Uses for Vinegar and Recipes Using Vinegar

One of the staples you’ll always find in my pantry and refrigerator is vinegar. Both apple cider vinegar and distilled white vinegar because there are so many uses for vinegar. Whether it’s in recipes, household uses, or health benefits, like apple cider vinegar with Mother, there are many uses for vinegar.

I eat a lot of salads in the summer. Not only because I’m trying to watch my calories, but when it’s hot, I don’t like eating big, heavy meals. Salads make the perfect lunch… add some grilled chicken and make a bit bigger salad and it’s a great dinner.

I am picky when it comes to my dressings, though. I tend to stay away from creamy dressings but love oil & vinegar-based dressings. I love me a good vinaigrette!

But I have to use a good oil and vinegar to make vinaigrettes. I get the best results and the best taste when I use quality oil and vinegar.

I recently used apple cider vinegar to make one of my favorite things… Berry Vinaigrette dressing. Yum!

Check out the recipe and if you like vinaigrette dressing, you must try it. You will love it!

berry vinaigrette

Berry Vinaigrette

Prep Time: 5 mins

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

  • 2/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar**
  • 1/4 cup sugar**
  • 1 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 cups chopped berries (strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries)

uses for vinegar

Directions:

  • Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl.
  • Cover and store in the refrigerator.
  • Serve at room temperature.
  • It can be made a day in advance.

**Replace with distilled white vinegar by using 1/3 cup of sugar instead of 1/4 cup.

Notes: I used this Berry Vinaigrette on a salad of spring mix, red onions, walnuts, a few strawberries. This is a great vinaigrette for a spinach salad, too. You could also use any berry, so if you want to use blueberries or raspberries, for example, they would be perfect with this vinaigrette.

spring salad with berry vinaigrette

My husband loved this, and he doesn’t generally like vinaigrettes. He thinks they are too acidic, but he didn’t find my berry vinaigrette acidic at all. I found this delicious Berry Vinaigrette recipe on the Heinz Vinegar Recipe site.

Another Use for Vinegar

I also tried this quick pickle recipe with Heinz Distilled White Vinegar I had on hand. If you love pickles, these are phenomenal. So quick and easy, too.

Quick Pickles Ingredients

Quick Pickle Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seed
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill or 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves, chopped or snipped
  • 1-2 large English cucumbers or 4-5 Kirby cucumbers, sliced thinly using a mandolin

Directions

  • Heat small saucepan over medium-high heat.
  • Add vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, salt, and garlic to the pan and cook until it begins to simmer and sugar dissolves.
  • Toss the dill and sliced cucumbers together in a heat-proof bowl.
  • Pour the simmering liquid over the cucumbers and stir to evenly coat.
  • Allow to cool to room temperature or chill before serving.

Quick Pickles

I keep vinegar on hand at all times because there are so many uses for it, besides recipes. Here are 10 of my favorites:

Uses for Vinegar

  1. 2 Tbs of vinegar to water just before eggs start to boil, keeps them from cracking.
  2. 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar added to water (with a bit of honey for flavor) helps curb appetite and aid in weight loss.
  3. Deodorize kitchen drains by pouring a cup down the drain. Let stand 20 minutes and flush with water once a week.
  4. Use equal parts of vinegar and water to clean out your refrigerator.
  5. Clean stainless steel (sinks, etc.) by wiping down with vinegar.
  6. Clean the microwave by boiling 1/4 cup vinegar with 1 cup of water in the microwave. It will loosen up splattered on food and deodorize at the same time.
  7. Get stains off of pots. Fill a pot with 3-4 Tbs vinegar with a pint of water and bring to a boil. The stain should loosen. Wash as usual.
  8. Clean your dishwasher by running one cup of vinegar through a whole cycle to reduce soap build-up and to keep your glassware sparkling.
  9. Make vinegar ice cubes and drop them down the garbage disposal. After grinding flush with water.
  10. Rub your hands with a little vinegar before and after handling onions to avoid the odor of onions on your hands.

To find other uses for vinegar check out the Heinz Vinegar website.

As you can see, there are many other uses for vinegar than just cooking.

 

And of course, we now know how wonderful Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother is for you.

uses for vinegar

47 Comments

  1. My mom use to make cucumbers in onions in vinegar and water.

    1. Author

      I still love to slice a cucumber straight from the garden into vinegar and let it sit for an hour or so. 🙂

  2. I love the recipe for the Berry Vinaigrette. I’m going to have to try it.

    Thanks for sharing the cleaning tips. I’ll be putting them to use this weekend! TGIF!

    1. Author

      It’s really good, Corina. I highly recommend trying it! 🙂 You’re welcome! I need to be putting them to use, but since this is my son’s last weekend before school starts back, I’ll be spending it with him doing fun stuff! I can clean next week while he’s in school. 🙂

  3. It is amazing what you can do with vinegar!

  4. Vinegar is absolutely one of my favorite things to cook with!!

    trisha

  5. I LOVE pickles and I can literally eat them all day long, but I don’t due to the sodium. I love the fact that you can make them at home with ingredients that are already in the pantry. I’ll definitely be making the pickle recipe soon!

    1. Author

      Ty, it really is so easy, quick, and delicious! And you use only 1 tsp of salt in this recipe, but you could cut it down even more or eliminate it all together if you wanted. Although, I think it needs a little salt. 🙂

  6. great recipes I should try them all. I hear apple cider is great for lowering cholesterol and so many other things

  7. That berry vinaigrette sounds wonderful! I really want to try both the dishwasher and garbage disposal vinegar cleaning tips.

  8. I love apple cider vinegar, so I’ll be trying your vinaigrette recipe for sure.

  9. I haven’t made any pickles of any kind yet this year. I’d best remedy that.

  10. I had no idea there was so many uses!

  11. I love vinegar, but am the only one in my house that does. I LOVE putting it on french fries. Needless to say I always have it on hand. That salad looks delish!

  12. I am definitely going to try the “Quick Pickles” — they look easy to make and yummy! I also didn’t know about using vinegar to get rid of the smell of onions on your hands — thanks for the tip!

  13. I know a woman that swears by this stuff, she said its great for acid reflux. I just couldn’t drink it every day

    sibabe64 at ptd dot net

  14. I love making my own quick pickles. But this past year I made so many pickles they are coming out of my ears.

  15. Thanks for those 10 tips for using apple cider vinegar. Very useful info, that. I love vinegar too!

  16. The berry vinaigrette sounds so good. I will have to try making this the next time I make a salad.

  17. Thanks for the great tips! I love vinegar, especially on home-cut fries which are very popular in my area (NE Ohio). Tip #9 is something I am going to try tomorrow! I bought these garbage disposal drops at the store and they take some of the odor away but they don’t really seem to clean. This is the first place I’ve ever lived in with a garbage disposal so I’m naive on how to take care of it so this tip comes in handy!!

  18. I am always on the lookout for a new dressing recipe and I also love vinaigrette’s so I will have to try your berry one.

  19. I never knew that vinegar added to eggs keeps them from cracking. Cool!

  20. I can’t believe all the uses for vinegar. It’s great and something we always have in the house.

  21. I love the berry vinegarete–I have had it before but never have tried to make it–sound like something I can do– thank you– I make the pickles all the time thank you

  22. I love using apple cider vinegar for my sweet and sour chicken 🙂

  23. These are all really good ideas!I use it to clean my microwave and it works wonders but I never would have thought about the other uses!

  24. This sounds so delicious. I really want to try this!

  25. This does sound good! I like making my own dressings, and have been looking for something a bit lighter.

  26. I can’t believe all of the uses for vinegar. I use it a lot for cleaning. I try not to use harsh chemicals.

  27. I use a lot of vinegar in my cooking – love the tang!

  28. Thanks for posting these great recipes! Can’t wait to try some!

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