Balsamic vinegar substitutes
Balsamic vinegar substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Also called balsamic, aceto balsamico, balsamic vinegar of Modena, balsamic glaze, balsamic reduction, dark balsamic
Use Red wine vinegar + sugar
Per 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar + ½ tsp sugar
Balsamic is doing two jobs, so a plain vinegar alone will not cover it. Per 1 tbsp of balsamic use 1 tbsp red wine vinegar plus ½ tsp brown sugar, stirred until the sugar dissolves - that replaces both the acid and the sweetness.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- The tweak —
- Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved before it goes near the salad
- Best for —
- vinaigrettes and marinades
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
Checked 22 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
But first: what’s the balsamic vinegar doing?
Pick your caseIs the balsamic being cooked, or served as it comes out of the bottle?
Rebuild it: 1 tbsp red wine vinegar plus ½ tsp brown sugar per tablespoon, or cider vinegar at 1 tbsp plus ½ tsp with the same sugar. The dressing and marinade cases are at for salad dressing and for marinades.
Notes on red wine vinegar + sugar or apple cider vinegar + sugar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar + ½ tsp sugar per 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
The sugar is doing structural work here, so it is not optional. Pomegranate molasses is already a thick sweet-tart syrup and needs no reduction. Otherwise simmer 1 cup of any vinegar with 2 tbsp brown sugar down to about 1/3 cup.
Notes on pomegranate molasses or red wine vinegar + sugar
2 tsp + 1 tsp water
There is no swap. The raisiny wood-aged smell is the whole point and nothing in the cupboard has it. Dress the dish with good olive oil, salt and a squeeze of lemon and serve it as a different, honest dish.
Do not use balsamic at all unless the tested recipe names it. Its sugar and its labelled acidity are not what those recipes are built on, and there the acid level is a safety control.
Remember that balsamic is two ingredients in one bottle: acid and sugar. Any plain vinegar covers the acid, so the real question is who supplies the sweetness. In a dressing or marinade, ½ tsp of brown sugar per tablespoon does it. In a glaze the sugar is structural - it is what thickens - so either add 2 tbsp brown sugar per cup before reducing, or use pomegranate molasses, which is already a syrup. And if the balsamic is being drizzled on raw, accept that there is no swap.
Balsamic is acid plus a lot of grape sugar. That sugar is why it thickens into a glaze that clings and browns, and why a plain vinegar swapped in straight tastes thin and sour instead of sweet-tart.
Acidprimary
Labelled at around 6% acetic acid, so it cuts fat and salt as firmly as a wine vinegar does - the sweetness hides how sour it actually is.
Sweetnessprimary
The cooked grape must leaves real sugar in the bottle, which is what lets balsamic reduce to a syrup that clings to chicken or strawberries; a plain vinegar has nothing to thicken with and reduces to a thin, acrid liquid.
Aroma & flavor identitysecondary
Wood ageing gives a raisiny, faintly woody smell that no vinegar-and-sugar mixture reproduces, which is why the swap works in a marinade and fails on a plate of strawberries.
Browning & colorsecondary
Its own dark pigment plus that sugar caramelising in a hot pan is where the mahogany gloss on a glazed vegetable or a roast comes from.
Every option, one card
Ranked · per 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red wine vinegar + sugarvinaigrettes and marinades | 1 tbsp + ½ tsp brown sugarTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Apple cider vinegar + sugarslaws, bean salads and roast root vegetables | 1 tbsp + ½ tsp apple cider vinegar + ½ tsp brown sugarTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Pomegranate molassesglazes that must cling to chicken, salmon or sprouts | 2 tsp + 1 tsp waterTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Rice vinegar + sugara lighter dressing for delicate leaves | 1 ½ tbsp + ½ tsp brown sugarYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Sherry vinegardressings for bitter leaves, lentils and roast peppers | 1 tbspYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Worcestershire saucea cooked marinade for beef or mushrooms | 1 ½ tsp + 1 ½ tsp waterYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| Not a swap | Soy sauce | not an acid swap — 2 tsp any vinegar + 1 tsp soy sauceNot for this | Not for this |
Red wine vinegar + sugar
sharper on the first sip and less raisiny, though close once it is on food
Both are grape vinegars of similar strength, so adding the sugar back is genuinely most of the difference.
- Covers
- Acid
- Sweetness
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar + ½ tsp brown sugar for 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Then
- stir until the sugar has completely dissolved before it goes near the salad
- Best for
- vinaigrettes and marinades, pan sauces for chicken, pork and mushrooms, when you want sweet-tart balance rather than plain sharpness
- Texture
- thinner - it will not cling to leaves the way balsamic does
- Look
- a vinaigrette stays translucent burgundy instead of going opaque dark brown
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use brown sugar, honey or maple syrup rather than white - the molasses note gets you closer to balsamic's depth.
- For a full ¼ cup of balsamic, that is ¼ cup red wine vinegar plus 2 tsp brown sugar.
- If the recipe already contains honey or sugar, count it: leave out this ½ tsp and let the recipe's own sweetness do the work.
White wine vinegar works the same way at the same amount if red is what you lack; the dressing simply comes out pale.
Apple cider vinegar + sugar
fruit-forward and appley rather than raisiny
A 5% vinegar, so it needs slightly more volume, and its apple fruitiness partly stands in for balsamic's fruit.
- Covers
- Acid
- Sweetness
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp + ½ tsp apple cider vinegar + ½ tsp brown sugar for 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Then
- stir until the sugar dissolves; warming the mixture for a few seconds speeds it up
- Best for
- slaws, bean salads and roast root vegetables, barbecue-leaning marinades, when cider vinegar is the only bottle open
- Taste
- fruit-forward and appley rather than raisiny; good in its own right, clearly not balsamic
- Texture
- thin, so it soaks into leaves rather than coating them
- Look
- amber-gold instead of near-black, so a caprese or a bowl of roast vegetables looks much lighter
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use 1 tbsp plus ½ tsp of vinegar, since cider vinegar is 5% against balsamic's roughly 6%.
- Add a pinch of salt with the sugar. It sharpens the fruitiness and stops the mixture tasting like sweetened vinegar.
This is the swap worked through in detail at can you substitute apple cider vinegar for balsamic?.
Pomegranate molasses
more sharply fruity and tannic than balsamic, less raisiny and less woody
Reduced pomegranate juice: already thick, already sweet-tart and already dark, which makes it the one bottle that behaves like balsamic in a glaze.
- Covers
- Acid
- Sweetness
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 2 tsp pomegranate molasses + 1 tsp water for 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Then
- whisk it into the dressing while it is at room temperature - cold, it stays in a lump at the bottom
- Best for
- glazes that must cling to chicken, salmon or sprouts, dressings for grain salads, feta and pomegranate seeds, when you need thickness as well as acidity
- Texture
- the closest of any swap - it coats and clings the way a balsamic glaze does
- Look
- deep red-brown rather than black-brown, with the same gloss on a glazed vegetable
- Pantry
- Special trip
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, alcohol-free
- Use 2 tsp plus 1 tsp water: it is thicker and more concentrated than balsamic, so straight swapping makes the dish cloying.
- Reduce any other sugar in the recipe by about ½ tsp per tablespoon used.
- No reduction needed. It is already a syrup, so brush it on in the last 10 minutes of roasting or it will scorch.
Sits below the household options only because most kitchens do not have it. For a glaze it is the best answer here.
Rice vinegar + sugar
soft and simply sweet-sour, with none of balsamic's depth
The mildest vinegar there is at 4-4.5% acid, so it needs half again as much volume and still lands gentle and pale.
- Covers
- Acid
- Sweetness
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Browning & color — not covered
- Amount
- 1 ½ tbsp rice vinegar + ½ tsp brown sugar for 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Best for
- a lighter dressing for delicate leaves, when the dish should not turn dark, the only vinegar in a mostly Asian pantry
- Texture
- thin and watery on the leaves
- Look
- pale gold - a caprese or a plate of strawberries looks bare where the dark drizzle should be
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use 1 ½ tbsp per tablespoon of balsamic. A level tablespoon leaves the dressing tasting watery.
- If your bottle says seasoned, leave the ½ tsp of sugar out - it is already in there.
The weakest option here for a reason: it is the furthest from balsamic on every axis except sourness.
Fine in a light dressing; do not attempt a glaze with it.
Sherry vinegar
dry, nutty and distinctly sour; the dish tastes grown-up rather than sweet-tart
An aged, nutty wine vinegar with real depth of flavour but almost no sugar, so it matches balsamic's complexity and not its sweetness.
- Covers
- Acid
- Misses
- Sweetness — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp sherry vinegar for 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Then
- add ½ tsp brown sugar if the recipe has no other sweetness in it
- Best for
- dressings for bitter leaves, lentils and roast peppers, when you want depth without sweetness, Spanish dishes and anything with smoked paprika
- Texture
- thin, and it stays thin no matter how long you simmer it
- Look
- amber rather than near-black, so nothing takes on balsamic's dark gloss
- Pantry
- Special trip
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Check the label: sherry vinegar often runs 7% or higher, in which case use 2 ½ tsp plus ½ tsp water.
- Without added sugar this will not reduce into a glaze - it just gets sharper as the water leaves.
The closest match on complexity of anything here, and the furthest on sweetness.
Not for glazes or reductions unless you add sugar - there is nothing in it to thicken.
Worcestershire sauce
savoury, salty and faintly fishy where balsamic is sweet and fruity
A thin, dark, salty sauce built on vinegar, tamarind, molasses and anchovies, so it brings acid and colour along with a lot of salt and fish.
- Covers
- Acid
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Sweetness — not covered
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce + 1 ½ tsp water for 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Then
- only in something that will be cooked, and taste before adding any salt
- Best for
- a cooked marinade for beef or mushrooms, adding depth to an already-savoury pan sauce, when it is the only dark bottle in the house
- Texture
- thin and watery
- Look
- dark brown, so a marinade looks right and a raw dressing looks like gravy
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Contains
- fish, wheat
- Halve it and make the volume up with water, or the dish will be too salty.
- Cut the recipe's salt by about 1/8 tsp per 1 ½ tsp of Worcestershire used.
- Add ¼ tsp brown sugar if the recipe relied on balsamic for sweetness.
Standard Worcestershire contains anchovies and barley malt, so it is neither vegetarian nor gluten-free unless the label says so.
Never raw, never on fruit or in a caprese, and no more than half the balsamic the recipe asks for.
Soy sauce
salty and savoury with no sourness and no sweetness
Dark and glossy like balsamic, but salty rather than sour and sweet: it has almost no acid and around a hundred times the sodium.
- Covers
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Acid — not covered
- Sweetness — not covered
- Amount
- 2 tsp any vinegar + 1 tsp soy sauce for 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Then
- let the vinegar supply the sourness and use the soy only for colour and savour
- Best for
- adding dark colour alongside a real vinegar, a stir-fry glaze that was never going to taste of balsamic, understanding why the two are not interchangeable
- Taste
- salty and savoury with no sourness and no sweetness - a caprese made this way is inedible
- Texture
- thin and watery, and it will not reduce to a glaze without added sugar
- Look
- convincingly dark, which is exactly what makes this mistake tempting
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, dairy-free
- Contains
- soy, wheat
- Never use it alone. Two teaspoons of any vinegar plus one of soy is a workable dark, tangy mixture.
- Cut the recipe's salt entirely when you use soy, and taste before adding any back.
The combination approach is worked through at can you substitute soy sauce for balsamic vinegar?. Most soy sauce also contains wheat.
Never as the whole substitute, never raw, and never in a dish where the balsamic is tasted on its own.
Don’t swap it here
4 cases- Balsamic served raw and alone - drizzled over caprese, strawberries, peaches or parmesan, or as a dip with olive oil.Dress the plate with good olive oil, flaky salt and a squeeze of lemon and serve it as the dish it now is - or use half as much real balsamic if there is any left in the bottle.
- Reducing a plain vinegar to make a glaze.Add 2 tbsp brown sugar per cup of vinegar before you reduce it, then simmer to about a third of the volume. Or use pomegranate molasses, which is already a syrup and needs no cooking.
- SafetyCanning or pickling with balsamic, or swapping it in for the vinegar a tested recipe names.Use the exact vinegar the tested recipe names, at 5% acidity or higher, and follow a current tested recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
- Using soy sauce tablespoon for tablespoon because it is also dark and glossy.Use 2 tsp of any vinegar plus 1 tsp of soy sauce per tablespoon of balsamic, and leave the recipe's own salt out until you have tasted it.
Safety
2 notes- Canning
Never change the acid in a tested canning, pickling, fermenting or curing recipe, and do not use balsamic in one unless the recipe names it. Use the exact vinegar specified, at 5% acidity or higher and undiluted - acidity is what keeps a sealed jar safe. Follow a current tested recipe.
Source — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)
- Allergen
Two of the swaps here carry allergens the vinegar does not: standard Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies and barley malt, and most soy sauce contains wheat and soy. Check labels if you are cooking for someone with a fish, gluten or soy restriction.
If it went wrong
3 fixes- The glaze is bitter and smells scorched.The sugar in the balsamic caught on the bottom of the pan, or you brushed it on early in a hot oven.Start again - burnt sugar cannot be diluted out. Reduce over medium-low next time, and brush glazes on only in the last 10 minutes of roasting.
- The reduction never thickened and just tastes fiercely sour.You reduced a plain vinegar rather than balsamic, so there was no sugar in the pan to give it body.Stir in 1 tbsp brown sugar or honey per ¼ cup of liquid left and simmer another two or three minutes. It will thicken as it cools.
- The dressing tastes sweet and sticky rather than sharp.You added sugar to the vinegar and the recipe already contained honey, maple syrup or jam.Add 1-2 tsp more plain vinegar and a pinch of salt, tasting as you go. Sweetness is easy to counter with acid; the reverse is not true.
Measure it
6 measures- Balsamic acidity and sugarlabelled at around 6% acetic acid, plus real grape sugarThe sugar is why it tastes sweet rather than sharp, and why it is the only common vinegar that reduces to a syrup.
- Acid strength, strongest firstwine vinegars 6-7% > balsamic about 6% > distilled white and cider vinegar 5% > lemon juice 5-6% citric > rice vinegar 4-4.5% > orange juice about 1%Balsamic sits alongside the wine vinegars on acid, which is why the rebuild is a wine vinegar plus sugar rather than a weaker vinegar.
- Rebuilding 1 tbsp balsamic1 tbsp red wine vinegar + ½ tsp brown sugarFor ¼ cup, that is ¼ cup red wine vinegar plus 2 tsp brown sugar.
- Making a balsamic glaze1 cup balsamic reduces to about 1/3 cup in 15-20 minutesSimmer over medium-low, uncovered, until it coats the back of a spoon; it thickens more as it cools, so stop early rather than late. With a thin, cheap balsamic, add 2 tbsp brown sugar at the start.
- Supermarket versus traditionaleveryday bottles are thin and pourable; traditional aged balsamico is thick, expensive and sold in tiny bottlesThe aged one is used by the drop as a finishing condiment. Never reduce it, and never use it in a marinade.
- 1 tbsp vinegar3 tsp = 15 ml
Questions
7 questionsWhat is the best substitute for balsamic vinegar?
One tablespoon of red wine vinegar plus ½ tsp of brown sugar for each tablespoon of balsamic. Both are grape vinegars of similar strength, so once you put the sweetness back the mixture behaves the same way in a dressing or a marinade. What you cannot replace is balsamic's raisiny, wood-aged smell.
Can I use red wine vinegar with sugar instead of balsamic vinegar?
Yes, and it is the best everyday answer. Use 1 tbsp red wine vinegar plus ½ tsp brown sugar per tablespoon of balsamic, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Expect a sharper, thinner and more translucent dressing - it will not coat the leaves the way balsamic does.
Can I use pomegranate molasses instead of balsamic vinegar?
Yes, and for glazes it is the closest thing there is, because it is already a thick sweet-tart syrup. Use 2 tsp plus 1 tsp of water per tablespoon of balsamic, reduce any other sugar in the recipe by about ½ tsp, and brush it on in the last 10 minutes of cooking so it does not scorch.
How do I make a balsamic glaze, and can I make one from ordinary vinegar?
Simmer 1 cup of balsamic over medium-low heat until it reduces to about 1/3 cup, roughly 15-20 minutes, and stop while it still runs off the spoon - it thickens as it cools. You cannot do this with a plain vinegar unless you add sugar: without it there is nothing to thicken, and reducing only concentrates the acid. Add 2 tbsp brown sugar per cup first.
Can I use soy sauce instead of balsamic vinegar?
Not on its own. Soy sauce is dark and glossy but salty rather than sour, with almost no acid, so the dish comes out flat and oversalted. Use 2 tsp of any vinegar plus 1 tsp of soy sauce per tablespoon of balsamic, and leave out the recipe's salt until you have tasted it.
What's the difference between balsamic vinegar and regular vinegar?
Balsamic is made from cooked grape must and aged in wood, so it keeps real grape sugar alongside its roughly 6% acidity. That sugar is why it tastes sweet, why it is thick, and why it reduces into a syrup. Regular wine, cider and white vinegars have the acid and none of the sugar.
Is balsamic vinegar gluten-free?
Balsamic is made from grapes and contains no gluten, though flavoured and thickened glazes can include other ingredients, so read the label. Note that two of the swaps here do carry allergens: Worcestershire sauce usually contains anchovies and barley malt, and most soy sauce contains wheat.
Tips for substituting balsamic vinegar
6 tips- Balsamic does two jobs at once, acid and sugar, so a plain vinegar alone always tastes thin: add ½ tsp brown sugar per tablespoon of vinegar you use in its place.
- The sugar is also what makes a reduction thicken. Reducing plain vinegar only makes it sourer.
- To make a glaze, simmer 1 cup of balsamic down to about 1/3 cup over medium-low heat, 15-20 minutes, until it coats a spoon - it thickens further as it cools.
- Brush any balsamic glaze on in the last 10 minutes of roasting. Earlier than that and the sugar scorches.
- Everyday balsamic and traditional aged balsamico are different products: the aged one is used by the drop as a finishing condiment and should never go into a marinade.
- Pomegranate molasses is the only common bottle that already has balsamic's thickness as well as its sweet-tart balance, which is why it works for glazes with no reduction at all.
Source — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)