Pomegranate vinegar substitutes

The closest match you can assemble, and often better than a cheap bottle of the real thing. Red wine vinegar supplies clean grape-based acid and some tannin, and pomegranate molasses supplies exactly the fruit, colour and astringency that define pomegranate vinegar. The result is a shade sweeter and slightly thicker than the bottled vinegar, which is usually an advantage in a dressing. Add a few drops more vinegar if your molasses is on the sweet side.

Best for

salad dressings and fattoush-style plates, muhammara and walnut sauces, marinades for chicken, lamb and aubergine, dressing grain, lentil and herb salads

Pomegranate molasses brands range from syrupy-sweet to bracingly sour. Taste yours first and shift the ratio toward more vinegar or more molasses accordingly.

The freshest-tasting option. Simmering 100 percent pomegranate juice down concentrates its fruit and tannin without the caramelised note that bottled molasses has, so the finished mixture tastes brighter and more like fresh fruit. Use white wine vinegar if you want to keep the colour pure ruby, red wine vinegar for more depth. Slightly less complex than a fermented pomegranate vinegar, which has a rounder, aged quality.

Best for

delicate dressings, dressing fruit, cucumber and tomato salads, finishing roasted vegetables, pan sauces for duck and chicken

Reduce it gently and stop while it is still syrupy rather than sticky - overcooked pomegranate juice turns bitter. Unsweetened juice only.

Works when the molasses is all you have. Thinning gets it to a pourable consistency and the sourness of a tart brand may be enough on its own. What you may be short of is real acidity - many brands are sweet enough that the dressing ends up tasting like fruit syrup - so taste and add lemon juice or wine vinegar until it makes your mouth water rather than just tasting nice. Colour and fruit character are spot on.

Best for

dressings for robust salads, glazing roasted vegetables and meat off the heat, drizzling over labneh, feta and hummus, dips and spreads

The most common failure here is not enough sharpness. Check the label - if sugar or glucose is listed high up, you will definitely need to add acid.

Both are dark, tannic wine vinegars and will balance a dish correctly, which is most of the job. What is missing is fruit: a muhammara made with plain red wine vinegar tastes savoury and nutty and noticeably less bright, and the flavour points toward the Mediterranean rather than toward Persia. Sherry vinegar adds a nutty, oxidised depth that is lovely in its own right but even further from pomegranate. Use slightly less than the recipe says since neither has sweetness buffering the acid.

Best for

vinaigrettes with strong companions like garlic and mustard, marinades, cooked dishes and pan sauces, bean and lentil dishes

If there are pomegranate seeds in your recipe or your fridge, mash a spoonful into the dressing - it borrows back some of the missing fruit.

A genuinely useful Levantine trick and an under-used one. Sumac is a tart, fruity, slightly astringent berry, and steeping it turns plain vinegar rosy and gives it a fruit-acid character remarkably close in spirit to pomegranate vinegar. It is less sweet and more purely tart, so add a pinch of sugar for balance. On a chopped salad or over roast chicken it lands very close to the intended flavour.

Best for

chopped salads, fattoush and salatim, roast chicken and grilled meat, sprinkling into dressings and dips, onion salads

Strain the grit out through a fine sieve, or leave it in if you do not mind the texture. Ten minutes is enough; longer makes it dusty rather than fruitier.

The most likely bottle in a Western kitchen, and it gets two things right - dark colour and sweet-sour balance. It fails on character: balsamic is mellow, woody and raisiny where pomegranate is bright, tannic and puckering, so a Persian dressing made with it tastes soft and Italian rather than sharp and Levantine. A squeeze of lemon juice restores some of the missing brightness. Better in cooked and roasted dishes than in a raw salad, where the difference is obvious.

Best for

roasted vegetables and aubergine, meat glazes applied off the heat, salad dressings in a pinch, cheese and mezze plates

Add lemon juice alongside, roughly a quarter teaspoon per tablespoon, to sharpen it toward pomegranate's profile.