely on citric acid whereas all the wine vinegars mentioned above are acetic acid based. This means citrus juice has a completely different flavour profile.

But if you don’t have any vinegar in the house, a squeeze of lemon or lime will provide freshness and bring the other flavours of your dish to life in a similar way to vinegar. You may even enjoy the flavour differences!

More Tips for Cooking with Vinegar

More Ingredient Substitutes

Also see see the Simple Ingredients Substitutes Index.

Have fun in the kitchen!

With love,
Jules x