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Ingredient Substitutes
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White wine vinegar substitutes

White wine vinegar substitutes — 7 options, ranked, with the exact amount

Also called wine vinegar, vinaigre de vin blanc, white wine vinegar for cooking

Use thisBest of 7 options

Use Red wine vinegar

Same amount as the white wine vinegar

Red wine vinegar is the same strength, so it goes in tablespoon for tablespoon and the only cost is a pink tint in a pale dish. If colour matters, use 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp of cider or distilled white vinegar per tablespoon - both are 5%, so you need slightly more.

Verdict —
Tweak it
The tweak —
Use the same amount - the strengths match, so there is no arithmetic here.
Best for —
vinaigrettes and marinades where colour does not matter
Pantry —
Likely in your cupboard

Checked 22 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps

But first: what’s the white wine vinegar doing?

Pick your case

Does the finished dish have to stay pale?

  1. Stay colourless. Distilled white vinegar is the safest choice; use 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp per tablespoon of white wine vinegar and add 1/8 tsp sugar if the dish is raw. Rice vinegar also works at 1 ½ tbsp.

    Notes on distilled white vinegar or rice vinegar

    1 tbsp + 1 tsp per tbsp

Two questions settle it. First, does the dish have to stay pale? If yes, use distilled white vinegar or rice vinegar and nothing coloured. Second, how strong is the bottle you are holding? White wine vinegar is 6-7%, so a 5% vinegar needs 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp per tablespoon and rice vinegar needs 1 ½ tbsp. Flavour is the last consideration, not the first.

Job by job2 jobs

White wine vinegar is a strong, clean acid - 6-7% against cider vinegar's 5% - with little flavour of its own and no colour, which is why vinaigrettes and pan sauces are built on it.

Acidprimary

At 6-7% acetic acid it is one of the strongest vinegars sold, so a swap at equal volume with a 5% vinegar leaves the dish measurably less sour - and in a quick pickle, less well preserved.

Aroma & flavor identitysecondary

It smells faintly of dry wine and nothing else, so it sours food without leaving a signature - the reason it, rather than cider vinegar, is what classic dressings and hollandaise call for.

Every option, one card

Ranked · per 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
White Wine Vinegar substitutes compared
SubstituteInstead of 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Red wine vinegarvinaigrettes and marinades where colour does not matter1 tbspTweak it
Apple cider vinegarslaws, bean salads and anything with pork or apple in it1 tbsp + 1 tsp apple cider vinegarTweak it
Distilled white vinegarkeeping a pale sauce, mayonnaise or pickle colourless1 tbsp + 1 tsp distilled white vinegarTweak it
Rice vinegardressings you want gentler than the recipe intends1 ½ tbspTweak it
Champagne vinegardelicate dressings for tender leaves or shellfish1 tbspTweak it
Lemon juicedressings for fish, chicken and green salads1 tbsp + ½ tsp lemon juiceYou'll taste it
Balsamic vinegara robust marinade for red meat or mushrooms2 tsp + 1 tsp waterYou'll taste it
White winenot an acid swap — 2 tsp any 5% vinegar + 1 tsp white wineNot for this
What changes7 options

Red wine vinegar

very slightly fuller and more tannic

The same product from red grapes: the same 6-7% acid, the same dry-wine flavour, and a pigment that will tint whatever you put it in.

Covers
Acid
Aroma & flavor identity

What these mean

Amount
1 tbsp red wine vinegar for 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Best for
vinaigrettes and marinades where colour does not matter, braises, stews and pan sauces, any dish already darker than the vinegar
Taste
very slightly fuller and more tannic; in a dressing most people would not pick it out
Texture
no change
Look
the only real cost - a pale dressing turns rosy and a white sauce or potato salad goes visibly pink
Pantry
Likely in your cupboard
Suits
vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
  1. Use the same amount - the strengths match, so there is no arithmetic here.
  2. If the dish must stay pale, do not use this row. A tablespoon is enough to turn potato salad or a cream sauce faintly pink.

Closest match on the page. The decision is entirely about colour, not flavour.

Apple cider vinegar

fruitier and rounder

A 5% vinegar with a clear apple note, so you need a little more of it and the dish will taste faintly fruity.

Covers
Acid
Misses
Aroma & flavor identity — not covered

What these mean

Amount
1 tbsp + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar for 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Best for
slaws, bean salads and anything with pork or apple in it, cooked sauces and braises where the apple note disappears, the bottle most kitchens actually have open
Taste
fruitier and rounder; noticeable in a plain vinaigrette, invisible in anything simmered
Texture
no change
Look
adds a light amber cast, so a white sauce or mayonnaise goes faintly beige rather than pink
Pantry
Likely in your cupboard
Suits
vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
  1. Use 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp, not a level tablespoon: at 5% against 6-7% it is about a quarter weaker.
  2. In a delicate raw dressing, reduce any mustard or garlic slightly - the fruitiness plus a strong aromatic reads as muddled.

The everyday answer. Cider vinegar's fruitiness is a feature in a slaw and a distraction in a hollandaise.

Distilled white vinegar

sharper and flatter

Colourless and flavourless at 5% acid, which makes it the right answer whenever the dish must stay pale and the wrong one whenever the vinegar is tasted alone.

Covers
Acid
Misses
Aroma & flavor identity — not covered

What these mean

Amount
1 tbsp + 1 tsp distilled white vinegar for 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Then
add 1/8 tsp sugar per tablespoon if the dish is served raw
Best for
keeping a pale sauce, mayonnaise or pickle colourless, poaching liquid and blanching water, when the acid is purely functional
Taste
sharper and flatter, with a sting at the back of the throat and no wine note behind it
Texture
no change
Look
no change at all - this is the only swap here that leaves a white sauce or a jar of pickled cauliflower exactly as pale as intended
Pantry
Likely in your cupboard
Suits
vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, alcohol-free
  1. Use 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp per tablespoon, since it is 5% rather than 6-7%.
  2. Add 1/8 tsp sugar per tablespoon in a raw dressing, or it tastes bracing and hollow.

This is not the same product as white wine vinegar, despite the shelf position: 5% and made from grain alcohol, not 6-7% and made from wine.

Rice vinegar

softer and slightly sweet

The mildest vinegar sold, at 4-4.5% acid, so it takes half again as much to reach the same sourness.

Covers
Acid
Misses
Aroma & flavor identity — not covered

What these mean

Amount
1 ½ tbsp rice vinegar for 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Best for
dressings you want gentler than the recipe intends, pale dishes that must not pick up colour, Asian-leaning salads and noodle bowls
Taste
softer and slightly sweet; the dressing tastes gentler, which is sometimes exactly what you want
Texture
no change
Look
stays pale and clear, so nothing visible changes
Pantry
Likely in your cupboard
Suits
vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
  1. Use 1 ½ tbsp per tablespoon. If you use a level tablespoon instead, expect a dressing that tastes underseasoned rather than bright.
  2. Check the label for seasoned rice vinegar - if it is seasoned, leave out about ½ tsp of the recipe's sugar per tablespoon and a pinch of its salt.
  3. In a soda-leavened batter, use the full 1 ½ tbsp: there the acid is doing chemistry and being short means less rise.

The one swap here where using too little is the likely mistake, because a tablespoon looks like enough.

Not for canning or long-keeping pickles - 4-4.5% is below the 5% those recipes require.

Champagne vinegar

marginally softer and more floral

A white wine vinegar made from champagne grapes at about 6% acid, so it behaves the same way and tastes a little softer.

Covers
Acid
Aroma & flavor identity

What these mean

Amount
1 tbsp champagne vinegar for 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Best for
delicate dressings for tender leaves or shellfish, a mignonette or a beurre blanc, using up a bottle you were given
Taste
marginally softer and more floral - a difference you will notice raw in a spoonful and not at all in a cooked dish
Texture
no change
Look
no visible change
Pantry
Special trip
Suits
vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
  1. Use the same amount. If your bottle reads 6% and the recipe assumed 7%, the difference is not worth correcting.

Placed below the household options deliberately: it is a fine swap and no better than the cheap ones in anything cooked.

Lemon juice

bright and citrus rather than dry and winey

About as sour as a 5% vinegar, and it makes the dish taste of citrus, which is a change you cannot hide in a dressing.

Covers
Acid
Misses
Aroma & flavor identity — not covered

What these mean

Amount
1 tbsp + ½ tsp lemon juice for 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Best for
dressings for fish, chicken and green salads, finishing a cooked sauce off the heat, when there is no vinegar in the house
Taste
bright and citrus rather than dry and winey - a good dressing, but a different one
Texture
no change
Look
stays pale; bottled juice can leave a faint cloudiness in a clear dressing
Pantry
Likely in your cupboard
Suits
vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, alcohol-free
  1. Use 1 tbsp plus ½ tsp per tablespoon of vinegar.
  2. Add it at the end of cooking. Simmered lemon juice loses its smell and keeps its sourness, which is the worst of both.

Never in a hollandaise as an afterthought, though: hollandaise is usually built on lemon already, so read the recipe before doubling the citrus.

Not in a tested canning or pickling recipe - the two acids are not interchangeable by volume there.

Balsamic vinegar

sweet and jammy where the recipe wanted dry and sharp

About 6% acid, so the sourness is there, but it also carries grape sugar and a dark brown colour that will take over the dish.

Covers
Acid
Misses
Aroma & flavor identity — not covered

What these mean

Amount
2 tsp balsamic vinegar + 1 tsp water for 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Then
cut any sugar or honey in the recipe by about ½ tsp per tablespoon used
Best for
a robust marinade for red meat or mushrooms, a tomato-based sauce already dark and sweet, when it is genuinely the only vinegar in the house
Texture
very slightly thicker, enough to make a vinaigrette cling more
Look
the giveaway - a pale dressing turns muddy brown and a white sauce goes grey
Pantry
Likely in your cupboard
Suits
vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free
  1. Use 2 tsp plus 1 tsp water and reduce the recipe's sugar by about ½ tsp per tablespoon, or the dressing tastes syrupy.
  2. Never in anything pale. Half a tablespoon will turn a cream sauce grey-brown and there is no undoing it.

Listed because it is often the only bottle on the shelf, not because it is a good match.

Robust, already-dark dishes only. Never in a pale sauce, a pickle or anything raw and delicate.

White wine

the dish tastes flat and slightly sweet

Wine is the raw material for wine vinegar, not a stand-in for it: it holds well under 1% acid, roughly a tenth of the vinegar's sourness.

Covers
Aroma & flavor identity
Misses
Acid — not covered

What these mean

Amount
2 tsp any 5% vinegar + 1 tsp white wine for 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Then
let the vinegar do the souring and use the wine only for the flavour
Best for
adding a wine note alongside a real vinegar, deglazing a pan, which is what wine is genuinely for, understanding why the two bottles are not interchangeable
Taste
the dish tastes flat and slightly sweet, with none of the lift the recipe was built on
Texture
no change
Look
no visible change, which is exactly why the mistake goes unnoticed until you taste it
Suits
vegan, dairy-free
Contains
alcohol
  1. If you want the wine flavour, combine: 2 tsp of any vinegar plus 1 tsp of wine per tablespoon called for.
  2. Going the other way - vinegar in place of wine in a pan sauce - use 1 tbsp vinegar plus 3 tbsp water or stock per ¼ cup of wine, or the sauce is inedibly sharp.

Vinegar means sour wine. The bottle it came from cannot do the same work.

Never on its own where the acid has a job: no pickling, no soda-leavened batter, no dressing.

Don’t swap it here

4 cases
  • SafetyAny tested canning or pickling recipe.Use exactly the vinegar the tested recipe names, at 5% acidity or higher, in the exact amount. Follow a current tested recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
  • Balsamic or red wine vinegar in anything that has to stay pale - hollandaise, beurre blanc, mayonnaise, a cream sauce, potato salad, pickled cauliflower.Use distilled white vinegar at 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp per tablespoon, with 1/8 tsp sugar if the dish is raw, or rice vinegar at 1 ½ tbsp.
  • Using white wine instead of white wine vinegar.Use any vinegar you have at the amounts above. If you want the wine flavour too, combine 2 tsp vinegar with 1 tsp wine per tablespoon.
  • Deglazing a pan with straight vinegar where the recipe called for a splash of white wine.Use 1 tbsp vinegar plus 3 tbsp water or stock per ¼ cup of wine, add it early so it can reduce, and taste before you serve.

Safety

2 notes
  • Canning

    Never change the acid in a tested canning, pickling, fermenting or curing recipe. Use exactly the vinegar named, at 5% acidity or higher, and do not dilute it or swap in a weaker vinegar such as rice vinegar - acidity is what keeps a sealed jar safe. Follow a current tested recipe.

    Source — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)

  • Alcohol

    Wine vinegars are made by fermenting the alcohol in wine into acetic acid, and a trace of alcohol can remain. If you need an acid that never involved wine, use distilled white vinegar, plain rice vinegar or lemon juice.

If it went wrong

3 fixes
  • The dressing tastes too sharp after you swapped vinegars.You used a 6-7% vinegar where the recipe was balanced for a 5% one, or poured a stronger vinegar in at equal volume.Add oil a tablespoon at a time towards 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, then 1/8 tsp sugar or a little honey. Both are reversible; the acid is not.
  • The potato salad or cream sauce has gone pink.Red wine vinegar or balsamic went into a pale dish.You cannot take colour back out. Serve it as it is - it tastes fine - and use distilled white vinegar next time.
  • The pan sauce is inedibly harsh after you used vinegar in place of wine.Reducing vinegar concentrates the acid rather than cooking it away.Add stock or water in 2 tbsp additions and a knob of butter, and taste after each. If it will not come back, start the sauce again with 1 tbsp vinegar to 3 tbsp stock.

Measure it

6 measures
  • White wine vinegar acidityusually 6-7% acetic acidStronger than the 5% vinegars, which is why most swaps on this page need a little more volume.
  • Acid strength, strongest firstwine vinegars 6-7% > balsamic about 6% > distilled white and cider vinegar 5% > lemon juice 5-6% citric > rice vinegar 4-4.5% > orange juice about 1%The percentage is what decides the amount. Per 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar: 1 tbsp + 1 tsp of a 5% vinegar, or 1 ½ tbsp of rice vinegar, or 1 tbsp + ½ tsp of lemon juice.
  • White wine vinegar vs distilled white vinegar6-7% from wine versus 5% from grain alcoholDifferent products on the same shelf. The distilled one is cheaper, sharper and completely colourless.
  • Standard vinaigrette3 parts oil to 1 part vinegarSo 3 tbsp oil to 1 tbsp vinegar. If a swap has left the dressing too sharp, another tablespoon of oil is the quickest fix.
  • 1 tbsp vinegar3 tsp = 15 ml
  • Wine is not vinegartable wine holds well under 1% acid, wine vinegar 6-7%Roughly a tenfold difference, which is why wine cannot sour or preserve anything.

Questions

5 questions

What's the difference between white wine vinegar and white vinegar?

White wine vinegar is fermented from wine, usually 6-7% acid, and tastes faintly of dry wine. Distilled white vinegar is made from grain alcohol, is 5% acid, and tastes flatly sharp. They are not interchangeable spoon for spoon: use 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp of distilled white vinegar per tablespoon of white wine vinegar, plus a pinch of sugar in anything raw.

Can I use white wine instead of white wine vinegar?

No. Wine holds well under 1% acid against the vinegar's 6-7%, so it will not sour a dressing, preserve a pickle or react with baking soda. If you want the wine flavour, use 2 tsp of any vinegar plus 1 tsp of wine per tablespoon called for.

What is the best substitute for white wine vinegar in a salad dressing?

Red wine vinegar, tablespoon for tablespoon, because the strength matches exactly - accept that the dressing will look rosy. If the salad must stay pale, use 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp of cider or distilled white vinegar and add 1/8 tsp sugar per tablespoon.

Can I use white wine vinegar for pickling and canning?

Only where the tested recipe names it. Use the vinegar the recipe specifies at 5% acidity or higher, never diluted and never swapped for a weaker vinegar such as rice vinegar, because the acid level is what keeps a sealed jar safe. Follow a current tested recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation at https://nchfp.uga.edu/.

Is white wine vinegar gluten-free, and does it contain alcohol?

It is made from wine and grapes, so it contains no gluten, though flavoured blends can add other ingredients. The fermentation turns the alcohol into acetic acid and only a trace can remain; if you need an acid that never involved wine, use distilled white vinegar, plain rice vinegar or lemon juice.

Tips for substituting white wine vinegar

6 tips
  1. White wine vinegar is 6-7% acid, so most swaps need slightly more volume: 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp of a 5% vinegar per tablespoon, or 1 ½ tbsp of rice vinegar.
  2. White wine vinegar and distilled white vinegar are different products - one is made from wine at 6-7%, the other from grain alcohol at 5% and much harsher.
  3. Colour decides more swaps here than flavour does. If the dish is pale, use distilled white or rice vinegar; if it is dark, red wine vinegar is the closest match.
  4. The standard vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, and adding oil is how you fix a dressing that came out too sharp.
  5. Add vinegar to a delicate sauce off the heat. Reducing it concentrates the acid instead of softening it.
  6. For canning and long-keeping pickles, use the exact vinegar the tested recipe names at 5% or higher, and do not dilute it.

Source — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)

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