Leftover wine is not something you should pour down the drain. But don’t worry, there are many answers of what to do with leftover wine that is too good not to try.
A new wine and food pairing may not be possible but the uses of wine leftover in recipes are plentiful. Keep this in mind when you are choosing a winter wine as it is especially good for comfort food recipes.
10 Great Ways to Use Leftover Wine at Home
You’ve cooked a great meal, chosen a great choice to go with it, but didn’t quite manage to finish the bottle. What do you do? Don’t throw it away!
Next time you have some over, keep the bottle on your kitchen wall rack. You can put it to use later on with one of these ideas.
1. Make a Drunken Fruit Jam
When thinking of what to do with leftover wine that you have how about this to use it up. If you love a fancy homemade jam recipe. Wine and cheese have always been a great pairing so you can serve this jam as a condiment on a cheese platter.
2. Add to Stews and Sauces
Many recipes call for a cup or so and unused red is perfect for you to use in your next recipe. It works great for dishes with beef or game meat like deer while a white adds depth to your white sauces for chicken or fish.
3. Save for Deglazing
Deglazing is using the residue left in the pan after cooking your meat and you are wanting to make gravy, sauces or broth. Deglazing works brilliantly with leftover red, or white depending on your recipe, as it soaks up all the flavors.
4. Make Desserts with It
Now just look what to do with leftover red wine that you have. Who said you can only have a dessert variety with dessert? But if you do why not incorporate any that is left into some of these delicious dessert recipes.
5. Make Ice Cubes
Do you have a favorite summer choice, that you like to add ice to keep cool it? Prevent the cubes from watering it down by adding these ice blocks, instead. We think it is a wonderful idea.
Simply fill up your ice tray and leave it in the freezer. It will be ready to go for the next time you open up a bottle of your favorite. You can also use the ice cubes in fun summer cocktails like sangria or Aperol spritz.
6. Make Your Own Vinegar
Love trying to make your own version of common kitchen staples? Use your wine recipes to make homemade white or red wine vinegar. It is easier than you think. Most recipes for these kinds of vinegar only call for a red or white and a mother vinegar.
7. Add to Compost
Here we even have the answer to what to do with bad wine. Did you know the nitrogen in it, red especially can help activate your compost pile. This works with unused that is still drinkable but if it has gone off it is still fine for composting, too.
Adding it to a compost pile does affect its moisture level so keep monitoring the compost. It is better to gradually add it rather than pouring in too much at any one time. But do you really have that much anyway????
8. Use as a Natural Cleaning Agent
Yes, there is another answer to what to do with old wine. You can make your own DIY cleaner using a white. Usually, this requires it to be off so that it can act like white wine vinegar. Look up the instructions for a DIY cleaner and find out which works best.
9. Eco-Friendly Produce Cleanser
Mix together with water in a spray bottle to clean your fresh fruit and vegetables with. This is a more environmentally friendly and safe alternative to store-bought produce sprays. Just remember to wash the fruit and vegetables after so that you do not attract insects to your produce.
10. Make a DIY Fly Trap
Having a problem with fruit flies during the hotter months? You can use any unused to make your own DIY fruit fly trap in a matter of seconds. Just add a drop of dish soap, this makes the liquid less dense and makes it easier for the fruit flies to land on.
Take a piece of newspaper and roll it into a funnel. Remove the cap or cork and replace it with the paper funnel. And you are done! Just let the bottle stand for a few days and replace it when necessary.
As you can see, there are more uses of wine that has gone unused than just putting it in a sauce. Now you have no more reason to just throw down the drain any unused or any you had forgotten was in the fridge.
The great thing about these uses is that it does not matter what kind or variety you are drinking just sometimes whether it is a red or white. Go ahead and experiment with yours.
