Make a Non-Alcoholic Skillet Sauce With Coca-Cola and Vinegar

Even though I rarely drink at home, I still have a healthy bar cart full of bottles of liquor that I acquired during my drinking days. However, I don’t have any wine on hand. This wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that I love deglazing pans.

There’s a romantic quality to splashing wine into a hot pan and scraping up all the browned bits, but it’s also the basis of a good pan sauce. Technically, you can deglaze with any liquid, even water, but unless you’re using alcohol, it’s hard to do better than a mixture of Coca-Cola and red wine vinegar. I call the resulting pan sauce “Coke and wine” because the French will love it.

I understand that this sounds stupid, even childish, but the taste is there, and it’s good. The resulting sauce is savory, sweet and surprisingly subtle, thanks to all the ingredients that go into Coca-Cola. (The drink’s makers don’t reveal the exact ingredients, but it’s believed to contain vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg essential oils, as well as lemon, orange, and lavender essential oils.) Combine with red wine vinegar to create a completely oil-free liquid. it turns into a balanced, delicious sauce. Even if I were still drinking wine, I would make a place on my menu for this sauce.

How to Make Skillet Sauce with Coca-Cola and Vinegar

It’s easy to do. Mix three parts Coca-Cola and one part red wine vinegar in a measuring cup. (Is Pepsi okay? Never.) Open the Coke ahead of time and let it drain (if you remember); if you don’t have time for this, just stir to remove some of the carbonation.

Brown and cook meat and/or vegetables as usual in a stainless steel pan. I don’t recommend nonstick because you want all those little browned bits that will stick to the pan; I don’t recommend cast iron because the acid in the vinegar can strip away the seasoning (and some of the metal). Transfer cooked food to a plate and excess fat into a cup or small bowl, then add the cola-vinegar mixture to the pan, scraping up the small browned bits (called “fond”) with a wooden spoon. After this you can let the liquid turn into a glaze.

If you want a thick, rich sauce, discard the deglazing liquid from the pan, add the fat back and sprinkle with a little flour to form a sauce. (You’ll want about equal amounts. Just keep an eye on it. If you don’t have pan fat, use a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of flour.) Cook the flour in the butter for a couple of minutes, then whisk in the liquid to defrost the frosting. Serve the rich sweet and sour sauce immediately with any steak, chop or vegetables you desire.