Should You Be Adding Vodka To Your Meat Marinade?

Many meat marinades may include a boozy element, but wine, whiskey, and tequila seem to be among the more popular options. What, then, of vodka? Does it, too, have a role to play in a marinade? To get some input on this question, The Takeout turned to Russell Kook, who works as executive chef at a Chicago restaurant known as The Bellevue. As Kook told us, the vodka marinade situation is a complicated one. "Not all alcohols work the same way in marinades," he advised.

If you're going with a more acidic alcohol such as wine or tequila, Kook explained that the acid can help to break down the muscle fibers, making meat less tough. Vodka, however, may have a pH that hovers around 7.0, thus straddling the line between acid and alkaline. Whiskey, which is actually on the alkaline side, is added to marinades strictly for flavor, but Kook called vodka "pretty neutral." Not only doesn't it tenderize, he pointed out, but it also doesn't add much taste of its own. Instead, as he clarified,  "Its main role is to act as a flavor carrier, helping other ingredients penetrate more deeply into the meat."

Russell Kook advised that if you do want to add vodka to a marinade, "Seafood is probably your best bet ... especially shrimp or scallops." The reason, he said, is that they are delicate in texture and thus only need about 20 to 30 minutes of soaking time. He pointed out that if you're marinating a tough piece of meat such as a brisket for hours on end, vodka won't make a good choice for a primary ingredient since it lacks either the acid or enzymes needed for tenderizing.

Kook noted that vodka's subtle flavor won't be carrying the marinade. "Its clean profile can help highlight brighter ingredients like citrus, fresh herbs, or garlic. I could see it working well in something like a chili-lime marinade for shrimp, where you want those bold, zesty flavors to really pop," he shared. Vodka could also be combined with citrusy mojo criollo for a zingy chicken marinade.

Yet another possible vodka partner would be tomatoes, which are somewhat acidic. Vodka also plays nicely with tomato juice in Bloody Marys, the queen of brunch drinks; a Bloody-inspired marinade might be something you'd want to try for shrimp, chicken, or steak.