Ingredient Spotlight: Apple Cider Vinegar

We have a few family members and friends who swear by apple cider vinegar (or ACV, as they like to call it), drinking it by the tablespoonful and using it as a remedy for just about every ailment.

We might not go that far, but apple cider vinegar is certainly one of our pantry staples. Do you use apple cider vinegar?

Apple cider vinegar, also known simply as cider vinegar, is made from fermented apple cider. Filtered and pasteurized cider vinegar is clear and light brown in color, while unfiltered and unpasteurized versions (generally sold in health food stores) may be darker, cloudier, and may contain a mother (use this to make your own vinegar!).

This vinegar has a predominantly sour flavor with some fruity sweetness. It works well in many full-flavored marinades, chutneys, stews, and dishes with apples, pears, cabbage, onions, garlic, ginger, or pork. We especially like using it in coleslaw and refrigerator pickles, and we often add a splash to lentil soup.

Here are some recipes that use apple cider vinegar:

• Apple-Beet Chutney adapted from Thomas Keller, from NY Times
• Autumn Greens with Cider Vinaigrette, from Martha Stewart
• D.I.Y. Horseradish Sauce, from The Kitchn
• Kale Chips: How To Eat a Bunch of Kale in One Sitting, from The Kitchn
• Straight Up: DIY Cocktail Onions, from The Kitchn
• Winter Cooking: Apples, Cabbage, and Pork Chops, from The Kitchn

We also recommend using apple cider vinegar to get rid of fruit flies!

Do you have any favorite uses – cooking or otherwise – for apple cider vinegar?

(Image: Katz Gravenstein Apple Cider Vinegar)

Comments (19)

Thanks to your tip, I use apple cider vinegar to rid my kitchen of fruit flies. It works every time!

i use apple cider vinegar in cooking, pickle-making, mustard-making, and also a teaspoonful with water to soothe an upset stomach. i use raw, unfiltered vinegar. my neighbor also feeds a little to her chickens to keep 'em healthy.

I use about a tablespoon in certain soups to add acidity and a little bit of sweetness.

When I have an allergy attack, I take a teaspoon with a glass of water. Bye bye sneezes!!

it's the key ingredient in Moosewood's excellent and easy vegan chocolate cake, which I make at least every other month.

I use a couple tablespoons in pie crust! I'm not 100% sure on the exact science, but I believe the vinegar helps break down the gluten to keep the crust from being tough - plus the apple cider flavor gives it a subtle deliciousness, especially in an apple pie.

Oh god. By tablespoons up there, I definitely meant teaspoons.

It's a good leavener for vegan baked goods when combined with baking soda. I especially like it in corn bread.

Vegan chocolate cake wouldn't be the same without it!

It has a special place in my family lore:

Once when my brother was very young, he started complaining to my mom that his apple juice "made him cough."

She assumed he was angling for another treat and brushed it off at the time, but only later realized that he had helped himself to the apple cider vinegar, not the apple juice.

When living in London, I was told that a shot of vinegar would take care of my hiccups. Of course, vinegar is often found on the tables at pubs, so this was easy to try. It worked-- I think mostly b/c of the shock of it. I'm thinking the ACV would make it a bit less harsh...

All the time! I add it to soymilk to make a vegan equivalent of buttermilk for baking. :)

Cider vinegar is my go-to for dressings, as well as pickles and chutneys. I definitely use it more than any other kind of vinegar. (And I use vinegar a lot).

I make a facial toner out of one part ACV and one part green tea. It clear up any breakups quickly.

Being vegan, I cook with it fairly often. Mixed with soymilk causes the soymilk to curdle.

I swear by this stuff for every aliment! It demolishes heartburn, headaches, dry skin, acne, allergies, etc! You gotta get the raw organic one though...the other stuff doesn't have all the benefits.

I always wondered if the apple vinegar I found overseas (more specifically vinagre de manzana, I guess) was the same without "cider/sidra" in the title. Is there such a thing as non-cider apple vinegar?

I dilute it with water and use it as a conditioning rinse. A baking soda/water solution for "shampoo" and ACV/water for "conditioner" and my hair is quite happy, as is my wallet.

I hate to say this but there is another use for this...getting rid of fruit flies...place a glass with an ounce or two of apple cider vinegar and then cone a piece of paper and place in glass. In the morning flies will be on the paper and carefully fold over to catch them without causing too much movement