Adding sherry vinegar to your dishes makes them tastier. It gives flavor to your salads, pasta, marinades, sauces, dressings, and other favorite chicken or meat recipes you want to prepare.
According to the USDA, one tablespoon of sherry vinegar has zero proteins, zero sodium, zero carbohydrates, zero fat, and five calories which adds flavor to your dish without any additional carbs or fats. In addition, it has vitamins, antioxidants, organic acids, and minerals the body needs.
But what happens if you run out of sherry vinegar and there is no time to go to the supermarket? Don’t you fret! You consider some of these alternatives or substitutes in your kitchen.
- White Wine Vinegar
- Lemon or Lime Juice
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Red Wine Vinegar
- Rice Wine Vinegar
- Sherry Wine
- Champagne Vinegar
Do you know where sherry vinegar comes from? Do you want the full best substitute for sherry vinegar list? Let me answer these questions for you. Let’s dive in!
11 Best Substitute For Sherry Vinegar
Sherry vinegar comes from sherry wine made from grapes grown in the region of Jerez in Spain. It is produced by aging vinegar in oak barrels for six months or more.
Reserve refers to the vinegar that has aged for two to ten years. If aged for ten years or more, it is called gran reserve. Its flavor and aroma would depend on how long it has aged.
Storing it much longer would mean a more concentrated and potent vinegar. Its color becomes darker also. It means it would be more expensive too.
Pedro Ximenez, Moscatel, and Palomino are the three kinds of grapes used to make sherry wine and its derivative sherry vinegar. Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez give acidic and sweet flavors.
On the other hand, Palomino makes tangy and light vinegar.
Among all the sherry vinegar substitutes, I prefer rice wine vinegar since it has a milder taste. I also love pickled vegetables, pickled papaya, fried rice, and sushi. Adding rice wine vinegar to all those dishes makes them more delicious to eat.
In addition, rice wine vinegar enhances the taste of soups. I love soup! It is also cheaper than the other kinds of vinegar and is readily available in well-stocked supermarkets.
If you are a foodie and love to cook for your family and friends, here are the other best sherry vinegar substitutes to impress them
White Wine Vinegar
How is white wine vinegar made? By placing white wine inside stainless steel vats, distillation occurs. It produces acetic acid. The acetic acid is then diluted with water until it becomes edible.
White wine vinegar has a high acidity compared to sherry vinegar, so use it minimally in your dishes. You can drizzle it in marinades, salads, dressing stews, and European soups.
In addition, you can use it in preparing chicken, soups, and pickles. You can add a half spoon to your dish, adding a pleasant taste.
Lemon or Lime Juice
It is another alternative to sherry vinegar. Just add one or two teaspoons of lime or lemon juice to your dishes. It will create freshness and flavor, making the food yummy. Lemon or lime juice is a must in preparing Caesar salad. I bet you love to prepare Caesar salad too!
Lemon or lime juice has citric acid. It is more acidic than your sherry vinegar. Thus, you have to adjust the amount of lemon or lime juice as you go along.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is cheaper than sherry vinegar and is much more available. How is apple cider vinegar made? Yeast and crushed apples are blended. This process will ferment the sugar converting it into alcohol.
Bacteria are added to aid fermentation and will produce acetic acid.
The presence of acetic acid in apple cider vinegar affords health benefits to the body since it kills deadly bacteria. It serves as a toner for your skin, helps lower your blood sugar, removes warts, and gets rid of acne.[Source]
The apple cider vinegar maintains the freshness of your vegetables. A bonus indeed if you love to prepare a vegetable salad. You can add it to soups, sauces, salad dressings, and steak marinades.
The drawback of apple cider vinegar is its higher acidity level than sherry vinegar. Use a minimal amount for your dishes.
Bear in mind that the apple cider vinegar has a fruity taste due to the fermented sugar of the apples and may not fit into all recipes.
Red Wine Vinegar
Red wine vinegar comes from fermented red wine. It is a fundamental ingredient in the Mediterranean diet and has a sour taste.
For every 100 grams of red wine vinegar, you have zero proteins, zero carbohydrates, zero fiber, zero fat, and six calories. Red wine vinegar contains portions of micronutrients such as sodium and potassium.[Source]
It is also another substitute for sherry vinegar and is ideal for roasted meat and vegetables. You can splash it in your French potato salad, pasta, or green salad.
Furthermore, red wine vinegar has anthocyanins, giving it antioxidant properties. Antioxidants are good since they help in removing free radicals from the body.
They help the body improve its immunity. The anthocyanins help the body fight certain diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart-related diseases. They have anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties and also help in losing excess weight.
Rice Wine Vinegar
Another alternative to sherry vinegar is rice wine vinegar. It is produced from rice and water and not from rice wine. Fermenting the sugar in rice turns it into alcohol and becomes rice wine vinegar.
Rice wine vinegar contains eighteen to twenty-five percent ABV (alcohol by volume) and has carbohydrates and calories.
Rice wine vinegar is used mainly for cooking meat dishes, sauces, and sushi rice in East Asian countries. It has a mild flavor and is ideal for marinating meat because it removes the odor.
Its flavor and acidity are close to sherry vinegar and give a sweet taste to marinades, dressings, and stir-fries.
You can also use rice wine vinegar if you love to pickle your veggies. It gives added flavor to your vinaigrettes, marinades, and sauces. Use a 1:1 ratio in adding rice wine in place of sherry vinegar.
Sherry Wine
Sherry wine comes from white grapes cultivated in Spain. Three groups of sherry wines exist. These are the following; Naturally Sweet Wines (Vinos Dulces Naturales), Dry Sherry Wines (Generoso Vinos), and Sweet Sherry Wines (Generoso de licor vinos).
You can make use of dry sherry as an alternative to sherry vinegar. Use a ratio of 1:1 mixture of sherry wine and red wed or white wine rather than using it alone.
Just remember that sherry wine has an alcoholic content, and so it is not advisable to use this if you serve the dish to individuals staying away from alcohol.
Champagne Vinegar
Another excellent substitute for sherry vinegar is champagne vinegar. The array of sauce, pasta, salads, vinaigrette, chicken, pork and other meat products will taste delicious with the addition of champagne vinegar.
The nice thing about champagne vinegar is that it gives a nice flavor to salad dressings minus the acidic taste. It is perfect if you will have visitors for dinner.
You have to remember that it makes your dish sweeter. You need to adjust the amount until you get the taste you want.
Balsamic Vinegar
Balsamic vinegar is an Italian vinegar noted for its low acidity and sweet flavor and is another substitute for sherry vinegar. You can use it to prepare salad dressings. The ratio of using balsamic vinegar is 3:1 added with olive oil for a flavorful dish.
Balsamic vinegar is aged like wine making it more expensive than the rest of the other kinds of vinegar. It has a different taste from sherry vinegar; thus, it is not applicable in some recipes.
White Vinegar
Would you believe white vinegar can be a substitute for sherry vinegar? You need to adjust the amount in using it because it is naturally acidic.
Dilute it with water and add maple syrup to reduce the acidity. Use the 1:4 ratio in this case. Sprinkle white vinegar on your sauces, marinades, soups, and pickles for a flavorful taste.
Other Fruit Juices
If you don’t have the alternatives mentioned earlier, you can use citrus juice from grapefruit or orange. It is much sweeter than sherry vinegar and has a tangy flavor too.
Citrus juice will boost the taste of your roasted veggies, salads, and soups.
Sherry Vinegar Substitute Related FAQs
What are the health benefits of sherry vinegar?
- Helps prevent osteoporosis
- Helps prevent cancer
- Assists in losing excess weight since you feel full after meals, and you won’t crave for more food.
- Increases the level of good cholesterol in the body (HDL)
- Lowers blood pressure and blood sugar
What are some of the recipes for sherry vinegar?
- Chicken with sherry vinegar sauce
- Sweet sherry-vinegar glaze
- Wagyu beef in XO sauce with pickled mushrooms, oysters, mint, and basil
- Marmitako
- Cucumber salad
- Crispy chicken thighs with chorizo, avocado, aioli, and chargrilled asparagus
- One-pan roasted chicken with sherry vinegar sauce
When you open a bottle of sherry vinegar, how long does it last?
It will last for 2 to 3 weeks.
You don’t need to refrigerate it because it is self-preserving and acidic by nature.
What is the difference between sherry vinegar and sherry wine?
Sherry wine has 17% alcohol content compared to sherry vinegar which has only 3%. The two also differ in color.
Sherry wine is light golden compared to sherry vinegar which is dark amber. It has a notable difference in taste. Sherry wine is caramel-like and nutty, while sherry vinegar has a sweet and rich flavor.
Is it okay to drink sherry vinegar?
You can drink sherry vinegar after eating.
It has additional health benefits. If you think you can’t drink it alone, mix it with fruit juice.
Is sherry wine a good replacement for sherry vinegar?
Yes as mentioned above, sherry wine is a good replacement for sherry vinegar.
It is better to mix it with white wine or red wine.