Ginger Ale substitute

Best substitute

Lemon-lime soda (Sprite, 7UP, Sierra Mist)

Use the same amount as the ginger ale you are replacing

Best for highballs and whiskey mixers

Different taste

In a drink, ginger ale is doing three jobs and almost none of them is ginger: it adds bubbles, a modest amount of sugar, and volume to dilute the spirit. The faint ginger aroma is the smallest part. So the best swaps are other mild sodas. Lemon-lime soda such as Sprite or 7UP goes in 1:1 and is the closest single-bottle answer; add a pinch of ground ginger or a coin of grated fresh ginger per glass if you want the aroma back. Club soda plus about 1 tablespoon of simple syrup per cup gives you the same fizz and sweetness with a cleaner, less sugary finish. Ginger beer works but is far stronger, so cut it with club soda about 2 parts ginger beer to 1 part soda or the drink will taste hot and spicy instead of soft. For cooking, baking and ham glazes, where the bubbles vanish anyway, use lemon-lime soda or apple juice with a pinch of ground ginger.

Other ginger ale substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Club soda or sparkling water plus simple syrup
Different taste
Per cup: 1 cup club soda plus 1 tbsp simple syrup, plus ¼ tsp grated fresh ginger if you have it
The build-it-yourself route, and the best-tasting one if you have a lime and a knob of ginger in the fridge.
What changes
You control the sweetness, which most bottled ginger ale gets wrong for a good spirit.
Best for
cocktails where you can taste the mixer, cutting a good whiskey or brandy, anyone reducing sugar, mocktails
Noticeably drier and crisper than ginger ale, so the spirit comes forward and the drink tastes less like soda. Without the ginger it is essentially a spritz, which is fine in a highball but obvious in a Moscow mule style drink. Grating in fresh ginger gives a fresher, sharper, more fragrant heat than any bottled ginger ale has. Add a squeeze of lemon or lime to keep it from tasting flatly sweet.
3Ginger beer, diluted
Close match
2 parts ginger beer to 1 part club soda, or 1:1 in cooking
Same flavour family, very different intensity.
What changes
Ginger beer is brewed or heavily spiced and carries real burn, plus more sugar and often a cloudy body that ginger ale does not have.
Best for
when ginger flavour is the point, dark rum and whiskey highballs, braises and glazes, slow-cooker ham
Straight, it overwhelms a soft drink: expect a hot, prickly, distinctly gingery mouthful where you wanted something gentle. Diluted 2:1 with club soda it lands close to a dry ginger ale. Cloudier ginger beers will also change the look of a clear drink to hazy amber. In cooking use it 1:1 and cut any added sugar slightly, because most ginger beer is sweeter than ginger ale.
4Club soda plus ginger syrup
Close match
Per cup: 1 cup club soda plus 1 to 1 ½ tbsp ginger syrup
If you already own ginger syrup, this is functionally homemade ginger ale and the most accurate reconstruction on the list.
What changes
Best for
matching the flavour exactly, batching a pitcher, mocktails, mules and bucks
Fresher and more clearly gingery than the bottled soda, with a cleaner sweetness because there is no citric acid or caramel colour. Start at 1 tablespoon per cup and taste, because homemade syrups vary enormously in strength. The colour will be paler than commercial ginger ale unless your syrup is dark.
5Apple juice or white grape juice, with a pinch of ginger
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount plus ⅛ tsp ground ginger per cup
Not fizzy, so this is a cooking and baking swap rather than a drinks one, and in those recipes the carbonation contributes almost nothing to the finished dish.
What changes
Best for
ham and pork glazes, carrot and beetroot glazes, marinades, quick breads and bundt cakes
Sweeter and fruitier, and the glaze will taste more of apple than of ginger, which is usually pleasant. In a cake batter you lose the small lift the bubbles give, so the crumb comes out very slightly denser; not enough to fail, but noticeable side by side. Add the ground ginger with the other dry ingredients so it disperses instead of clumping.
6Tonic water (the least-good option)
Different taste
Use the same amount but taste first
Listed honestly because people reach for it when it is the only fizzy bottle in the house.
What changes
It is the wrong flavour: tonic contains quinine, which is genuinely bitter.
Best for
gin drinks, where bitterness is already welcome, emergencies only
Expect a distinctly bitter, faintly medicinal edge that ginger ale never has. In a whiskey highball it makes the drink taste dry and slightly harsh; in a sweet punch it fights the fruit. Never use it in baking or a glaze, where the bitterness concentrates as the liquid reduces and becomes unpleasant. If tonic is all you have, sweeten it with a teaspoon of syrup per glass and add a big squeeze of lemon.

What is Ginger Ale?

Ginger Ale is Ginger ale is a mild, pale, sweetened carbonated soft drink flavoured with a small amount of ginger, sold as regular or dry ginger ale and used mostly as a soft mixer rather than as a source of real ginger heat.

Cooking tips

Flat ginger ale is not a failure, it is a different ingredient. In glazes, marinades and cake batters the bubbles are gone within seconds of hitting the bowl, so an opened bottle that has lost its fizz is fine for cooking and only a problem in a drink.
If a recipe calls for ginger ale in a batter or biscuit dough, the carbonation is contributing lift, so add it last and get the pan into the oven quickly. Swapping in a still liquid means adding about 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder per cup to compensate.
Ginger ale carries roughly the sugar of any other soft drink, so when you swap to club soda in a glaze or braise you need to add sugar back, about 2 tablespoons per cup of liquid, or the sauce will never reduce to a glossy coating.
Dry ginger ale is not sugar-free, it just means a lighter, less sweet, more peppery style. If a cocktail recipe specifies dry ginger ale and you only have standard, use slightly less and top up with club soda.
For grated fresh ginger in a drink, grate it into the glass, add the syrup, stir, then top with soda and strain into a fresh glass if you dislike the fibres. Muddling ginger slices bruises out far less flavour than grating.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the ginger ale out?

In a mixed drink, no, because it is most of the liquid in the glass; leaving it out gives you a shot. Replace the volume with any mild fizzy or fruity liquid. In cooking it is more forgiving: in a glaze or marinade you can swap in an equal amount of water plus a spoonful of sugar and a pinch of ground ginger. In a cake or biscuit recipe do not simply omit it, because the batter needs the liquid and often the carbonation.

Is ginger ale the same as ginger beer?

No, and this is the swap people most often get wrong. Ginger ale is a soft drink with a hint of ginger, meant to disappear into the background. Ginger beer is much more strongly spiced, often cloudy, and frequently has real burn. Use ginger beer wherever you want the ginger to be the star, such as a mule, and dilute it about 2:1 with club soda when you actually wanted the gentleness of ginger ale.

What do I use for a Presbyterian or a whiskey highball?

Lemon-lime soda 1:1 is the easy answer, though the drink turns sweeter and more citrusy. The better answer is club soda plus about a teaspoon of simple syrup and a coin of grated fresh ginger per glass, which keeps the whiskey in front and gives you a fresher ginger note than the bottle ever had. A classic Presbyterian is often half ginger ale and half club soda anyway, so leaning on the soda side is entirely in keeping.

Does ginger ale actually help an upset stomach?

Most commercial ginger ale, sometimes called ginger soda, contains very little actual ginger, so what people are really reaching for is something bland, cold and lightly sweet. Flat lemon-lime soda, well-diluted apple juice or weak ginger tea plays the same role. None of these is a treatment, and anything more than a passing upset stomach is a question for a doctor or pharmacist rather than a soda bottle.

Can I make ginger ale at home?

Yes, and it is a better drink than the bottled version. Simmer a cup of water with a cup of sugar and about 1/3 cup of sliced fresh ginger for five minutes, take it off the heat, steep for 30 minutes and strain to get a ginger syrup. Then mix roughly 1 tablespoon of that syrup with a cup of cold club soda and a squeeze of lemon. Adjust the syrup up or down to hit the sweetness you want.

Related substitutes

More beverages substitutes

Ginger Ale substitute

Other ginger ale substitutes

2Club soda or sparkling water plus simple syrup

3Ginger beer, diluted

4Club soda plus ginger syrup

5Apple juice or white grape juice, with a pinch of ginger

6Tonic water (the least-good option)