Jump to:
- What Is Rice Vinegar?
- Kinds of Rice Vinegar
- How Do You Use Rice Vinegar?
- How I Tested Rice Vinegar Substitutions
- Best Substitution: White Vinegar, Water, and Sugar
- Also Good: Apple Cider Vinegar
- Other Possible Rice Vinegar Substitutions
It happens: You're midway through making a recipe when suddenly you find that it calls for an ingredient, like rice vinegar, that you don't have on hand. Or perhaps you're just browsing a delicious looking recipe and wondering if you need to make a special trip to the store. You decide to look it up—and here you are!
The short answer is: yes, you can easily substitute rice wine vinegar with another vinegar in most recipes. Depending on the recipe there may be some negligible (or even interesting) changes in flavor.
If you want to do a slightly deeper dive into rice vinegar, where it comes from and what it's used for, keep reading. Otherwise, use the table of contents or just scroll down to get to the how-to.
What Is Rice Vinegar?
Rice vinegar, also known as rice wine vinegar, is made from fermented rice.
All vinegar, in fact, is made from a combination of wine (or a fermented, alcoholic liquid) and bacteria that sours it, removing the alcohol and turning it into vinegar.
Rice vinegar is a popular ingredient across East and Southeast Asia (as is rice wine). Typically, rice vinegar is milder and sweeter than white vinegar.
Kinds of Rice Vinegar
There are dozens of different kinds of rice vinegars used around the world. How rice vinegar is made and sold can vary from country to country as well as from brand to brand.
Some can be a very mild yellow color, while others can be dark, almost orange. There is also black vinegar, which is made with black rice, among other ingredients.
Unlike some other vinegars, rice vinegars can also include other ingredients, such as sugar or salt. These are typically labeled "seasoned rice vinegar." While seasoned rice vinegar can be used lots of ways, it's most popularly used to make seasoning sushi rice easier.
For the purposes of this article, we'll be focusing on unseasoned rice vinegar.
How Do You Use Rice Vinegar?
Traditionally rice vinegar is used to season rice for sushi or as a flavoring in salad dressings, sauces, stir-fries, and the like.
In contemporary Western cooking it's used for all of these things, as well as a flavoring for quick pickles, a topping for corn on the cob, in sesame chicken sauce, as a glaze for fish, and more.
The mild, sweet flavor makes it particularly delicious in salad dressings.
However, if you don't have it, not to worry! The fact that it's so sweet and mild (and used primarily as a flavoring, instead of, for instance, as an active ingredient in baking) makes it relatively easy to substitute.
How I Tested Rice Vinegar Substitutions
In order to find a substitute that most closely matched rice vinegar, I first started by tasting a very popular and widely available rice vinegar by Marukan. This vinegar is 4.3% acid, and is more or less standard for what is available in most American grocery stores.
Then I measured out 1/4 cup white vinegar (at a standard 5% acidity) and began making small adjustments, while tasting, to see how close I could get to the acidity and sweetness of rice vinegar.
Finally, I finished up by tasting a small variety of alternative vinegars to see how they compared in acidity, sweetness, and flavor.
Best Substitution: White Vinegar, Water, and Sugar
Though it will not taste exactly the same, a solid substitute for rice vinegar is simply to mix in a little bit of sugar and water to white vinegar.
You can also use the white vinegar straight as a 1:1 substitute. It will simply be a little stronger and less sweet.
I found that the best ratio is for every 1/4 cup white vinegar add 1/4 teaspoon sugar and 2 teaspoons filtered water. Though it does not have the rice flavor, this seems to get pretty close to the acidity and sweetness of rice vinegar. This is also the easiest substitute as it's the vinegar most likely to be available in your pantry.
One note: If you're using rice vinegar to quick-pickle vegetables, you can skip the water, which simply slows down the pickling process.
Also Good: Apple Cider Vinegar
Though it doesn't taste quite the same, a fine substitute for rice vinegar is apple cider vinegar, especially if you're using it in salad dressings, sauces, or as a quick pickle. It will change the flavor of the sauce or dressing, but the sweetness of apple cider vinegar is very comparable.
You can dilute, slightly, if you like but it's not necessary.
Other Possible Rice Vinegar Substitutions
If you're making salad dressing or sauces, most other flavorful light-colored vinegars should work. Some options are white wine vinegar and champagne vinegar. Champagne vinegar can be a little stronger—typically around 6 to 7% acidity. Check your bottle and dilute slightly, if desired.
