Whether you’re cutting back on or avoiding alcohol for your health, financial considerations, or any other reasons, many nonalcoholic alternatives are available when you’re cooking or baking. When choosing the best swap, it can help to consider certain things, like what the alcohol actually does in the recipe.
In some cases, alcohol can affect food chemically. For example, it may act as a meat tenderizer in a marinade. In other cases, it may simply be a way to enhance a dish’s flavor.
Whatever its role in a recipe, alcohol can be swapped out for a nonalcoholic option.
Alcohol can serve many different purposes in recipes. When you’re looking for an appropriate nonalcoholic substitute, it can help to think about what purpose the alcohol was originally serving in the dish.
Meat marinades
Some of the more acidic alcohols, such as wine, are included in marinades to help make meat more tender. When swapping for a nonalcoholic option, you may need something with a higher acidity content to help break down the meat. You could try:
- an acidic fruit juice, such as lemon or lime juice
- sparkling juice
- nonalcoholic ciders
Vinegar may also work, but it’s very strong, so you may need to water it down to avoid altering the flavor of the meat too much or making it too mushy.
Yeast applications
Some recipes include beer, stouts, or other gluten-based alcoholic beverages for their yeast content. For instance, bread recipes may include beer to help the bread rise.
If you’re leaving out the alcohol, you may be able to add in some yeast by itself to retain the alcohol’s intended effects on the food.
Keep this in mind
Some people may leave out certain alcohols, such as beer or stout, if they’re trying to avoid gluten. If something needs to have yeast in it, make sure the type of yeast you use is certified gluten-free.
Also, if you’re trying to avoid alcohol completely, products that don’t use yeast may be better for you. Yeast, when fermenting, produces small amounts of alcohol in the form of ethanol, so products that don’t have alcohol as a listed ingredient may actually contain small amounts.
The trace amounts of alcohol found in products like yeast breads aren’t enough to physically affect anyone. But if you’re trying to avoid alcohol altogether, it can help to be aware of this.
Check out this article to learn more about which alcoholic beverages are gluten-free.
Different types of alcohol may also be included in recipes to impart flavor. When looking for the right swap, think about the flavor of the alcohol and aim for a close substitute.
In general, recipes with tart or more acidic alcohols may be best with nonalcoholic substitutes like unsweetened citrus juices or vinegars. Recipes that call for sweeter alcohols, like liqueurs, may benefit from a nonalcoholic swap with a little bit of sugar or a different sweetener.
For example, if a recipe calls for a stout, you could try swapping in a nonalcoholic extract or other liquid with chocolate or coffee notes.
Many wines can also be swapped out for their vinegar counterparts. Have a recipe that calls for red wine? Try red wine vinegar. Instead of rice wine, consider rice wine vinegar.
It’s important to note that the same precautions around yeasted products also apply to vinegars, if you’re trying to avoid alcohol completely. Vinegars are made by fermenting yeast, and trace amounts of alcohol can be left over in the final product.
If you don’t want to use vinegar, try aiming for the closest possible taste match in a juice or other liquid.
Red grape juice may be a good swap for red wine. Many alcohols, particularly liquors and liqueurs, also have base flavors that can be closely matched with an extract — for example, alcohol-free almond extract can be a good alternative to amaretto, or a bit of alcohol-free vanilla extract and water can be a substitute for bourbon.
And lastly, many alcohols have simple nonalcoholic versions available. You may be able to find nonalcoholic versions of:
- beer
- wine
- whiskey
- vodka
- brandy
A note about extracts
Many common extracts, including vanilla extract, are often made with an alcohol base. If you’re avoiding alcohol in any form, look for alcohol-free versions that use glycerin as a base instead.
The following table lays out some common alcoholic beverages used in recipes and nonalcoholic substitutes you could consider.
| Alcohol | Nonalcoholic alternatives |
|---|---|
| light beer | nonalcoholic light beer ginger ale chicken or vegetable broth |
| dark beer | nonalcoholic dark beer beef broth root beer or other dark sodas |
| brandy | white grape juice juices or ciders that match different types of fruit brandy |
| champagne | champagne vinegar ginger ale sparkling grape juice |
| hard cider | a matching nonalcoholic cider or sparkling fruit juice |
| kirsch | cherry syrup or juice another berry syrup or juice, such as raspberry |
| coffee liqueur | coffee extract coffee syrup a little bit of strong coffee or espresso |
| sherry | fruit juice, such as orange or pineapple juice |
| red wine | red wine vinegar red grape juice other unsweetened red fruit juices beef broth |
| white wine | white wine vinegar white grape juice ginger ale lemon juice chicken or vegetable broth |
Remember this
Some recipes may call for large amounts of an alcoholic liquid. If the amount of liquid is essential to the end result of the recipe, you may need to dilute a strong nonalcoholic substitute — like an extract — with water, a broth, or a juice with a similar or more neutral flavor profile.
Many nonalcoholic alternatives are available if you’re trying to avoid alcohol in recipes. It may take some trial and error to find a swap that closely matches the flavor or action of the original alcoholic ingredient.
30 Days of Winter Wellness
Day 16
When trying to find a good nonalcoholic substitute, it may help to ask these questions:
- What purpose is the alcohol serving in the recipe? (Will you need a substitute that can match a certain chemical or physical process?)
- What does the alcohol taste like? (Can you find a substitute or combination of substitutes that can match the alcohol’s flavors?)
- How much alcohol does the recipe call for? (Are you going to need a lot of liquid? Will the flavor of the substitute liquid be too strong if you need to use large amounts and, if so, should you dilute it with a more neutral liquid?)
Catch up on Day 15 of the challenge to learn how to start journaling.