Kitchen Substitutions – Marsala Wine

If you have ever been to an Italian restaurant, you have come across Marsala wine. Beef Marsala, Chicken Marsala, and many other classic Italian foods get their names simply from being cooked in this flavorful wine. But if you run out of the old bottle of Marsala wine, don’t worry: most kitchens have enough secret ingredients on hand to fake the taste of Marsala wine.

Whether you don’t have Marsala on hand or prefer not to have even a trace of alcohol in your food, Marsala-like flavors are easy to create, although the exact flavor cannot be faked. If you don’t mind booze and have a reasonably well-stocked liquor cabinet, just look into dry sherry, Madeira wine, or Port. Either of these will be close enough to Marsala that you get most of the flavor you want. Of the three, Madeira is the closest rival and the best substitute. Sherry is the last option because it is salty, and also because one of your guests may recognize the taste of sherry and see where you “scrimped” if he thinks you skimp. You can mask the sherry flavor a little better by mixing it with vermouth (half and half sherry and vermouth). This will also add a bit more complexity to the sometimes flat sherry flavor.

If you don’t have sherry, madeira, or port, check your stock again and see if there’s any brandy. You can mix brandy and grape juice to get a fake Marsala. Use 12 parts grape juice to one part brandy, or one-third of a cup of grape juice and one tablespoon of brandy. If you don’t have brandy, a Burgandy wine will work just as well, and you could probably leave out the grape juice as well.

For those of you who want to skip the alcohol altogether, well, the most commonly suggested substitute is just chicken broth. Sprinkle with a little sugar (less than a teaspoon). If you have figs or prunes available, puree them with a little rosemary and sage mixed in and add them to the recipe about a teaspoon at a time. With a bit of the right pepper, you can end up with something truly wonderful, although it won’t stand the test with an Italian grandmother expecting Veal Marsala.

Consider buying an actual bottle of Marsala wine next time. While you can fake the flavor a bit, there really is no substitute. And once you’ve used it in a recipe and know what it can do for food, you’ll want to use it much more often; it won’t be like one of those exotic spices gathering dust on your herb shelf.

You’ll also have your bottle for a long time, because Marsala wine is fortified, which means, more or less, that it has a lot of alcohol. Keep your Marsala wine in a cool, dark place and make sure it’s real McCoy Marsala wine (preferably from a wine store), not cooking Marsala wine, which is just a marketing term for “lesser quality.”