13 Ways To Cook With Distilled White Vinegar

Compared to the flashier, fancier members of the vinegar family, distilled white vinegar has an unassuming appearance, an underestimated flavor profile, and a more reasonable price. As a result, its primary role around the house is cleaning, especially as the low-waste, eco-friendly lifestyle gets more popular and DIY natural cleaning solutions become more common. And it does a great job — better than most other kinds of vinegar — but there's a hidden culinary potential waiting to be discovered.

The main difference between distilled white vinegar and other kinds more commonly used in cooking is its source. The colorless, food-grade solution is produced from fermenting diluted and filtered (typically grain-based) alcohol, which promotes the formation of acetic acid (via Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health). The process ensures a somewhat neutral yet pronounced flavor, making it perfect for use in the kitchen. So if you have a jug standing idle in your pantry, here are some of the best ways to use white distilled vinegar to ease and elevate your cooking.

If pickling seems too intimidating of a project, there's another way to work with pure distilled white vinegar in cooking that's easy, fun, and versatile. For any recipe that calls for plain white vinegar, substitute a homemade herb or fruit-infused version that will take the meal's flavors to the next level! You could do this with a variety of vinegar. However, the University of Georgia insists that distilled white vinegar pairs really well with herbs, and its clear composition and low price make it the optimal choice for infusing, compared to the murkier apple cider vinegar or the more expensive wine and champagne kinds of vinegar.

Flavored vinegar is safe and easy to make at home (provided that you do a good job sterilizing your glass containers), and there are endless ways to get creative with the flavors. For example, you could infuse it with a combination of cinnamon, orange and rosemary, basil, and other herbs like tarragon, parsley, or dill, as well as various berries and fruit. Bonus: you can give the colorful bottles as a gift or keep them as a kitchen decoration (especially if you're unsatisfied with the flavor profile on your first try).

Many classic baked goods (think biscuits or cornbread) and breakfast staples like waffles or pancakes often call for buttermilk, an ingredient traditionally made with raw dairy milk and cultures. The reason it's a common ingredient in baking is its acidity, which acts like a leavening agent that reacts with baking soda and results in a product with a fluffy texture and rich flavor. 

While homemade buttermilk is commonly made with lemon juice, distilled white vinegar is an excellent substitution when you don't have fresh lemons readily available and would like some fluffy pancakes for breakfast. For each cup of buttermilk required in a recipe, you'll need a tablespoon of vinegar mixed into a cup of milk. If you're using plant-based milk, high-protein varieties like soy, hemp, or oat are best suited for this because they produce more consistent curdling. Let it sit for a few minutes until the milk curdles. Stir carefully, and you're all set!

There is no point in denying that distilled white vinegar is more often used in cleaning rather than cooking. But there is no need to when you can use its potential to enhance your cooking! A good example would be making vegan meringue (or any other recipe that might call for well-whisked aquafaba).

Similar to egg whites, aquafaba requires specific conditions to be whipped into stiff peaks. The number one factor that makes or breaks its foaming ability is the cleanliness of your bowl and utensils. If there are any traces of fat on the surface (which often happens to plastic bowls), the proteins in aquafaba cannot form bubbles properly, and you risk wasting time and energy trying to make it happen (via Aquafaba.com). That's when distilled white vinegar comes to the rescue: The Vinegar Institute recommends soaking a paper towel with a couple of tablespoons and using that to wipe the mixer's beaters and bowl's surface. Then, wipe them down with a clean paper towel, and prepare for stiff peaks!

Some recipes call for cream of tartar for its acidic quality and stabilizing powers, but unless you bake regularly, that's likely not a pantry staple in your home. And if you've never used it and don't know what it is, cream of tartar (potassium hydrogen tartrate) is an acidic byproduct of wine fermentation that has been around since the 19th century. Don't let the name mislead you: it actually comes in the form of white powder. Fun fact: before modern baking powder was developed, its earliest variations were made with a mix of sodium bicarbonate and cream of tartar, which gave the bakers of the day unprecedented control over the baking process (via American Chemical Society).

In modern kitchens, cream of tartar is most often used to stabilize egg whites (as well as aquafaba), prevent the crystalization of sugar, and leaven dough. However, the ever-helpful distilled white vinegar can become an excellent alternative to the cream of tartar in most recipes, especially in meringues. Unless your dish relies heavily on one particular flavor that sharper-tasting vinegar could affect, cream of tartar and distilled white vinegar are interchangeable, and you can safely use a one-to-one ratio to substitute one for the other.

Vinegar is practically synonymous with salad dressings and has been for at least 2000 years, according to The Association for Dressings & Sauces. To this day, it has an incredible power to balance any sauce or dressing, contrasting and enhancing the creamy, fatty, sweet, or spicy flavors with its acidity. Yet, with over 15 common food-grade kinds of vinegar available, white distilled vinegar is often overlooked in cooking, particularly in the sauce and dressing department. Instead, chefs and home cooks typically opt for fancier or milder tasting kinds, like balsamic, apple cider, or champagne vinegar, but they're sometimes pricier or harder to find.

If your goal is to enhance the taste of an existing salad dressing or sauce (as opposed to making a vinaigrette, which relies heavily on the quality and taste of the vinegar), using a splash of distilled white vinegar won't hurt. It will add an immediate burst of flavor to your veggie or pasta salad and balance the competing flavors of a robust herby dressing, like in this chimichurri recipe.

While you may have heard of the vinegar-drinking practice to curb the appetite, promote weight loss, or extract other health benefits from the acidic elixir, there is no scientific evidence confirming these claims (via healthline). But guess what you don't need scientific proof for? That's right, how to make a delicious shrub — a much more exciting way to drink vinegar, should you ever feel like it. If you've never heard of a shrub as something other than a leafy growth, it is essentially a cocktail syrup made from vinegar, sugar, and fruit (similar to a switchel).

You can always try it at a local bar or buy it at the store, but making your own couldn't be easier and more affordable. Plus, it's an excellent way to preserve and experiment with seasonal recipes! You can make it from virtually anything: from blueberries and peaches to ginger, tomatoes, and even beets. Just be sure to combine flavors that work together naturally, like rhubarb and strawberries or tomato and basil. Any vinegar with a minimum of 5% acidity will do, which includes distilled white vinegar. Enjoy your shrub with a clear soda or water for a tangy alcohol-free drink, or use it as an ingredient in a cocktail.