The best substitute for wine in cooking, if you want it alcohol-free and halal, depends on what the wine was doing in the recipe. For long-cooked beef dishes, a mix of strong black tea and a little distilled white vinegar comes surprisingly close to red wine. For chicken, fish and risotto, broth with a little lemon juice or vinegar does the job of white wine. The chart below covers red wine, white wine, Shaoxing wine, mirin and beer, with amounts and the dishes each swap suits.
Every swap here is alcohol-free, and we have left out options that raise halal questions of their own, such as wine vinegar and non-alcoholic wine. You will find the quick checks to make on the substitutes themselves further down.
Quick swap chart
| Replacing | Halal swap | Amount | Best for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red wine | Strong black tea plus distilled white vinegar | Per 1/2 cup wine: 1/2 cup brewed black tea (1 tea bag, cooled) plus 1 tsp distilled white vinegar | Pot roast, beef stew, braises, gravy | America’s Test Kitchen |
| Red wine | Beef or vegetable broth, brightened with acid | Same amount of broth as wine; add a little vinegar or lemon juice to the finished dish, to taste | Any savory dish | Food Republic |
| White wine | Chicken or vegetable broth, brightened with acid | Same amount of broth; add a little vinegar or lemon juice at the end | Chicken, fish, risotto, pan sauces | Food Republic |
| White wine | White grape juice and water | Per 1 cup wine: 1/2 cup white grape juice, 1/2 cup water, a splash of vinegar | Dishes that welcome a little sweetness | Food Republic |
| White wine | Diluted lemon juice | Per 1 cup wine: 1/4 cup lemon juice plus 3/4 cup water | Light sauces, seafood | Food Republic |
| Mirin | Rice vinegar and sugar | Per 1 tbsp mirin: 1 tbsp rice vinegar plus 1 tsp sugar | Teriyaki, glazes | Recipes From A Pantry |
| Mirin | White grape or apple juice | Same amount as the mirin | Glazes, dressings | Recipes From A Pantry |
| Shaoxing wine | Chicken broth | Same amount | Stir fries | Pantry & Larder |
| Shaoxing wine | Ginger water (optional Sichuan peppercorns) | Same amount; steep about 1 inch smashed ginger in 1/2 cup hot water for 15 minutes, strain | Marinades | Pantry & Larder |
| Beer (batter) | Ginger ale, club soda or another carbonated non-alcoholic drink | Equal parts flour and liquid, plus a pinch of baking powder | Fried fish and vegetables | Food Republic, chef Kyle Taylor |
| Beer (stew) | Beef or mushroom broth | Same amount as the beer | Stews and braises | General practice (no tested ratio found) |
Use the same total amount of liquid as the recipe asks for. Then taste near the end and adjust: broth swaps usually need a touch of acid to brighten them.
What wine actually does in a recipe
Wine does three jobs in cooking. It adds acidity, which brightens rich food and balances fat. It adds fruit and a little sweetness, which rounds out a sauce. And as a liquid, it lifts the browned bits stuck to the pan after searing, which carry much of a sauce’s flavor.
A good substitute covers the same jobs. Broth brings liquid and savory depth but no acidity, which is why it needs a splash of vinegar or lemon to taste right (Food Republic). Red wine also brings tannins, the slightly drying quality you also find in strong tea. That is why tea works so well in place of red wine in beef dishes.
Red wine substitutes
Red wine shows up in pot roast, beef stew, ragu and pan gravy, where it adds color, tartness and depth. Making chicken Marsala? See our Marsala wine substitute guide.
The standout swap is tea with vinegar. America’s Test Kitchen braised one pot roast in Cabernet Sauvignon and another in black tea. The tea version held up well because the tea’s tannins balanced the richness of the beef. Adding distilled white vinegar to the tea made the roast and its gravy taste very close to the wine versions (America’s Test Kitchen).
To make it, steep 1 tea bag (regular or decaf) in 1/2 cup (4 ounces) of boiling water, let it cool completely, then stir in 1 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar. Use it in place of the same amount of red wine.
The same test found the swap less convincing in a quick red wine pan sauce, where there is little else to hide the difference, though it was still acceptable (America’s Test Kitchen). For quick sauces, beef broth with a little acid added at the end is the simpler choice.
White wine substitutes
White wine is used with chicken, fish, risotto and cream sauces, where it adds a light, sharp freshness rather than color.
- Broth plus acid is the most flexible swap: use the same amount of chicken or vegetable broth, then add a little vinegar or lemon juice to the finished dish (Food Republic).
- White grape juice and water, with a splash of vinegar, suits dishes that can take a little sweetness. Dilute it more if the recipe is already sweet (Food Republic).
- Diluted lemon juice (1/4 cup lemon juice to 3/4 cup water per cup of wine) gives a milder acidity for light sauces and seafood (Food Republic).
If you only need liquid to deglaze a pan, plain water works too. It adds no flavor, so finish the sauce with a little vinegar to brighten it (Food Republic).
Shaoxing wine, mirin and sake
Chinese and Japanese recipes use rice-based cooking wines for aroma, gentle sweetness and to soften the smell of meat and fish. For full guides, see our alcohol-free mirin substitutes and our Shaoxing wine substitute guide.
- Shaoxing wine: in a taste test using kung pao chicken, chicken broth was a workable one-to-one swap, but ginger water (smashed ginger, and optionally Sichuan peppercorns, steeped in hot water and strained) scored higher and is best in marinades (Pantry & Larder).
- Mirin: mix 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar with 1 teaspoon of sugar for each tablespoon of mirin, or use the same amount of white grape or apple juice (Recipes From A Pantry). Rice vinegar is vinegar, not wine; see the halal checks below.
- Sake is drier than mirin. In savory recipes, broth or water with a small splash of rice vinegar fills the same role.
Beer substitutes
In batter, beer’s main job is its bubbles. Chef Kyle Taylor explains that carbonation keeps the coating light rather than dense, so almost any carbonated non-alcoholic drink works, such as ginger ale or club soda. Use equal parts flour and liquid with a pinch of baking powder, and add the liquid gradually (Food Republic).
In stews, beer adds malty depth and a little bitterness. Beef or mushroom broth in the same amount is the usual swap; taste and adjust the seasoning at the end.
Halal checks before you swap
Some substitutes need a quick check of their own:
- Juices. Some fruit juices are clarified with gelatin, which can come from pork. Choose juices with halal, kosher or vegetarian certification (My Halal Kitchen).
- Wine vinegar and balsamic. Scholars and certifiers differ on vinegar made from wine, so the swaps above use distilled white, rice or apple cider vinegar instead.
- Non-alcoholic wine and beer. In the US, FDA labeling guidance says dealcoholized wine should be labeled as containing less than 0.5% alcohol by volume (FDA). Views on whether that is acceptable differ, so we have not recommended it here.
- Extracts. Vanilla, rum and other flavor extracts are often made with alcohol. Check the label, or look for alcohol-free versions. Our guide to vanilla extract substitutes covers alcohol-free options.
Does the alcohol cook off?
Not completely. Cooking reduces alcohol, but some stays in the dish even after long simmering. That is why many Muslims choose not to cook with wine at all, and why an alcohol-free substitute is the simpler path.
How we built this guide
This guide brings together published kitchen tests and cooking references, each linked where we use it. America’s Test Kitchen compared its tea substitute directly with red wine, and Pantry & Larder taste-tested its Shaoxing swaps in a real dish. We filtered every option for halal concerns and left out anything that depends on wine vinegar or non-alcoholic wine. We will add our own side-by-side kitchen tests to this page as we complete them, with the date of each test.
Adapting a recipe we have not covered?
Send us the dish and the alcohol it calls for through our contact page, and we will look at it for a future guide.
FAQs
Can I just leave the wine out?
You can replace it with the same amount of water or broth so the dish does not dry out, but water adds no flavor. A small splash of vinegar or lemon juice at the end brings back some of the brightness the wine would have added (Food Republic).
How much substitute do I use?
Use the same total amount of liquid as the wine or beer in the recipe, split as shown in the chart, then taste and adjust the acidity near the end.