Vinegar made from fermented rice, typically around 4 to 4.5 percent acidity, noticeably milder and slightly sweeter than Western vinegars. Sold plain or seasoned, the latter already containing sugar and salt.
What it does in a recipe: Gentle acidity that brightens without dominating, with a faint sweetness that suits Asian dressings and sushi rice. Pick the swap that covers that job - the ratios below are written so you can act on them without doing any arithmetic.
Similar mild sourness at a comparable strength once sweetened, and it will hold a dressing together just as well.
Trade-offCitrus-forward, which changes the character of a cucumber salad or a dipping sauce quite noticeably.
Raw / no-cookSaucesVeganVegetarianGluten-freeDairy-freeEgg-freeNut-freeSoy-freeAlcohol-free
Worth knowing
Seasoned rice vinegar is not interchangeable with plain. If a recipe calls for plain rice vinegar and you use seasoned, cut the sugar and salt elsewhere or the dish will end up sweet.
At a glance
Rice vinegar in summary
Rice vinegar at a glance: category, its job in a recipe, the diets it suits, the diets its substitutes can satisfy, and how many substitutes there are.
Can I use white wine vinegar + sugar instead of rice vinegar?
1 tbsp rice vinegar = 1 tbsp white wine vinegar + 1/4 tsp sugar. White wine vinegar is the closest Western vinegar in gentleness, and the pinch of sugar covers the mild sweetness rice fermentation leaves behind. A little sharper, since white wine vinegar carries more acid per spoon. Reduce slightly if the dish is delicate.
Can I use apple cider vinegar + sugar instead of rice vinegar?
1 tbsp rice vinegar = 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar + 1/4 tsp sugar. Cider vinegar's fruitiness sits closer to rice vinegar than a distilled vinegar does, and the sugar bridges the remaining gap. Distinctly appley, which reads as slightly off in a Japanese dressing but is fine in a stir-fry sauce.
Can I use white vinegar + water + sugar instead of rice vinegar?
1 tbsp rice vinegar = 2 tsp white vinegar + 1 tsp water + 1/4 tsp sugar. Diluting distilled vinegar drops it to rice vinegar's lower acid strength, and the sugar softens the remaining harshness. Cleanly sour but flat, without the faint fermented roundness real rice vinegar carries.
Can I use lemon juice + sugar instead of rice vinegar?
1 tbsp rice vinegar = 1 tbsp lemon juice + 1/4 tsp sugar. Similar mild sourness at a comparable strength once sweetened, and it will hold a dressing together just as well. Citrus-forward, which changes the character of a cucumber salad or a dipping sauce quite noticeably.
Cooking around an allergy? Diet tags here describe the ingredient itself, not any particular brand. Processed products change formulation without notice and shared production lines are common, so read the label on everything you use. A severe allergy is a medical matter - confirm with the manufacturer or your clinician rather than relying on a substitution chart.