Sherry vinegar substitutes
Sherry vinegar substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Also called vinagre de Jerez, Jerez vinegar, sherry wine vinegar, Spanish sherry vinegar, vinaigre de Xérès
Use Red wine vinegar
Same amount as the sherry vinegar
Red wine vinegar is the closest thing most kitchens have: use the same amount, tablespoon for tablespoon. You keep the sharpness and lose the nutty, barrel-aged flavour, so in a raw dressing round it off with a small pinch of sugar. White wine vinegar works the same way where a pink tint would show. Balsamic is not a straight swap - it is sweet and dark, so start with half. Sherry the wine is not a substitute at all, because it has almost no acid.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- The tweak —
- In a raw dressing add a small pinch of sugar to round off the sharper edge; in a cooked dish change nothing
- Best for —
- vinaigrettes, gazpacho and marinades
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
Updated 3 Oct 2026 · no sponsored swaps
But first: what’s the sherry vinegar doing?
Pick your caseWill you taste the vinegar raw, or is it going into something cooked?
Use red wine vinegar at the same amount and add a small pinch of sugar or a few drops of honey to soften its sharper edge. For a pale dressing - potatoes, white beans, fish - use white wine or champagne vinegar instead, also at the same amount. Keep the usual 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar and taste before adding more of either.
Notes on red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar or Champagne vinegar
Same amount
Red wine vinegar at the same amount. Ripe tomato, garlic and olive oil cover most of the difference, and the soup keeps its colour. Add most of it, chill the soup, then taste and add the rest, because cold dulls seasoning. Do not use balsamic here: it turns the soup brown and sweet.
Notes on red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
Same amount
Heat drives off the sharp edge and most of the fine aroma, so the choice matters less. Any wine vinegar works at the same amount. Cider vinegar suits pork and chicken: start with 1 tbsp per tablespoon and add up to 1 tsp more, since it is weaker. Balsamic also works in a dark sauce for red meat or mushrooms if you start with half and leave out any sugar the recipe adds.
Notes on red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar
Same amount
This is where the nutty flavour shows most, because nothing is cooked or mixed after it goes on. Red wine vinegar gives the lift without the depth: use the same few drops and taste. On a pale dish, white wine vinegar does the same job without the pink tint.
Notes on red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
Same amount
Sherry is wine, with well under 1% acid, so it cannot sour a dressing or sharpen a sauce. Use a wine vinegar for the acid and, if you like, add a small splash of dry sherry for the flavour. Skip cooking sherry, which has salt added.
Do not swap anything. Use the vinegar the tested recipe names, at the strength it names, undiluted. Rice vinegar in particular is usually below the 5% acidity those recipes rely on.
Decide whether the vinegar will be tasted raw or cooked. Raw, in a dressing or a gazpacho, stay inside the wine vinegars: red at the same amount, white or champagne where colour matters, and a small pinch of sugar to round the edge. Cooked, almost any vinegar works once the strength is matched: the same amount of a wine vinegar, up to 1 tsp more per tablespoon of cider vinegar, and half the amount of balsamic to start. Whatever you choose, it has to be a vinegar. Sherry itself is wine and is not sour.
Sherry vinegar is a strong vinegar, usually about 7% acid, made from sherry wine in the south of Spain and aged in oak until it tastes nutty, woody and rounded rather than simply sharp. In a vinaigrette, a gazpacho or a pan sauce it supplies the sourness and that nutty depth together. The sourness is easy to replace. The depth is the part no other bottle in the cupboard has.
Acidprimary
At about 7% it is stronger than the 5% cider and distilled vinegars and much stronger than rice vinegar at 4 to 4.5%, so a weaker bottle poured in at the same volume leaves a dressing tasting flat and oily rather than bright.
Aroma & flavor identitysecondary
Months or years in oak barrels give it a nutty, dried-fruit, slightly woody flavour and a rounded finish. That is why a sherry vinaigrette tastes of more than oil and acid, and it is the part a plain wine vinegar does not bring.
Every option, one card
Ranked · per 1 tbsp sherry vinegar| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 tbsp sherry vinegar | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red wine vinegarvinaigrettes, gazpacho and marinades | 1 tbspTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | White wine vinegarpale dishes: potato salad, white beans, fish, chicken | 1 tbspTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Champagne vinegardelicate dressings for soft leaves, fruit and seafood | 1 tbspTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Apple cider vinegarpork, chicken, cabbage and bean dishes | 1 tbsp, then up to 1 tsp more to tasteYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Rice wine vinegargentle dressings, slaws and cucumber salads | 1 tbsp, then up to 1 ½ tsp more to tasteYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Balsamic vinegarpan sauces and glazes for red meat and mushrooms | 1 ½ tsp, then more to tasteYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| Not a swap | Dry sherry | not an acid swap — 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, plus a small splash of the sherry for flavourNot for this | Not for this |
Red wine vinegar
sharper and fruitier, with a faint red-wine edge and none of the nutty depth
A wine vinegar like sherry vinegar, and the closest in strength of the bottles most people own. It is sharper and fruitier, with no barrel-aged nuttiness.
- Covers
- Acid
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar for 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- Then
- in a raw dressing add a small pinch of sugar to round off the sharper edge; in a cooked dish change nothing
- Best for
- vinaigrettes, gazpacho and marinades, pan sauces, braises and lentils, any recipe where a red tint does not matter
- Texture
- no change
- Look
- redder: it tints onions, potatoes and pale beans pink, where sherry vinegar leaves them amber
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use the same amount.
- Read the label. Sherry vinegar is usually about 7%, while red wine vinegar runs from 5 to 7% depending on the brand. With a 5% bottle, add up to 1 tsp more per tablespoon if the dish tastes flat.
- In a raw dressing, a small pinch of sugar or a few drops of honey stands in for the rounder finish sherry vinegar has.
- If a bottle of dry sherry is open, a small splash added to the red wine vinegar brings back some of the nutty note. Not cooking sherry, which is salted.
The everyday answer. In anything with tomato, garlic, smoked paprika or meat juices in it, very few people could pick the difference.
Where sherry vinegar is the named flavour - a sherry vinaigrette on plain leaves, a few drops over a finished soup - this is plainly a different vinegar, though still a good dressing.
White wine vinegar
lighter and cleaner; the sharpness is there, the nutty depth is not
The same kind of vinegar as red wine vinegar without the colour: clean, dry and sharp, and lighter in flavour than sherry vinegar.
- Covers
- Acid
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar for 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- Then
- taste, and round a raw dressing with a small pinch of sugar
- Best for
- pale dishes: potato salad, white beans, fish, chicken, mayonnaise, aioli and cream sauces, pickled onions and quick pickles that should stay pale
- Texture
- no change
- Look
- colourless, so the dish stays paler than it would with amber sherry vinegar
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use the same amount.
- As with red wine vinegar, check the strength on the label and add up to 1 tsp more per tablespoon if your bottle reads 5%.
- A small pinch of sugar in a raw dressing softens it towards sherry vinegar's rounder finish.
Choose this over red wine vinegar whenever a pink tint would show.
The plainest of the wine vinegars. In a simple dressing for leaves it tastes thinner than the recipe intended.
Champagne vinegar
lighter and more floral; a softer dressing with none of the nutty, woody depth
A pale wine vinegar made from the same grapes as champagne, lighter and more delicate than sherry vinegar. It swaps at the same amount and makes a gentler dressing.
- Covers
- Acid
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp champagne vinegar for 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- Best for
- delicate dressings for soft leaves, fruit and seafood, beurre blanc and other pale butter sauces, when it is the wine vinegar you have open
- Texture
- no change
- Look
- pale and clear, so nothing takes on colour
- Pantry
- Special trip
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Use the same amount, then taste. If the dressing seems mild, add more by the half teaspoon rather than all at once.
Ranked below red and white wine vinegar only because few kitchens have champagne vinegar and not sherry vinegar.
Gets lost in robust dishes - gazpacho, lentils, anything with smoked paprika - where red wine vinegar holds up better.
Apple cider vinegar
fruity and apple-like where sherry vinegar is nutty and dry
A 5% vinegar with a fruity apple flavour. It is weaker than sherry vinegar, so it can take a little more, and it tastes of apple rather than wine.
- Covers
- Acid
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, then up to 1 tsp more to taste for 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- Then
- start with the level tablespoon, taste, and add the extra teaspoon only if the dish is flat
- Best for
- pork, chicken, cabbage and bean dishes, cooked sauces and braises, where the apple note fades, the bottle most kitchens have open
- Taste
- fruity and apple-like where sherry vinegar is nutty and dry; obvious raw, mild once simmered
- Texture
- no change
- Look
- a light golden cast; unfiltered cider vinegar leaves a dressing slightly cloudy
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Start with the same amount. Cider vinegar is 5% against about 7%, so add up to 1 tsp more per tablespoon if the dish needs it.
- In a raw dressing go easy on any honey or sugar; cider vinegar already tastes sweeter than a wine vinegar.
A good vinegar that tastes of something else. Use it where apple would be welcome anyway.
Not for gazpacho or a classic sherry vinaigrette, where the apple flavour reads as a different dish.
Rice wine vinegar
soft, clean and slightly sweet, with no wine or wood in it
Rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar are the same thing: the mildest vinegar on the shelf, at about 4 to 4.5% acid, soft and faintly sweet.
- Covers
- Acid
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned), then up to 1 ½ tsp more to taste for 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- Then
- use the plain, unseasoned kind; seasoned rice vinegar has sugar and salt added
- Best for
- gentle dressings, slaws and cucumber salads, dishes that should stay pale, when a softer dressing than the recipe intended is welcome
- Texture
- no change
- Look
- pale and clear
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Start with the same amount and add up to half as much again. At 4 to 4.5% it is well short of sherry vinegar's strength, and a level tablespoon can leave a dressing tasting flat.
- Check the label says unseasoned. If seasoned is all you have, leave out the recipe's sugar and hold back some of its salt.
It shares sherry vinegar's roundness and none of its strength, which is why some cooks like it in a mild dressing and why it disappoints in a punchy one.
Too gentle to cut through olive oil and garlic in a gazpacho, and below the 5% acidity that canning recipes rely on.
Balsamic vinegar
sweet and jammy where sherry vinegar is dry and nutty
Also barrel-aged and complex, which is why it gets suggested, but it carries a lot of grape sugar. It is sweet and dark brown where sherry vinegar is dry and amber.
- Covers
- Acid
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 ½ tsp balsamic vinegar, then more to taste for 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- Then
- leave out any sugar or honey the recipe adds until you have tasted it
- Best for
- pan sauces and glazes for red meat and mushrooms, roasted vegetables and dark braises, dishes that are already sweet or dark
- Texture
- slightly thicker, so a dressing clings more
- Look
- dark brown: it muddies gazpacho, potato salad and anything pale
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Start with half the amount and add more by the half teaspoon. The sweetness builds faster than the sharpness.
- Hold back any sugar or honey in the recipe until you have tasted the dish.
- Use everyday balsamic vinegar of Modena. Thick aged balsamic and balsamic glaze are syrups, not vinegars to cook with by the tablespoon.
Often listed as a straight swap. It is not: the sugar is the difference, and tablespoon for tablespoon it makes the dish taste glazed.
Robust or already-dark dishes only. Keep it out of gazpacho, pale dressings and anything where the vinegar is the main seasoning.
Dry sherry
tastes of wine, with no sharpness; a vinaigrette made with sherry tastes oily
The wine the vinegar is made from, and the most common mix-up on this page. Sherry has the nutty flavour and almost none of the acid, and the acid is the working part.
- Covers
- Aroma & flavor identity
- Misses
- Acid — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, plus a small splash of the sherry for flavour for 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- Then
- let the vinegar do the souring and use the sherry only for its nutty note
- Best for
- adding the nutty note back alongside a real vinegar, deglazing a pan, which is a job for wine
- Texture
- no change
- Look
- pale gold to amber, close enough to the vinegar that the mistake is not obvious until you taste it
- Contains
- alcohol
- Combine instead of substituting: wine vinegar for the acid, a small splash of dry sherry for the flavour.
- Do not use cooking sherry. It has salt added, and it is no more acidic than the drinking kind.
Sherry vinegar is sherry in which the alcohol has been turned into acetic acid. The wine has not had that done to it.
Never on its own where the acid has a job: no dressing, no gazpacho, no pickle.
Don’t swap it here
5 cases- Pouring in sherry, or cooking sherry, because the names match.Use red or white wine vinegar at the same amount. Add a small splash of dry sherry for flavour if a bottle is open.
- Balsamic tablespoon for tablespoon, above all in gazpacho or a pale dressing.Use red or white wine vinegar. If balsamic is all you have, start with half the amount and leave out any sugar.
- Distilled white vinegar in a vinaigrette, a gazpacho or anything else served raw.Use any wine, cider or rice vinegar. Keep distilled vinegar for a cooked dish, starting with 1 tbsp per tablespoon and adding up to 1 tsp more.
- Seasoned rice vinegar or balsamic glaze in place of the plain bottle.Use unseasoned rice vinegar or everyday balsamic vinegar, at the amounts in the table.
- SafetyCanning, or pickles you intend to keep on a shelf.Use exactly the vinegar the tested recipe names, at the strength it names, undiluted.
Safety
2 notes- Canning
Do not change the vinegar in a tested canning, pickling or preserving recipe. Use the one named, at the acidity named, undiluted and unmixed. The acidity is what keeps a sealed jar safe, and rice vinegar in particular is usually below the 5% those recipes rely on.
- Alcohol
Sherry vinegar is made from wine, and a small amount of alcohol can remain in the bottle. Every vinegar starts as an alcoholic liquid - wine, cider, rice wine or grain spirit - so if you avoid alcohol entirely, use lemon juice. The dry sherry mentioned on this page is wine.
If it went wrong
4 fixes- The dressing or gazpacho went brown and sweet.Balsamic went in at the full amount. It brings grape sugar and a dark colour along with the acid.Add a plain vinegar 1 tsp at a time with a pinch of salt until the sharpness is back, and leave out any sugar or honey still to come. The colour will not return.
- The salad tastes oily and flat.Sherry wine was used in place of sherry vinegar, or a mild vinegar such as rice vinegar went in at the same volume.Add any wine or cider vinegar 1 tsp at a time, tasting between additions, then adjust the salt. It recovers well.
- The dressing is too sharp.A plain wine vinegar has a harder edge than sherry vinegar, or extra went in to be safe.Add oil a tablespoon at a time, working towards 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, then a small pinch of sugar. Oil and sugar can be added gradually; acid cannot be taken out.
- The pan sauce tastes harsh and vinegary.The vinegar went in at the end and has not cooked, or the sauce has not reduced enough.Simmer it another minute or two, then take it off the heat and whisk in a knob of butter. Heat mellows vinegar and fat rounds it.
Measure it
6 measures- Sherry vinegar acidityusually about 7% acetic acidCheck the label; some bottles read 8%. It is among the strongest vinegars sold for cooking.
- How the other bottles comparewine vinegars 5-7% · balsamic about 6% · cider and distilled white 5% · rice vinegar 4-4.5%The percentage is on every label and it decides the amount. Per 1 tbsp sherry vinegar: 1 tbsp of a wine vinegar, 1 tbsp plus up to 1 tsp of a 5% vinegar, 1 tbsp plus up to 1 ½ tsp of rice vinegar.
- Sherry is not sherry vinegarwine holds well under 1% acid, sherry vinegar about 7%Two bottles with nearly the same name, and only one of them is sour.
- Age grades on the labelVinagre de Jerez at least 6 months in wood · Reserva at least 2 years · Gran Reserva at least 10 yearsOlder bottles are rounder and more concentrated. Any of them cooks well; save a Gran Reserva for finishing.
- Standard vinaigrette3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar3 tbsp oil to 1 tbsp vinegar. More oil is the quickest way to pull back a dressing that came out too sharp.
- 1 tbsp vinegar3 tsp = 15 ml
Questions
10 questionsWhat is the best substitute for sherry vinegar?
Red wine vinegar, at the same amount. It is the same kind of vinegar and close in strength, so the dish keeps its sharpness; what it loses is sherry vinegar's nutty, barrel-aged flavour. In a raw dressing add a small pinch of sugar to round it off. Use white wine vinegar instead where a pink tint would show.
Can I use red wine vinegar instead of sherry vinegar?
Yes, tablespoon for tablespoon. Red wine vinegar is sharper and fruitier and has none of the nutty depth, but in a gazpacho, a marinade or a pan sauce very few people would notice. Check the label: if your bottle is 5% rather than 6 or 7%, add up to 1 tsp more per tablespoon if the dish tastes flat.
Can I use balsamic vinegar instead of sherry vinegar?
Only with care. Balsamic is sweet and dark brown where sherry vinegar is dry and amber, so start with half the amount, leave out any sugar or honey in the recipe, and add more to taste. It suits pan sauces, glazes and roasted vegetables. Keep it out of gazpacho and pale dressings, which it turns brown and sweet.
Can I use sherry or cooking sherry instead of sherry vinegar?
No. Sherry is wine and holds well under 1% acid, against about 7% for the vinegar, so it cannot sour a dressing or sharpen a sauce. Use red or white wine vinegar for the acid and, if you have dry sherry open, add a small splash for flavour. Cooking sherry is the same wine with salt added, so it is not a substitute either.
Can I use apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar instead of sherry vinegar?
Yes, with a small adjustment, because both are weaker. Start with the same amount; cider vinegar can take up to 1 tsp more per tablespoon and unseasoned rice vinegar up to 1 ½ tsp more. Cider vinegar brings an apple flavour that suits pork, chicken and cabbage. Rice vinegar is soft and faintly sweet and suits gentle dressings.
Can I use lemon juice instead of sherry vinegar?
For the sourness, yes. Start with the same amount of lemon juice and add more to taste. It tastes of citrus rather than wine and wood, so it works best where lemon would be welcome anyway: over beans, greens, fish or a finished soup. Add it at the end of cooking, because simmering drives off the lemon aroma.
Can I use white vinegar instead of sherry vinegar?
Only in a cooked dish. Distilled white vinegar is 5% acid with no flavour of its own, so it covers the sourness in a braise or a pot of beans - start with the same amount and add up to 1 tsp more per tablespoon - but raw, in a dressing or gazpacho, it tastes harsh and thin.
What can I use instead of sherry vinegar in gazpacho?
Red wine vinegar at the same amount. Tomato, garlic and olive oil cover most of the difference and the colour stays right. Add most of it before chilling and the rest after tasting the cold soup. Do not use balsamic, which makes gazpacho brown and sweet.
What is sherry vinegar made from?
Sherry wine from the Jerez area of southern Spain, soured into vinegar and then aged in oak barrels - at least 6 months, 2 years for bottles labelled Reserva and 10 for Gran Reserva. The ageing is where the nutty, rounded flavour comes from.
Is sherry vinegar gluten-free?
It is made from grapes, so plain sherry vinegar contains no gluten. Read the label on flavoured or blended bottles if you avoid gluten strictly.
Tips for substituting sherry vinegar
7 tips- Sherry vinegar is strong, usually about 7% acid. Wine vinegars swap in at the same amount; a 5% vinegar such as cider can take up to 1 tsp more per tablespoon, and rice vinegar up to 1 ½ tsp more.
- Red wine vinegar is the closest everyday swap. In a raw dressing, a small pinch of sugar takes off its sharper edge.
- Sherry and sherry vinegar are different bottles. The wine has almost no acid, and cooking sherry has salt added.
- Balsamic is sweeter and darker. Start with half the amount, leave out any sugar, and keep it away from gazpacho and pale dressings.
- Season a cold soup after it has chilled. Cold dulls seasoning, so a gazpacho that tasted right warm often wants another splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt.
- Vinegar added early in cooking mellows; vinegar added at the end stays sharp and aromatic. For a pan sauce, reduce it for the body and add a last few drops off the heat for brightness.
- Sherry vinegar keeps for years in a cool cupboard with the cap on. It does not need the fridge.