The Vinegars I Actually Use for Cooking, Pickling, Dressing and Cleaning
I seem to have accumulated quite the collection of vinegars over the years, but unlike some of the more questionable things lurking in the back of my pantry, every single one gets used. Vinegar is one of those ingredients where having a few different varieties genuinely makes cooking easier, because they don’t all taste the same and they certainly don’t all do the same job. Some are sharp and punchy, some are softer and fruitier, and one of mine isn’t going anywhere near dinner because its sole purpose in life is helping me clean the kitchen.
Red wine vinegar is probably the most important bottle in my collection, mostly because of my ongoing obsession with homemade sweet pickled red onions. But white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar and malt vinegar all have their moments too, depending on what I’m making. Then there’s balsamic glaze, which I know isn’t technically the same thing as a bottle of straight vinegar, but it absolutely earns its place here because I use it whenever I want sweetness, acidity and that lovely dark balsamic flavour without having to reduce anything myself.
And yes, I also keep double distilled vinegar around purely for cleaning. I’m counting it because it lives in my kitchen and gets used constantly, even if nobody is sprinkling it over chips. Like most of my pantry staples, the point isn’t to collect ingredients for the sake of it. Each vinegar has a purpose, and once you know what each one is good at, you stop trying to make the same bottle work for absolutely everything. These are the vinegars I keep around, what they taste like, and exactly when I reach for each one.
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The Vinegars That Have Earned Their Place
Red Wine Vinegar
Red wine vinegar is probably my most important vinegar, entirely because I make my sweet pickled red onions often enough that a bottle never seems to last particularly long. It has a lovely sharpness without tasting harsh, and that deeper wine flavour works beautifully with red onions, Mediterranean salads, tomato dishes and richer dressings. It’s also brilliant when something needs acidity but lemon juice feels slightly too bright or obvious. I particularly like it alongside olive oil, herbs and salty cheeses because it cuts through richness without taking over. If I could only keep one proper cooking vinegar in the cupboard, red wine vinegar would probably win simply because I use it so consistently.
White Wine Vinegar
White wine vinegar is what I reach for when I want acidity without adding too much additional flavour or colour. It’s lighter and cleaner tasting than red wine vinegar, which makes it incredibly useful in dressings, sauces, marinades and lighter pickles where I don’t necessarily want the vinegar itself to become part of the personality of the dish. I find it especially useful with chicken, creamy dressings and vegetables because it brightens everything without making the finished dish taste aggressively vinegary. It’s not necessarily the most exciting bottle in the cupboard, but that neutrality is exactly why I keep it. Sometimes you just need acidity to quietly do its job and get out of the way.
Double Distilled Vinegar
Double distilled vinegar has exactly one job in my kitchen, and that job is cleaning. I keep it around because it’s cheap, useful and incredibly effective for the sort of everyday cleaning jobs that don’t need a heavily fragranced commercial product. I use it for wiping down surfaces where appropriate, dealing with mineral build-up, and generally tackling those slightly annoying kitchen jobs that seem to appear out of nowhere. This is very much the practical member of my vinegar collection rather than something I’m reaching for while cooking. I keep it clearly separate from my food vinegars because I buy it specifically as a cleaning product, and nobody needs that particular bottle making an accidental appearance in dinner.
Malt Vinegar
Malt vinegar is one of those flavours that instantly makes me think of proper hot chips. It’s stronger, darker and much more distinctive than wine vinegars, so I don’t use it as an all-purpose acidity boost. When I want malt vinegar, I specifically want that unmistakable malty flavour. Chips are the obvious answer, preferably with plenty of sea salt flakes, but it can also work beautifully with fried food, homemade pickles and dishes where that deeper acidity makes sense. It’s absolutely not the vinegar I’d casually substitute into a delicate salad dressing, but that’s why I like having it around. It knows exactly what it is, and when you want malt vinegar, nothing else really replaces it properly.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar sits somewhere between useful pantry staple and quiet little workhorse for me. It has acidity, obviously, but there’s also a subtle fruity quality that makes it gentler than some of the sharper vinegars in my cupboard. I particularly like it in dressings, slaws, mayonnaise and sauces where I want brightness without a strong wine flavour coming through. It also pairs beautifully with mustard, honey and creamy ingredients, which makes it incredibly easy to work into everyday recipes. I wouldn’t necessarily reach for it when I want a very sharp pickle, but for balancing richness and giving something a fresher finish, apple cider vinegar earns its place very easily.
Balsamic Vinegar Glaze
Balsamic glaze is my shortcut when I want that dark, sweet balsamic flavour without reducing a bottle of balsamic vinegar myself. It’s thicker, sweeter and much more concentrated than ordinary vinegar, so I think of it more as a finishing ingredient than something I’m using to provide straightforward acidity. A little drizzle over tomatoes, burrata, grilled vegetables, bruschetta or a salad immediately gives you sweetness and depth without much effort. It’s also one of those ingredients that makes very simple food look slightly more considered, which I’m never going to complain about. I use it sparingly because it can take over quickly, but a little bit in exactly the right place is wonderful.
Do You Really Need This Many Vinegars?
Probably not, if I’m being sensible about it. You could quite happily cook with one good wine vinegar and buy something else only when a recipe specifically calls for it. But I use these often enough that having different options makes sense for the way I cook. Red wine vinegar handles my pickled onions and plenty of salads. White wine vinegar gives me cleaner acidity when I don’t want much additional flavour. Apple cider vinegar works beautifully in creamy dressings and mayonnaise, while malt vinegar exists largely because chips deserve to be treated properly. Balsamic glaze is there whenever something needs a sweet, dark finishing touch.
The important thing for me is recognising that acidity isn’t just one flavour. Swapping red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar will change a dressing. Malt vinegar is never going to behave like white wine vinegar. Balsamic glaze brings sweetness as well as acidity, so it isn’t something I’d substitute blindly either. Once you start paying attention to those differences, vinegar becomes much more useful than simply being the sharp ingredient lurking at the back of the cupboard. A splash can balance richness, wake up a flat sauce, sharpen a dressing, or make vegetables taste considerably more interesting.
And then, of course, double distilled vinegar is sitting off to the side wondering why everyone else gets invited to dinner. It may not be glamorous, but it probably works harder than half the ingredients in my kitchen. So yes, six different vinegars might look excessive when they’re all lined up together, but every bottle has a purpose. And much like my cheese situation, I’ve long since accepted that having precisely the ingredient I want is preferable to staring into the cupboard wishing I’d bought it.
