Recipes Passed Down. Wine (2025)

FAQs

How to counteract too much wine in a recipe? ›

Guarnaschelli has plenty of tips for home chefs, but for those who have mistakenly poured too much wine into a recipe, she recommends that frazzled cooks can save their cooking efforts by adding butter or olive oil to the dish.

A good substitute for a cup of white wine is a cup of broth or vegetable stock, with a splash of vinegar or lemon juice for acidity. The general rule is to add one tablespoon of vinegar for every cup of broth used. For recipes requiring ¼ cup of white wine or less, it's generally safe to omit the wine altogether.

Red wine vinegar brings the signature acidity and tangy flavor of red wine, without the alcohol. It also carries a similar color to wine, though it's less vibrant. Dilute it as a 50 / 50 mixture with water. So for every ½ cup wine, substitute ¼ cup red wine vinegar and ¼ cup water.

If you happen to have it on hand, apple cider vinegar is a great substitute for white wine. It's slightly sweet and has a similarly aged depth, just like wine. Add the same amount of vinegar as the amount of wine called for in the recipe.

The truth is that you can use old wine for cooking a variety of dishes. Whether you use red or white wine doesn't matter. You can cook with wine for up to two months or longer after the bottle has been opened. Even if the wine you use for cooking is unfit for drinking.

Sorry to spoil the party, but here's the real deal: Simply heating alcohol, or any other cooking liquid, does not make it evaporate as quickly as a child's allowance in a candy store. The longer you cook, the more alcohol cooks out, but you have to cook food for about 3 hours to fully erase all traces of alcohol.

Balsamic vinegar

To use it in place of red wine vinegar in salad dressings, simply substitute it in at a 1:1 ratio. For other recipes like marinades or dressings for pizza or crostini, you may prefer to first dilute it with white vinegar or red wine at a 1:1 ratio.

Substitutes per 1 cup: Beef stock, nonalcoholic red wine, unsweetened grape juice (same varietal if possible), beer, soaking liquid from dried mushrooms or sun-dried tomatoes.

Some ingredients, such as grape juice, may replace wine equally in recipes, while others may need to be mixed with other ingredients to make an effective substitute. It is important to keep your desired flavor in mind when you are replacing wine in recipes.

Use These Substitutes for Red Wine

For a punchier substitute, try mixing a tablespoon of vinegar per cup of juice. Chicken, beef, or vegetable stock: Even though it's less acidic, and more mild in flavor than red wine, stock is an ideal candidate for adding flavor to a dish.

Can I use vinegar instead of wine in a recipe? ›

Another good option, white wine vinegar is good as a replacement for dry white wine. It is much more acidic than white wine though so it should be diluted with water or stock. Use a ratio of 50% white wine vinegar to 50% water or stock. You will get flavour from stock but it lacks the acidity of white wine.

Using too much wine

Not only can too much wine overpower a dish, but it can also make it taste too boozy, a quality of wine that most people tend to try and avoid in most dishes. To find the perfect balance, it's best to add it bit by bit and taste as you go — you can always add more wine, but you can't take it back.

Option 1 - The simple spritz

Unless your wine is corked - or has turned to vinegar in the bottle - almost any wine can be saved with a load of ice, fruity garnish, and solid dose of soda water. That's right, we're making spritzers!