Dry White Wine Substitute?

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fulljeff

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I have been doing research :wacko: to find out what will be the best substitute for dry white wine in this amazing Dutch oven recipe. I am a Boy Scout leader and don't want to be bringing wine on scout outings (plus I don't drink). I want to try to replicate the wine as close as possible without throwing off the taste of the dish as I realize it is a key ingredient.

I know that substitutions depend on the recipe so here are the ingredients. :chef:

Salmon River Chicken Cordon Bleu In Wine Sauce
4 Chicken breasts
Ham
Swiss Cheese
Flour
Sour Cream
cheese/galic dry salad dressing
parmesan cheese
1/2 c. dry white wine (what can I substitute???)
eggs
butter
bread crumbs
cream of chicken soup

 
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Chicken stock would be what I would have suggested as well for this particular recipe.
 
Dry White Wine Substitue?

This comes up fairly often. I'm guilty of never finding an answer because I always use "the real deal". I see where you can't!!!!

I would try subbing with white grape juice, apple cider, apple juice, mixed with a bit of water so it's not so sweet. My first sub choice would probably be diluted white grape juice...probably equal parts.
 
This isn't exactly a delicate little dish. With all the heavy ingredients (Swiss and Parmesan cheese, cream of chicken soup, garlic & cheese salad dressing mix, sour cream, eggs, butter, and ham), ½ cup of wine would add insignificant flavor. I doubt your scouts, or just about anyone for that matter, would be able to tell the difference if you omitted it entirely and simply added ½ cup of water.
 
Something else I thought of....Ginger Ale!

As the father of an Eagle Scout let me personally thank you for the work you do for Scouting!! ---- Thank you!!!
 
This isn't exactly a delicate little dish. With all the heavy ingredients (Swiss and Parmesan cheese, cream of chicken soup, garlic & cheese salad dressing mix, sour cream, eggs, butter, and ham), ½ cup of wine would add insignificant flavor. I doubt your scouts, or just about anyone for that matter, would be able to tell the difference if you omitted it entirely and simply added ½ cup of water.

Yea, I know what you mean about the rest of the ingredients being heavy. I have used white wine with cream of mushroom soup and it gave it a certain sweetness. That's why I truly think some watered down white grape juice would work...still lending that bit of sweetness that cuts through the creaminess of the other ingredients.

I also don't think anyone would notice. If it were me I'd use the watered down grape juice because I think it would work the best in subbing that flavor.
 
I would not use anything sweet as a sub. either chicken stock or water would be fine. You might even want to dilute the chicken stock half and half with water, to replicate the texture of the wine.

Sounds like a tasty recipe! :)
 
Thank you for asking this question!! So many of the recipes I would love to make call for white wine, but since I'm not 21 yet I guess I'll just have to be patient and try some of these substitutes.
 
Yea, I know what you mean about the rest of the ingredients being heavy. I have used white wine with cream of mushroom soup and it gave it a certain sweetness. That's why I truly think some watered down white grape juice would work...still lending that bit of sweetness that cuts through the creaminess of the other ingredients.

I also don't think anyone would notice. If it were me I'd use the watered down grape juice because I think it would work the best in subbing that flavor.

By definition DRY white wine -- or any dry wine, for that matter -- is extremely low in residual sugar, generally less than 1/2 percent by weight and often much lower, frequently in the range of 1/10 to 3/10 of a percent.

Granted, alcohol itself has a somewhat sweet note, but it all quickly evaporates when it's heated.

Consequently, adding anything sweet as a substitute for the dry wine could alter the taste of the dish. I wouldn't do it.
 
Hmmmmm...most common substitute for dry white wine here in southern California is probably Valium, but that doesn't sound like what you are looking for. I'd go with the chicken broth.
 
The amount of alcohol remaining in the recipe cited would be insignificant. A half-cup of wine contains roughly a tablespoon of alcohol; assuming the dish is baked for about an hour, only 25 percent of that tablespoon would remain, or roughly a teaspoon in the entire dish. Assuming it serves four, that would be a quarter of a teaspoon per serving. Robert Parker himself wouldn't be able to detect it, especially in that thick, heavily flavor sauce.
 
I am not denying the amount would be negligible. I am saying that your quote about it evaporating quickly when heated is wrong.
 
We're not wine drinkers, so I generally substitute chicken broth, water or more of some other liquid in the recipe (like another can of diced tomatoes).

(I don't have any valium.)
 
We're not here to argue the point Scotch. When wine is added to a dish there is still a sweet note. Even a DRY white wine can be fruit forward...and I'm not talking residual sugar, merely fruit. Wine is NOT an option for the OP anyway. A SUBSTITUTE is what he's looking for. So really, alcohol left, residual sugar, is a moot point. Troken can still lend itself to fruit forward notes.
 
I think this has pretty much been settled. I agree that in this case, chicken stock or merely water will do pretty well as a substitution.

However, a thought occurred to me - for situations like this, cooking wine (the stuff with salt added to make it pretty much non-drinkable) might be worth playing with. It is also an option for LaurenG, as it is legal for minors to buy and use.
 
We're not here to argue the point Scotch. When wine is added to a dish there is still a sweet note. Even a DRY white wine can be fruit forward...and I'm not talking residual sugar, merely fruit. Wine is NOT an option for the OP anyway. A SUBSTITUTE is what he's looking for. So really, alcohol left, residual sugar, is a moot point. Troken can still lend itself to fruit forward notes.
"We're not here to argue the point"? What does that mean? Obviously you are here to argue the point because that's what you always do, so I can only assume that you mean "I'm right because I'm the moderator." Nonsense!

Fruit flavor in wine does not equal sweetness; residual sugar in wine does equal sweetness. Dry white wine doesn't taste anything like watered-down grape juice, and the suggestion to substitute one for the other makes no sense to me.
 
I think this has pretty much been settled. I agree that in this case, chicken stock or merely water will do pretty well as a substitution.

However, a thought occurred to me - for situations like this, cooking wine (the stuff with salt added to make it pretty much non-drinkable) might be worth playing with. It is also an option for LaurenG, as it is legal for minors to buy and use.

IMHO, so called "cooking wine" should not be an option for anyone, as it is the lowest quality wine with lots of salt added, and for what you are buying is VERY expensive. for Lauren G, I cooked with wine long before I was old enough to drink. My mother bought it for her own cooking use. My parents were not wine drinkers until I educated them, but my mother purchased and used wine for cooking.
 
I would not use anything sweet as a sub. either chicken stock or water would be fine. You might even want to dilute the chicken stock half and half with water, to replicate the texture of the wine.

Sounds like a tasty recipe! :)

I agree. It's not meant to be sweet. If an acidic note is warranted, hit the chicken broth with a little rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar.
 
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