What can I use instead of wine in cooking?

Wine in a recipe is doing a specific job, and substituting well means asking which job rather than looking for something that tastes similar.

Step by step

1. Work out what it is there for.Deglazing a pan, adding acidity to cut richness, providing liquid to braise in, or tenderising in a marinade. Different jobs need different substitutes.
2. Substitute white wine with stock plus acid.Chicken or vegetable stock with a teaspoon of white wine vinegar or lemon juice per 100ml. That reproduces both the liquid and the sharpness.
3. Substitute red wine with stock plus depth.Beef or vegetable stock with a splash of red wine vinegar and a teaspoon of tomato purée. The purée supplies the colour and savoury depth the wine would have given.
4. Use non-alcoholic wine where it matters most.In a dish where the wine is the dominant flavour, dealcoholised wine is the closest match. Elsewhere it is unnecessary expense.
5. Use apple juice or verjuice for white wine in delicate dishes.Diluted apple juice with a squeeze of lemon works in fish and chicken dishes. Verjuice, if you can find it, is closer still.
6. Do not use sweet drinks in savoury dishes.Grape juice or cordial in a savoury braise makes it cloying, and the sweetness concentrates as it reduces. If you must, cut it heavily with stock and add vinegar.
7. Use cranberry or pomegranate juice carefully for red.Both bring acidity and colour but also sweetness. Use half juice, half stock, and taste before adding any more.
8. Substitute sherry and marsala with stock and vinegar.Stock with a little sherry vinegar approximates dry sherry. For marsala, add a small amount of something sweet, since marsala is fortified and sweet.
9. Deglaze with anything acidic.For lifting the browned residue from a pan, stock, cider, vinegar diluted in water, or even plain water all work. The mechanical job matters more than the flavour.
10. Add the acid at the end, not the start.Vinegar loses sharpness as it cooks. If the finished dish tastes flat, a small splash off the heat restores the brightness the wine would have provided.
11. Adjust the seasoning afterwards.Stock is saltier than wine. Taste before adding any salt, or the substitution takes the dish somewhere you did not intend.
12. Know when alcohol does not burn off.A common assumption and not accurate — some alcohol remains after even long cooking. For anyone avoiding it entirely, substitute rather than relying on cooking it off.

Tips

• Stock plus a little vinegar covers almost every case. Match the acidity, not the flavour.
• A teaspoon of tomato purée gives red-wine substitutes the savoury depth stock alone lacks.
• Add the acid at the end. Vinegar cooked for an hour tastes of very little.

Common mistakes

• Substituting grape juice for dry wine — The sugar concentrates as the dish reduces, making it cloying. Wine is dry and acidic — stock with vinegar reproduces it far better.
• Assuming alcohol cooks off completely — Some remains even after long cooking. For anyone avoiding alcohol for medical or personal reasons, substitute rather than cooking it out.

If it doesn't work