DIY In The Garden: Making Fruit Vinegar

DIY In The Garden: Making Fruit Vinegar

I am always looking for new ways to make things from what I grow in my garden.

Fruit vinegar is an easy and fun way to use the fruit you may have growing in the garden.

fruit vinegars

What can you use fruit vinegar for?  I use them to create vinaigrettes, marinades, and glazes, which add delicious and unexpected flavor.

Making fruit vinegars

Making fruit vinegar is simple to do – all you need is the fruit of your choice (chopped) and white wine vinegar.  Fruits that can be used include apples, berries, peaches, pears, plums, and strawberries.

I recently made some strawberry vinegar that is so good, my husband has been making his own salads – it tastes that good.

The process is the same for whatever type of fruit you choose.  Are you ready?

1. Dice fruit into 1-inch size pieces.

copped fruit and then pour white wine vinegar

2. Fill a glass jar 1/3 of the way full of chopped fruit and then pour white wine vinegar until it reaches the top.

vinegar jar

3. Store your fruit/vinegar jar in a cool, dark place such as a pantry for 4 weeks.

4. Once a week, shake the jars, to help mix up the contents.

Making Fruit Vinegar

After a month has passed, your fruit will have taken on a colorless appearance while the vinegar will have beautiful, color, which means lots of delicious flavors.

strainer

5. Place a strainer over a bowl and put a paper towel inside. Pour out the contents of the jars.

delicious fruit vinegar

6. Pour the strained liquid into a clean jar.  Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Congratulations!  You now have a jar filled with delicious fruit vinegar ready to use to flavor your favorite dishes.

You may wonder how I used my latest batch of strawberry vinegar.  Well, I have a top-secret family recipe for salad dressing that my kids and husband love.

It’s from my grandma, who coincidentally, was NOT a great cook – but she certainly made a delicious salad dressing.

I’m sure that she would be tickled pink to know that I am sharing it with all of you – just click the link below for the recipe.

GRANDMA SMITH’S VINAIGRETTE

I hope you decide to make some fruit vinegar too! In addition to strawberry vinegar, I also like to make it from peaches from our fruit trees – you can see how I made this earlier, here.

How about you?  What fruit would you choose to make vinegar from?    

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
1 reply
  1. Indie
    Indie says:

    Oh what a fun way to use fruit from the garden! I don't put dressing on my salads, and my husband wouldn't eat anything with a fruit glaze, sadly, but these would be beautiful gifts!

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