Manzanilla sherry substitutes

The same style of wine, aged under flor in the same way. Fino comes from Jerez and El Puerto, manzanilla from Sanlucar, and in a hot pan they are interchangeable.

Best for

gambas al ajillo, mushrooms with garlic, clams, chicken and jamon dishes, pan sauces, soups

Fino is a touch broader and slightly less salty-tasting than manzanilla, whose coastal ageing gives it that sea-breeze quality. In cooking, the difference is close to undetectable once garlic and olive oil are in the pan.

A step darker: a fino that lost its yeast veil and aged oxidatively, so it is deeper and nuttier but still dry.

Best for

mushrooms, chicken, oxtail and beef braises, lentils, onion soup, reductions

It will tint a pale sauce amber and it tastes distinctly of hazelnut and dried orange peel, so a plate of garlic prawns made with amontillado reads richer and more autumnal instead of crisp and coastal. Excellent in anything braised, slightly heavy in delicate seafood.

The best swap outside the sherry family, because it is dry, fortified and aromatic rather than simply fruity.

Best for

seafood, chicken, mushrooms, pan sauces, vegetables

Vermouth brings a herbal, faintly bitter wormwood-and-citrus note that manzanilla does not have, so the dish tastes greener and more perfumed and less nutty. It keeps for weeks in the fridge, which makes it the practical choice if you rarely cook with sherry.

The everyday fix using a bottle already open, with a small correction for the missing savoury tang.

Best for

prawns, clams, chicken, vegetables, deglazing

Plain white wine is more acidic and more fruity, so a garlic prawn pan sauce made with it tastes brighter and greener but loses the nutty, sea-salty backbone. Sherry vinegar, used sparingly, puts back a surprising amount of that character. Avoid oaked Chardonnay, which turns buttery and muddles the garlic.

An unexpected but genuinely close match, since Chinese yellow wine has the same nutty, savoury, slightly oxidised quality that makes dry sherry useful.

Best for

braises, mushrooms, pork, chicken, savoury sauces

It is browner and its savoury note tips toward soy and toasted grain, so a Spanish dish made with it edges slightly Chinese in flavour and darker in colour. Many bottles are salted, so hold back on salt until you taste. Works well in braises, less well in pale seafood dishes.

The alcohol-free route, aiming at savoury plus tangy plus saline rather than trying to imitate wine.

Best for

alcohol-free cooking, prawns, clams, soups, mushrooms, rice dishes

Clam juice is the better base for seafood because it carries the sea-salt note that manzanilla contributes; chicken stock suits meat and mushrooms. You get savouriness and brightness but not the nutty aroma, so the dish tastes more like a stock reduction than a sherry sauce. Both bases can be salty already, so season last.