Name: Balsamic Vinegar Substitute
Prep time: 1 min
Total time: 1 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar; 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup (or honey or sugar)

Realized you’re all out of this special vinegar while you’re cooking? Here’s the best balsamic vinegar substitute to use in recipes.

Making a recipe that calls for balsamic vinegar and don’t have it? Balsamic vinegar is a popular Italian type of vinegar that is very dark in color. The flavor is like no other type of vinegar: it’s tangy, sweet, complex, with undertones of fig, molasses and cherry.

It’s often reduced into a thick balsamic glaze that’s drizzled over salads, pizza, or crostini. Balsamic vinegar easy to find at your local grocery, but don’t have time to shop for it? Here are some substitute ideas.

Best Balsamic Vinegar Substitute

1. Red wine vinegar + maple syrup or honey

The best substitute for balsamic vinegar? Here’s how to make a stand-in for balsamic: mix 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar with 2 teaspoons maple syrup. Adding sweetness to red wine vinegar gets close to the complexity and roundness in flavor of balsamic. When we tried this in a taste test, it did taste remarkably close. If you don’t have maple syrup, you can use honey or sugar (simply stir until the sugar dissolves.

Keep in mind: Do not use this substitute in any recipes with “balsamic” in the title. If you’re making Balsamic Reduction or Balsamic Vinaigrette, you’ve gotta have the real thing. (Sorry.)

2. Apple cider vinegar + honey

Another stand in: try 1 tablespoon vinegar plus 1 teaspoon honey. It’s a little fruitier and sharper, but it still works.

3. Sherry vinegar

Sherry vinegar has a slightly different flavor, but it will work as a 1:1 swap.

4. Balsamic glaze, thinned out

If you have the glaze on hand but not the vinegar, you can thin it out with water or red wine vinegar until it has the texture of vinegar.