Hey gals,
I'm making dinner tonight for some friends. I'm making spaghetti with a tomato sauce and I normally use red wine, but I'm pregnant and my husband doesn't drink red wine so I don't just want a whole bottle of red wine sitting around going bad. Waste of money!
Anyone know of a good substitute for the red wine? I've heard apple juice is good, but I'm just looking for maybe something else?
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
I've used beef broth. It's not as good but it will work.
I used to buy those little 4 packs to use for cooking, but I usually still ended up with extra. So pre-preg it would be like, half a cup for the recipe and the rest for the cook, when I didn't want to open an entire bottle. But now even that might go bad.
pineapple / 12802 posts
@Foodnerd81: hahaha! Like half a cup of wine for the recipe and the rest of the bottle for the cook? That's hilarious!!
Thanks for the tip on the beef broth!
pineapple / 12802 posts
@BoogieBea: red wine vinegar!? You think that'd work? I was thinking about that because I have some in the pantry, just wasn't sure if vinegar works in sauces like this! haha I'm really not good at knowing these types of things.
honeydew / 7589 posts
I'd just get a bottle, and then make a huge batch and freeze the rest if the sauce for days when you don't feel like cooking.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I'd just leave it out. I make tomato sauce regularly without any wine.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@.twist.: I mean the mini bottles-- they have like one big glass per bottle. So it would actually just me a small glass of wine for the cook in those cases. They come four little bottles in a 4-pack, so it's really like 4 full size servings of wine total in the pack.
Which is not to say I haven't done the same with a big bottle but those were different times... 
pomegranate / 3503 posts
@.twist.: I use bacon in a lot of my sauces. The vinegar cuts the grease a bit.
pineapple / 12802 posts
@Foodnerd81: oh! hahaha. I don't think I've ever seen a 4 pack of little wines!
@BoogieBea: Interesting! Thanks! 
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@.twist.: There is a picture of them in this post (which seems to be talking about them for the same reason I was):
http://yyproject.org/2011/12/08/mini-filled-potato-cakes-courtesy-of-a-brown-table/
It's not the greatest wine in the world, but I also have no problem drinking what's left in the bottle.
honeydew / 7667 posts
I'd just get one of those tiny bottles of red wine or let your friends have the rest of the bottle!
pineapple / 12802 posts
@Foodnerd81: Well, I'm not really a picky wine drinker, I will pretty much drink anything! and I save all the cheapest wines for cooking! LOL and those little bottles are crazy! seriously, I've never seen them in my life or anything like them.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@.twist.: They have them in most bigger wine/liquor stores around me, but maybe it's different in Canada!
pineapple / 12802 posts
@Foodnerd81: I will be finding out tonight!
@mrsmate: I use tomato paste as well, but I use the red wine to add a little extra flavour and liquid.
papaya / 10570 posts
You can buy the little bottles singularly over here for situations just like yours!
I have no idea about substitutes (to me, nothing compares to wine. Oh, lovely wine!) but I'll tell you what I do if I have some wine left over - I freeze it in ice cube trays and then pop the solid cubes out into a tupperware container and throw that into the freezer. Then, next time I need to cook with wine, I have wine there in the freezer in whatever quantity I might need it.
In your position, I would totally have a little half a glass, too - but that's coz I'm a rebel!
pineapple / 12802 posts
@Cherrybee: haha I've wanted to try the wine cube thing for a while now, maybe now's my chance! Also, I totally would have a half glass if my husband would allow it. *sigh* He's so paranoid about alcohol... 
pear / 1787 posts
I don't put wine in my sauce, so you could just leave it out and it would be fine.
papaya / 10570 posts
@.twist.: Oh no!!! Nightmare! Mine positively encourages it, bless him, he sneaks me his drinks when we are out so I can have a sip!!!
pineapple / 12802 posts
@Cherrybee: lol! My husband has a warped sense of humour. One time, I tried to take a sip of his beer (it was a fancy beer, not regular beer! BLUEBERRIES) and we were with friends and he said "So you can kill our baby?" haha... He was mostly joking but I haven't ever asked since. LOL
blogger / apricot / 378 posts
My grocery store usually has small bottles of wine specifically for cooking. They're definitely not good to drink, but it's small so you won't have any waste, and you can still have the flavor!
honeydew / 7444 posts
I use balsamic vinegar and a bit of sugar. Not saying to use a bottle of balsamic vinegar, but a bit for some depth.
I don't think broth would be a close substitution because they are contributing to the sauce in different ways.
papaya / 10570 posts
@.twist.: GASP!!!!! You'd better get the ice cube trays out then, love, coz you ain't getting a sip of Merlot for a few weeks yet!!!
grapefruit / 4085 posts
I've also used just a touch of balsamic in the place of red wine for a bit of acidity.
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