• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Tastessence

Tastessence

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Articles

Readily Available Substitutes for Vermouth That You Must Try Once

Vermouth is a wine that is mainly used in making desserts and cocktails. Only a few things, including certain types of vinegars can be used as its substitute. Find out more about vermouth and its substitutes, in this article.

Home / Substitutes / Readily Available Substitutes for Vermouth That You Must Try Once
Vermouth Substitutes

Vermouth is a wine that is mainly used in making desserts and cocktails. Only a few things, including certain types of vinegars can be used as its substitute. Find out more about vermouth and its substitutes, in this article.

Vermouth does not sour as quickly as white wine, as it is a fortified wine. But still, an opened bottle of vermouth should be kept in the refrigerator and consumed within three months.

Herbs and spices

Vermouth is basically a fortified wine flavored with aromatic herbs and spices. It is prepared by infusing different types of herbs and spices, including cardamom, cinnamon, chamomile, cloves, and marjoram. Even ginger, citrus peel, and coriander may be used for this purpose. Earlier, vermouth was prepared from cheap or low quality wines, and the herbs and spices were used to disguise their unpleasant flavor.

Vermouth bottle

But today, vermouth is not prepared to prevent the wastage of cheaper wines. In fact, it is used in many cocktails, including martini. It is also used in cooking, mainly in fish dishes and as a marinade for meat. The recipe of this fortified wine was invented by Antonio Benedetto Carpano, an Italian distiller. The name ‘vermouth’ was given after the word, ‘wermut’, the German name for wormwood. It usually comes in two varieties, the dry or French vermouth, and the sweet or Italian vermouth. Let’s find out what you can substitute for vermouth, if you happen to run out of it while cooking a dish that calls for this aromatized wine.

Substitutes for Vermouth

White Wine

White wine

White wine is an excellent substitute for dry vermouth, and it can also be used to replace sweet vermouth. White wine is produced by the fermentation of the non-colored grape pulp. It is basically used for tenderizing meat, and also in the preparation of sauces, seafood dishes, stews, and risottos.

Amount of vermouth required: 1 cup

To be replaced with: 1 cup of white wine

Note: To get best results, you can use dry white wine to replace dry vermouth in a recipe. It can be used to substitute vermouth in martini as well. While cooking with white wine, you can lower the alcohol content of the dish by simmering or baking it for a long time.

Wine Vinegar

Wine vinegar

Vinegar is nothing but acetic acid and water, and is prepared by the fermentation of ethanol by the acetic acid bacteria. Vinegar is acidic and hence, you can use it to get the acidity of vermouth. For best results, you can use white wine vinegar, as it tastes like dry vermouth. Sometimes, red wine vinegar may also be used.

Amount of vermouth required: 1 cup

To be replaced with: ⅓ cup of white wine vinegar (for dry vermouth) or ⅓ cup of red wine vinegar (for sweet vermouth) + ⅔ cup of water

Note: Red wine vinegar will discolor a light dish. If color of the dish does not matter so much, then red wine vinegar can be used as a dry vermouth substitute in cooking. But in general, it is used to substitute sweet vermouth. Wine vinegars are good for stews, marinades, sauces, and also in vinaigrettes.

Balsamic Vinegar

Balsamic Vinegar

Another good substitute of vermouth is balsamic vinegar. Balsamic vinegar was first prepared in Italy. The traditional balsamic vinegar is dark brown in color with a fruity flavor, and is quite expensive. It is generally used to substitute sweet vermouth.

Amount of vermouth required: 1 cup

To be replaced with: ⅓ cup of balsamic vinegar + ⅔ cup of water

Note: It can be used in dips, steaks, pastas, risottos, and vegetables dishes. It is excellent for marinades, sauces, salad dressings, and for seasoning grilled meat, fish and eggs.

Grape Juice

Grape Juice

Grape juice can also be used to substitute vermouth. However, it is a bit sweeter than dry vermouth, even without any sweetener added to it. Usually, white grape juice is used to substitute dry vermouth, while normal grape juice is used to replace sweet vermouth in some recipes.

Amount of vermouth required: 1 cup

To be replaced with: ½ cup of grape juice (for sweet vermouth) or ½ cup of white grape juice (for dry vermouth)

Note: If the grape juice is too sweet, you can add a small amount of salt to reduce its sweetness. Even spices can help reduce the sweetness of grape juice, and make it more flavorful like vermouth.

Lemon Juice

Lemon Juice

If vermouth is mainly added in a recipe for its acidity, then lemon juice can be a good substitute for this fortified wine. However, it is better to avoid lime juice, as its flavor is quite strong. Not all recipes can handle the citrus flavor of lime juice.

Amount of vermouth required: 1 cup

To be replaced with: ½ cup of lemon juice

Sake

Sake alcoholic beverage

Sake or saké is the name of an alcoholic beverage that originated in Japan. It is prepared from fermented rice. The brewing process is somewhat similar to that of beer, as starch is first converted into sugar and then fermented to produce alcohol. Sake can be used to substitute vermouth in martini.

Amount of vermouth required: 1 cup

To be replaced with: 1 cup of sake

Note: If you want to replace vermouth in martini with sake, then mix one part sake with three parts gin. Apart from martini, sake can be used in cocktails, desserts, and also in cooking seafood, pork, and chicken. Like wine, sake should be simmered with the food to enhance and accentuate the flavor of the dish.

So, these are some of the substitutes that you can use in a recipe that calls for vermouth. In addition to these, you can also try apple juice, non-alcoholic white wine, and chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth mixed with a small amount of lemon juice, depending on the specific requirement of a dish.

Grape Juice
Glass Of White Wine
Fresh Lemon Juice
Lemon Juice In A Glass
White Wine
White Wine Bottle
Grape Juice
Two Glasses Of White Wine
Pouring White Wine
Glass Of Grape Juice
Martini with lemon and green olives
Fresh Grape Juice
Glass with martini
Champagne On A Tray
Dark orange drink in glass
Martini With A Lemon Twist
Mojito With Pomegranate Mint Lemon Juice
Young Friends Enjoying Night Club Party Toasting With Drinks

Like it? Share it!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
« Previous Post
Next Post »

Category iconSubstitutes

Get Updates Right to Your Inbox

Sign up to receive the latest and greatest articles from our site automatically each week (give or take)...right to your inbox.
Blog Updates

Further Insights

tofu sushi roll in bowl with sauce
4 Simple Tofu Substitute Options for Meat-Free Diets
January 23, 2021
spicy chilies
What to Use as a Sweet Chili Sauce Substitute
January 18, 2021
selection of cheeses for sale
Cheese Substitute Ideas for Vegan and Lactose-Free Diets
January 15, 2021

Primary Sidebar

Search

Latest Articles

tofu sushi roll in bowl with sauce

4 Simple Tofu Substitute Options for Meat-Free Diets

spicy chilies

What to Use as a Sweet Chili Sauce Substitute

selection of cheeses for sale

Cheese Substitute Ideas for Vegan and Lactose-Free Diets

whole eggs and broken egg in bowl

Egg Yolk Substitute Ideas: What To Use Instead

Exploring the website?

Our site includes quite a bit of content, so if you're having an issue finding what you're looking for, go on ahead and use that search feature there!

Footer

We hope you are enjoying Tastessence! We provide informative and helpful articles about ingredient substitutes, healthy eating, and all around cool stuff about food and recipes.
  • Facebook
  • RSS

Copyright © Tastessence & Buzzle.com, Inc.
6789 Quail Hill Pkwy, Suite 211 Irvine CA 92603

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsAccept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.