Malbec substitute

Best substitute

Merlot

Use the same amount as the malbec you are replacing

Best for steak and pan sauces

Close match

Merlot is the closest substitute for Malbec on softness and plummy fruit and swaps 1:1; Shiraz or Syrah swaps 1:1 and gives the same dark colour with more black pepper. Carmenere, Bonarda and Tempranillo all work 1:1 too. Because Malbec is low in acid, whatever you swap in will probably taste slightly sharper, which is usually an improvement in a pan sauce. For alcohol-free cooking, use half beef stock and half pomegranate juice with a couple of teaspoons of red wine vinegar.

Other malbec substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Shiraz or Syrah
Different taste
Use the same amount
Matches the depth of colour and body almost exactly, with slightly firmer tannin and a clear black-pepper and smoked-meat aroma in place of Malbec's violets and plum, so the dish tastes more spicy and savoury.
What changes
Best for
steak, lamb, beef braises, grilled and barbecued meat, reduction sauces, sausage
Arguably better than Malbec for a long braise, since the extra structure holds up. Excellent with chimichurri-style dishes and grilled beef, where the pepper note is welcome alongside the garlic and parsley.
3Carmenere or Bonarda
Close match
Use the same amount
Both are the same sort of inexpensive, deeply coloured, soft-tannin South American red, with Carmenere adding a green peppercorn and bell pepper note and Bonarda being juicier and more tart-cherry flavoured.
What changes
Best for
braises, beef and pork, empanada fillings, tomato-based sauces, beans
Bonarda is actually the second most planted red grape in Argentina and sits in the same dishes as Malbec, so it is culturally as well as technically a good swap. Carmenere's herbaceous edge is noticeable, which is a plus with peppers and beans.
4Tempranillo or Rioja
Different taste
Use the same amount
Similar weight and soft tannin, but Rioja's American oak ageing brings a vanilla, coconut and dill aroma and a dried-cherry, leathery savouriness, so the sauce smells sweeter and tastes more aged and less fresh-fruited.
What changes
Best for
beef and lamb braises, chorizo dishes, beans, short ribs, gravies
A very good cooking red, just a different accent. It sits particularly well with smoked paprika, chorizo and beans, and slightly oddly in a dish that wanted clean bright fruit.
5Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
More tannic, more acidic and more herbaceous, with blackcurrant and cedar or a leafy green-pepper note, so a reduction is firmer and drier in the mouth and considerably less plush than a Malbec one.
What changes
Best for
beef, long braises, reduction sauces, grilled meat
Both are traditional blending partners with Malbec in Bordeaux, so they belong in the same dishes. Do not reduce them as far, and finish off the heat with a tablespoon of cold butter, which coats the tannin and softens the astringency.
6Beef stock plus pomegranate juice and vinegar (alcohol-free)
Different taste
For ½ cup Malbec, use ¼ cup beef stock, ¼ cup pomegranate juice and 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
Pomegranate juice is the best non-alcoholic stand-in for a dark red because it brings genuine tannin along with deep colour and tart fruit, which grape juice does not, so this comes closer to the mouthfeel of wine than most alcohol-free swaps.
What changes
Best for
alcohol-free cooking, steak sauces, braises, marinades, gravies
Use unsweetened juice if you can find it, and add the vinegar off the heat. The result tastes brighter and less warming than the wine version, but the astringency of pomegranate genuinely does some of the work tannin would have done.

What is Malbec?

Malbec is Malbec is a thick-skinned black grape originally from south-west France that became Argentina's signature wine, producing a deeply inky, medium to full-bodied red with plum, blackberry and violet flavours, soft rounded tannin and relatively low acidity.

Cooking tips

Malbec's contribution is colour and soft body rather than acidity. Its thick skins give an almost opaque purple and a plush, rounded tannin that makes a reduction feel velvety, but it is one of the lower-acid reds, which means a Malbec pan sauce can taste flat and slightly heavy. A teaspoon of red wine vinegar or a squeeze of lemon off the heat fixes that instantly, and is worth doing even when you have not substituted anything.
This is the reason Malbec belongs with grilled beef and chimichurri: the sauce brings a sharp hit of vinegar, garlic and parsley, and the wine brings the plush dark fruit that stands up to char. If you swap in a high-acid red like Chianti, you can dial the vinegar in the chimichurri back slightly, since the wine is already doing that job.
For a marinade, do not let steak sit in Malbec for longer than about four hours. Alcohol firms and slightly cures the surface of the meat, so an overnight soak in a strong red leaves the outside grey and mealy while doing nothing useful inside. Long overnight marinades only make sense for tough cuts that are going into a braise regardless.
Malbec is one of the reliably cheap good cooking reds, which matters because reduction destroys the delicate aromatics that justify an expensive bottle. A mid-priced Mendoza bottle is the sweet spot. Avoid anything sold as cooking wine, which is salted so it can be sold without an alcohol licence and will concentrate into an over-salted sauce.
If you reduce Malbec very hard for a glaze, taste it before adding any sugar. Argentine Malbec is grown at high altitude and picked ripe, and it often carries a trace of residual sugar that shows up as sweetness once concentrated, which can tip a steak sauce toward jammy.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave it out?

In a braise or stew there is enough other liquid to carry the dish: use the same volume of beef stock and add two teaspoons of red wine vinegar at the end, plus a teaspoon of tomato paste for colour and depth. In a steak pan sauce, the reduced wine is essentially the sauce, so use another red or the stock and pomegranate juice rebuild rather than omitting it.

What is the closest wine to Malbec?

Merlot for the soft texture and plummy fruit, and Shiraz for the dark colour and full body. Bonarda is the closest in spirit if you want another Argentine red, and Carmenere from Chile is remarkably similar in weight and price. All four substitute at 1:1 in cooking with no adjustment beyond a possible squeeze of acid.

Is Malbec sweet?

It is a dry wine, but it often tastes sweet because of very ripe fruit, high alcohol and low acidity, and some inexpensive bottles do carry a small amount of residual sugar. That perceived sweetness becomes real in a hard reduction, so taste before you add sugar or honey to a Malbec sauce, and add a splash of vinegar if it has gone jammy.

Can I use Malbec instead of Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux?

Yes, and in fact Malbec is one of the permitted Bordeaux grapes, so it is not an outsider. It will give you a softer, plummier, inkier sauce with less tannic grip than Cabernet, which means less structure but also much less risk of bitterness. If the recipe relied on Cabernet's firmness, reduce the Malbec a little further and finish with cold butter.

Does the alcohol cook off?

Most of it, but never all. A quick deglaze leaves a meaningful amount behind, and even a long braise retains a trace, because alcohol and water do not separate cleanly when boiled. If you are cooking for someone avoiding alcohol entirely, use the stock and pomegranate juice option rather than relying on evaporation.

Related substitutes

More alcohol & vinegars substitutes

Malbec substitute

Other malbec substitutes

2Shiraz or Syrah

3Carmenere or Bonarda

4Tempranillo or Rioja

5Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon

6Beef stock plus pomegranate juice and vinegar (alcohol-free)