Gin substitute

Best substitute

Vodka plus crushed juniper berries

1 cup vodka plus 1 teaspoon lightly crushed juniper berries, steeped 30 minutes and strained

Best for cured and gravlax-style salmon

Close match

Effectively homemade gin, and the closest substitute there is, because juniper is the one botanical gin legally must contain.

Other gin substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Dry white vermouth
Different taste
Use the same amount
A botanical, herbal, wormwood-based fortified wine, which puts it in the same aromatic family even though it is not a spirit.
What changes
Best for
seafood, chicken, mussels, pan sauces, braised vegetables, risotto
At around 16 to 18 percent alcohol it is far weaker, and it is acidic where gin is not, so a pan sauce made with vermouth tastes brighter and grassier with a hint of bitterness rather than clean pine. In cooking, that trade is usually fine and sometimes better. It is also open in most fridges already, which gin often is not.
3Plain vodka
Different taste
Use the same amount
Gin without the botanicals, which is literally what it is, so it does the same physical job with none of the flavor.
What changes
Best for
cured salmon, sauces, deglazing, flambe, cocktails where gin is a minor part
The dish comes out clean and unremarkable: you keep the alcohol's ability to carry aroma and cut fat, and you lose the pine entirely. A gin-cured salmon made with vodka tastes like plain salt-and-sugar cured salmon, which is still delicious. Add a few crushed juniper berries directly to the cure or the pan to close most of the gap.
4Aquavit
Different taste
Use the same amount
The Scandinavian botanical spirit, flavored with caraway and dill rather than juniper, and used in very similar dishes.
What changes
Best for
cured salmon and gravlax, pickled herring, potato dishes, cabbage, shellfish, cream sauces
Caraway and dill are unmistakable, so the dish shifts from piney to distinctly Nordic and slightly aniseed. In gravlax that is arguably the more traditional flavor. In a gin and tonic it is a completely different drink.
5Blanco tequila or white rum (for drinks)
Different taste
Use the same amount
Worth naming because it is what most people actually reach for, with the understanding that the drink changes identity.
What changes
Best for
mixed drinks, highballs, punches, spritzes
A tonic made with blanco tequila is peppery and mineral, and one with white rum is softer and faintly sweet. Neither tastes remotely like a gin and tonic, whose entire character is juniper against quinine. In a Negroni, tequila works surprisingly well because the Campari and vermouth carry the drink; in a martini, nothing hides the swap.
6Juniper berries alone, no alcohol
Close match
Use 4 to 6 crushed juniper berries for every quarter cup of gin called for
The alcohol-free answer, and in cooking it covers more of the gap than you would expect, because juniper is most of what gin brings.
What changes
Best for
alcohol-free cooking, braised cabbage, sauerkraut, pork and game, marinades, cures
Crush the berries, add them with the other aromatics, and fish them out before serving if they are whole, since biting one is unpleasantly resinous. You lose the alcohol's ability to spread aroma through fat, so the pine reads more localised and less perfumed. Non-alcoholic gin alternatives, where available, substitute 1:1 and get closer still. Replace the liquid volume with stock or water so the pan does not run dry.

What is Gin?

Gin is a neutral grain spirit redistilled with botanicals, always juniper berries and usually coriander seed, citrus peel and angelica root, so what it actually contributes to a dish is that piney, resinous, faintly citrus aroma rather than any sweetness or body.

Cooking tips

Juniper is the throughline. Whenever you substitute for gin in savory cooking, ask whether the recipe wanted pine and citrus, and if it did, add crushed juniper berries to whatever you use instead. That single move does more than choosing a fancier spirit.
Gin's botanicals turn harsh and bitter when boiled hard for a long time. Add it near the end of a pan sauce or in the last stretch of a braise, or splash it in to deglaze and let it cook off quickly, rather than simmering it for an hour.
For gin-cured salmon, the gin is flavoring, not curing. The salt and sugar do the actual work of drawing out moisture and making the fish safe to eat, so never reduce the salt in a cure to make room for more liquid. Follow tested proportions exactly, and consult current guidance from the National Center for Home Food Preservation for any curing, pickling or canning recipe.
London dry gin is dry and juniper-led, while modern or floral gins lean on cucumber, rose or grapefruit. In cooking, a plain London dry is the more reliable choice, since a strongly floral gin can make a savory sauce taste like perfume.
Gin also works in sweet applications, most obviously a gin and tonic sorbet or a gin syrup for berries, but pair it with citrus rather than heavy cream. Pine against cream tends to read as medicinal, whereas pine against lemon or grapefruit reads as bright.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the gin out?

In a savory dish, largely yes, as long as you replace the liquid with stock or water. The dish loses its pine-and-citrus lift and tastes rounder and plainer. Adding four to six crushed juniper berries recovers most of it. In a cocktail, gin is the drink, so substituting is the only option.

Is vodka a good substitute for gin?

It is the right base and the wrong flavor. Vodka is essentially unflavoured gin, so it behaves identically in a pan and tastes of nothing. Use it 1:1 and add crushed juniper berries, either steeped into the vodka for half an hour or straight into the dish, and you have a workable substitute.

Can I use juniper berries instead of gin?

Yes, and in cooking this is often the better answer. Use four to six crushed berries per quarter cup of gin the recipe called for, added with the other aromatics, and make up the liquid with stock or water. You will not get the alcohol's aroma-carrying effect, so the pine note sits closer to the food rather than lifting off it.

What is the best substitute for gin in a gin and tonic?

There is no good one, and it is worth saying plainly. Tonic water is built around quinine's bitterness, which juniper balances; without gin you get either a bitter soda or a different drink entirely. Blanco tequila and tonic is genuinely pleasant, and a non-alcoholic gin alternative is the only thing that tastes like the original. Vodka and tonic is clean but empty.

Does the type of gin matter in cooking?

Yes, more than people expect. A classic London dry is juniper-forward and reliable in savory dishes. A heavily floral or cucumber-led modern gin can make a meat or seafood sauce taste soapy, and an Old Tom gin is slightly sweetened, so it will nudge a savory sauce sweeter. Use the plainest gin you have for cooking.

Related substitutes

More liquor substitutes

Gin substitute

Other gin substitutes

2Dry white vermouth

3Plain vodka

4Aquavit

5Blanco tequila or white rum (for drinks)

6Juniper berries alone, no alcohol