Try These Top 7 Substitutes for Soy Sauce to Elevate Your Meals
Discover soy sauce substitutes that impart bold, unique flavor in a pinch.
I confess: I love cooking with and dipping my savory foods with soy sauce.
Growing up in a Chinese family where soy sauce is a must-have ingredient in the kitchen, I would drizzle this salty, umami-flavored condiment atop my family-prepared foods to take them from standard to spectacular.
While I try my best to keep my pantry stocked up with this key ingredient, I have times when I run out. There are also occasions when I have guests allergic to soy and wheat, and I have to come up with a tasty substitution; read on to find out what they are!
Related: Kikkoman Finally Settles the Debate: This Is Where You Should Store Your Soy Sauce
What Does Soy Sauce Taste Like and How Is It Used?
Soy sauce is a reddish-dark brown fluid traditionally made from fermented soybeans, wheat, salt, and water. Nowadays, soy sauce can also be manufactured with acid hydrolysis. In this process, soybeans and wheat molecules are broken down by a high acid concentration.
Soy sauce is extremely salty, savory, and umami — a little goes a long way. It is an excellent flavoring and coloring agent that you can use as a dipping sauce, as part of an ingredient of dipping sauces like our Spring Roll Dipping Sauce, and making brines, marinades, glazes, stir-fries, rice and noodle dishes in East Asian cuisines.
This umami bomb is also used beyond East Asian dishes—soy sauce is used in our rich and creamy Easy Swedish Meatball Sauce, fusion Wasabi and Soy Sauce Hummus, and many more.
Get the recipe: Air Fryer Soy-Ginger Shishito Peppers
Best Soy Sauce Substitutes
When you don’t have any soy sauce at home and can’t make a trip to the grocery store, these condiments can step up to the plate as a one-to-one replacement.
Tamari
Tamari could be mistaken as a soy sauce due to its almost identical appearance, but they are two different products. Tamari is made with fermented miso paste and doesn’t contain wheat. Once you dip your cooked food into this Japanese condiment or use it to marinade your meats, you can notice its robust flavor that doesn’t exist in conventional soy sauce.
While tamari has a thicker consistency and offers a fuller flavor than soy sauce, they can replace each other interchangeably in recipes. Swap soy sauce for tamari in stir-fries, marinades, noodles, and more.
Liquid Aminos
Liquid aminos are milder and slightly sweeter than soy sauce. Like soy sauce and tamari, liquid aminos are also derived from soy, where an acid is used to break down the non-fermented soybeans into amino acids. Similar to tamari, liquid aminos don’t contain wheat (always check the ingredients list and packaging just to be entirely sure).
Related: What Are Liquid Aminos — and How Are They Different From Soy Sauce?
You can also find coconut-derived liquid aminos made with fermented coconut sap, salt, and water. Both options are a good alternative for people sensitive to wheat or seeking gluten-free condiments.
Because liquid aminos and soy sauce have similar appearance, flavor, and texture, they can replace each other in recipes. Use them how you would with soy sauce and add them to stir-fries and a variety of dishes.
How to Make Soy Sauce Substitute at Home
Maggi Seasoning Sauce
Maggi seasoning sauce is another soy sauce-like condiment that could be swapped with soy sauce in savory recipes. The main ingredient here is wheat rather than soybeans, but like soy sauce, it is a flavor-enhancer full of umami.
Ponzu Sauce
Ponzu sauce is a Japanese dipping sauce that typically pairs with tempura, dumplings, grilled meats, poultry, and fish. It is made with rice vinegar, mirin, bonito flakes, and citrus fruit. What makes ponzu sauce stand out is the tanginess of the citrus. Some ponzu sauce varieties may also add soy sauce, making this variety an excellent alternative to replace soy sauce when used as a condiment.
Get the recipe: Honey-Soy Salmon in Foil
Teriyaki Sauce
Teriyaki sauce is a versatile Japanese condiment with multiple purposes; dipping, marinating, and basting. Teriyaki is a good replacement for soy sauce because it's a soy sauce-based condiment itself.
While you can use a one-to-one ratio as a replacement in marinades and stir-fries, keep in mind that teriyaki sauce is thicker in consistency than soy sauce, meaning that mixing a small amount of water helps thin out the mixture.
Related: Teriyaki Beef Recipes To Try This Week
Fish Sauce
When you run out of soy sauce, reaching out for that bottle of fish sauce sitting in your fridge is a good idea. It is a versatile condiment full of salt and umami-like soy sauce with multiple functionalities: a dipping sauce, a marinade, an ingredient for dressings, stir-fries, soups, rice noodle dishes, and more.
You can easily swap soy sauce with fish sauce without adjusting the ratio, but if you aren’t a fan of the sea-like smell, mix half part fish sauce and half part citrus juice.
Worcestershire Sauce
If you love making Asian dishes, you may notice that many recipes also call for Worcestershire sauce. This dark condiment complements meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish and boosts the flavor of soups, stews, and salads. Using Worcestershire to replace soy sauce at a 1:1 ratio adds a bomb of umami to your recipe and an extra layer of spice.
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