Substituting Dry white wine

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

mommas3boys

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Messages
7
Location
Pa
Hello everyone My name is Joanne and I have just joined the forums. I have been trying new recipes for my family and have been coming across a few that ask for dry white wine. Was wondering if there was a substitute for it? I have been told that I can use distilled white vinegar as a substitute. Is that correct? Thank you all for your time and help. Have great evening.
 
Welcome to DC. I don't think I would use distilled white vinegar, apple juice or cider would be better. Maybe some white balsamic vinegar. Or just plain water. Don't use cooking wine, it's really nasty. If you do use wine, use something that's good for drinking.
 
Last edited:
Ok thank you for your help I will have to try the apple juice or cider and see how that works out.
 
A lot depends on what recipe this is for. What are you making?

Sometimes no substitution is the best choice. Apple juice or cider will make your dish sweeter.

Are you trying to avoid alcohol all together?
 
Welcome to DC. I don't think I would use distilled white vinegar, apple juice or cider would be better. Maybe some white balsamic vinegar. Or just plain water. Don't use cooking wine, it's really nasty. If you do use wine, use something that's good for drinking.

I agree Dawg, but think just a little mild white vinegar (thinking maybe rice wine vinegar) with the apple juice would be a closer match to cooking with white wine. Just a thought. ;)
 
Is there a reason not to use wine? If expense is a concern, you don't have to use expensive wine for cooking. In fact, you're better off if you don't. If you have a Trader Joe's anywhere close by, you can buy their Charles Shaw brand, which costs $2-3 a bottle (depending on where in the country you live). It makes great cooking wine. But any inexpensive wine will do. As Dawgluver says, just don't buy anything labelled "cooking wine", as it can contain salt and other weird ingredients.

If there's another reason you are unable to use wine, you can usually just replace it with chicken or vegetable stock.
 
Last edited:
I would go with the chicken stock and a squeeze of lemon too. White vinegar is not the same as white wine. Cider is also a good if the white wine was supposed to be a sweet wine.
 
I am looking to make a Mozzarella Chicken and the dry white wine is part of the sauce. I was looking to see if there was a substitute because I did not have the dry white one hand and no way to the store at the moment and was thinking of maybe a non alcohol for my boys ages 9, 4, 2.
 
Not much alcohol left after cooking the sauce with wine. It adds a nice flavor, and nobody is going to get drunk on the pasta sauce. You might consider unsweetened grape juice, forgot about that. They also have nonalcoholic champagne and wine.

Check out some of Giada deLaurentis's recipes, she cooks with wine a lot, and her daughter is 5.
 
Last edited:
I am looking to make a Mozzarella Chicken and the dry white wine is part of the sauce. I was looking to see if there was a substitute because I did not have the dry white one hand and no way to the store at the moment and was thinking of maybe a non alcohol for my boys ages 9, 4, 2.
I've cooked food with wine in it for our daughter her entire life. To begin with, unless you're making something like Beef Bourguignon, you're probably not adding that much. Second, as was mentioned above, the majority of the alcohol evaporates off in the cooking process, and what's left behind is such a minuscule amount it won't hurt anything. When it comes to kids, I honestly feel more comfortable adding wine to food than sugar, as the latter has a much more adverse effect on their behavior.
 
Last edited:
Here is a chart that details just how much alcohol remains in a liquid environment after cooking for various times. Pardon the misalignment of the percentages.

I have always added wine to sauces and never had an issue with its effecting anyone.



Cooking Method
Alcohol Remaining

Alcohol added to boiling liquid and removed from the heat
85%
Flamed
75%
Stirred in and baked or simmered for:
15 minutes
40%
30 minutes
35%
45 minutes
30%
1 hour
25%
1 1/2 hours
20%
2 hours
10%
2 1/2 hours
5%
 
Last edited:
Welcome to DC. I like to use stock if I replace wine. Chicken stock with a squeeze of lemon is a nice touch .Both go good with your chicken dish. If I use white wine I usually use an inexpensive White Dry Vermouth. I like the extra flavor.
 
If there is no way to get to store, I'd say juice is a good soultin. As far as ammount of alcohol content for kids after it was cooked, it really is not a problem. Personally I would not use dry wine for other reasons, but that just me.
 
I am looking to make a Mozzarella Chicken and the dry white wine is part of the sauce. I was looking to see if there was a substitute because I did not have the dry white one hand and no way to the store at the moment and was thinking of maybe a non alcohol for my boys ages 9, 4, 2.
If cooked out properly, wine-based sauces do not contain any significant alcohol (cooked properly, the alcohol boils off) so shouldn't be a problem for children or anyone on medication (although it's always wise to check the latter). Obviously, if you have a cultural reason for avoiding alcohol, the buying of wine may be a problem in the first place.

It's a good idea to remember that if the wine isn't fit to drink it isn't fit to cook with. However, this doesn't mean you have to use expensive wine for cooking. Choose something you like the taste of. Any time you have a bottle of wine and you don't use it all you could freeze it in an ice cube tray. That way you will have a little wine for cooking when you need it. Don't bother drnking the defrosted wine though as it will taste a little tired :(.

In the absence of available white wine, cider is often a good substitute but, again, make sure it's a decent quality one, not an artificially carbonated one or a non-alcoholic one. (Don't use non-alcoholic or de-alcoholised wine either. It tastes vile in cooking!)
 
Last edited:
If cooked out properly, wine-based sauces do not contain any significant alcohol (cooked properly, the alcohol boils off) so shouldn't be a problem for children or anyone on medication (although it's always wise to check the latter). Obviously, if you have a cultural reason for avoiding alcohol, the buying of wine may be a problem in the first place.


Andy posted the alcohol burn off chart above.

Depending on how the sauce is made, a significant amount of alcohol could still remain. It never boils off completely no matter what you do.
 
Andy posted the alcohol burn off chart above.

Depending on how the sauce is made, a significant amount of alcohol could still remain. It never boils off completely no matter what you do.
Given the amount of wine used in most (I say "most") recipes the fraction of alcohol left after cooking off is miniscule not "significant"
 
Back
Top Bottom