Mirin substitutes

Mirin substitutes — 5 options, ranked, with the exact amount

Also called hon-mirin, sweet rice wine, sweet cooking rice wine, Japanese sweet cooking wine, aji-mirin, mirin-style seasoning, mirim

Use thisBest of 5 options

Use Sake + sugar

1 tbsp sake + 1 tsp sugar for every 1 tbsp mirin

Per tablespoon of mirin, use 1 tablespoon of sake plus 1 teaspoon of sugar, stirred until the sugar dissolves. The sugar is the part people get wrong: mirin is roughly 40% sugar, and that sugar is what lets a teriyaki glaze thicken, gloss and brown. Sake alone gives you a thin, pale sauce.

Verdict —: Tweak it
The tweak —: Stir 1 tsp sugar into 1 tbsp sake until dissolved; scale to 1 cup sake + 5 tbsp sugar.
Best for —: teriyaki and yakitori glazes that must gloss

Checked 22 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps

But first: what’s the mirin doing?

Pick your case

What is the recipe doing with the mirin, and is it being cooked?

Sugar is the whole job here, so get the sugar right and the wine is almost interchangeable. Use 1 tbsp sake or dry sherry plus 1 tsp sugar per tablespoon of mirin, and simmer until the sauce has lost about a third of its volume and sheets off the back of a spoon. There is a step-by-step version at for teriyaki sauce.
Notes on sake + sugar or dry sherry + sugar
1 tbsp sake + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin
Do not use sake, sherry, wine or a mirin-style seasoning, all of which contain alcohol. Use 1 tbsp water plus 1 tsp sugar and a few drops of rice vinegar per tablespoon of mirin: you lose the aroma but keep the glaze. See non-alcoholic mirin and halal mirin.
Notes on water + sugar (alcohol-free)
1 tbsp water + 1 tsp sugar
This is the case where a straight wine swap tastes raw and boozy, because nothing burns the alcohol off. Mix your sake-and-sugar and simmer it 30 seconds, then cool it before using, or use the alcohol-free mix instead.
Notes on water + sugar (alcohol-free)
1 tbsp water + 1 tsp sugar
You need something alcoholic. Sake is the closest, Shaoxing wine works but reads Chinese rather than Japanese, and dry sherry is fine. A sugar-and-water mix cannot do this part of the job at all.
Notes on sake + sugar or Shaoxing wine + sugar
1 tbsp sake + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin

Do not start from what tastes most like mirin. Start from the sugar: mirin is roughly 40% sugar, and in most recipes that sugar is doing the visible work - the thickening, the shine, the brown. Get 1 tsp of sugar per tablespoon into whatever liquid you use and the swap holds up. Then ask two questions: is the sauce cooked (if not, simmer your mixture first), and is alcohol allowed (if not, use water and sugar rather than a mirin-style bottle).

Job by job5 jobs

Mirin is roughly 40% sugar, and that sugar is what makes a glaze thicken, gloss and brown. Its 14% alcohol carries aroma and takes the fishy smell off seafood as it evaporates. It is barely sour.

Acidsecondary

Mirin is only faintly acidic, roughly the tartness of a sweet white wine. This is the one function most substitutes overshoot: reach for vinegar and you multiply the acidity many times over.

Sweetnessprimary

At roughly 40% sugar, mirin is closer to a syrup than a wine. As it simmers the water leaves and the sugar concentrates, which is the only reason a teriyaki sauce gets thick enough to cling to chicken instead of pooling on the plate.

Umami & savory depthsecondary

Fermenting glutinous rice with koji leaves free amino acids behind, so mirin adds a rounded savoury note on top of the sweetness. It is a small effect next to soy sauce, but it is why a sugar-and-water swap tastes flatter.

Aroma & flavor identityprimary

Alcohol dissolves aroma compounds that water cannot, and as it boils off it takes the trimethylamine that makes fish smell fishy with it. That is why mirin and sake go into fish marinades and plain sugar syrup does not.

Browning & colorprimary

That same sugar caramelises and reacts with the protein in soy sauce and meat, so the finished glaze goes deep reddish-brown and shiny. Leave the sugar out and the dish stays pale and matte no matter how long you cook it.

Every option, one card

Ranked · per 1 tbsp mirin

Mirin substitutes compared
#	Substitute	Instead of 1 tbsp mirin	Verdict
1	Sake + sugarteriyaki and yakitori glazes that must gloss	1 tbsp + 1 tsp granulated sugarTweak it	Tweak it
2	Dry sherry + sugarwhen there is no sake in the house	1 tbsp + 1 tsp granulated sugarTweak it	Tweak it
3	Water + sugar (alcohol-free)cooking without alcohol of any kind	1 tbsp + 1 tsp granulated sugar + 2 or 3 drops rice vinegarYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
4	Dry white wine + sugarwhen the only bottle in the house is wine	1 tbsp + 1 tsp granulated sugarYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
5	Shaoxing wine + sugarwhen you already cook Chinese food and have the bottle open	1 tbsp + 1 tsp granulated sugarYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
Not a swap	Rice vinegar on its own	Not a swap in a cooked dish; in a cold dressing, up to 1 tsp rice vinegar + 1 tsp sugar + 2 tsp waterNot for this	Not for this

What changesWhat changes, option by option5 options

Sake + sugar

very close, a touch drier and cleaner

The closest swap there is, because sake is the same drink mirin is made from - it just has almost no sugar in it, so you add the sugar back yourself.

Covers: Sweetness; Umami & savory depth; Aroma & flavor identity; Browning & color
Misses: Acid — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 tbsp sake + 1 tsp granulated sugar for 1 tbsp mirin
Then: Stir until the sugar has fully dissolved before it goes near the pan, or the sauce sweetens unevenly. For a whole cup of mirin: 1 cup sake + 5 tbsp sugar.
Best for: teriyaki and yakitori glazes that must gloss, fish marinades where the smell needs taming, when you want the closest match to real mirin
Texture: thinner until you reduce it, then the same
Look: identical once reduced - deep glossy brown. Under-sugared, it stays thin and matte and slides off the meat.
Prep: Stir 1 tsp sugar into 1 tbsp sake until dissolved; scale to 1 cup sake + 5 tbsp sugar.
Suits: vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free
Contains: alcohol

Use 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp sake. If the recipe already contains sugar, honey or a sweet soy sauce, drop to ½ tsp per tablespoon so the finished dish is not cloying.
Simmer the sauce until it has lost about a third of its volume. Sake is thinner than mirin and will stay watery if you do not reduce it.
If the sake is a sweet or nigori style, start at ½ tsp sugar and taste.

The failure people report with this swap is always the sugar, never the sake. One tablespoon of sugar per cup - the figure that circulates online - is about a fifth of what mirin actually contains.

Simmer it for at least 30 seconds before using it in anything served cold, or the alcohol tastes raw.

Dry sherry + sugar

nuttier and a little more oxidised

A fortified wine with an oxidised, faintly nutty aroma that stands in well once you sweeten it, and it is a bottle far more Western kitchens already own than sake.

Covers: Sweetness; Aroma & flavor identity; Browning & color
Misses: Acid — not covered; Umami & savory depth — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 tbsp dry sherry (fino or amontillado) + 1 tsp granulated sugar for 1 tbsp mirin
Then: Dissolve the sugar first. Use dry sherry, not cream sherry, which is already heavily sweetened.
Best for: when there is no sake in the house, beef and chicken simmered dishes, stir-fry sauces that get reduced
Texture: the same once reduced
Look: the glaze browns the same way but comes out a shade darker and browner rather than red-brown
Prep: Dissolve 1 tsp sugar in 1 tbsp dry sherry; a full cup needs 5 tbsp sugar.
Suits: vegan, dairy-free
Contains: alcohol, sulfites

Use 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp sherry, the same as sake.
Sherry is stronger in alcohol than mirin, around 15 to 20% against mirin's 14%, so give the sauce an extra minute of simmering to cook the sharpness out.
Skip cooking sherry sold in the seasoning aisle if you can: it is salted, and you will have to cut the recipe's soy sauce to compensate.

Nobody will mistake it for mirin next to the real thing, but in a soy-and-sugar glaze the difference disappears under the soy sauce.

Fine in anything cooked. Too assertive for a delicate clear broth or a cold dressing.

Water + sugar (alcohol-free)

flatter and simpler, sweet without the winey background

The honest alcohol-free answer, and the one to use if you are cooking for someone avoiding alcohol entirely. It reproduces the glaze exactly and the aroma not at all.

Covers: Sweetness; Browning & color
Misses: Acid — not covered; Umami & savory depth — not covered; Aroma & flavor identity — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 tbsp water + 1 tsp granulated sugar + 2 or 3 drops rice vinegar for 1 tbsp mirin
Then: Warm it briefly to dissolve the sugar. Unsweetened white grape juice or apple juice can stand in for the water and gets you a little closer, in which case use ½ tsp sugar.
Best for: cooking without alcohol of any kind, halal and recovery-safe cooking, cold dipping sauces and dressings that are never heated
Texture: the same once reduced
Look: glazes and browns normally; a clear broth made this way looks right but smells of nothing
Prep: Dissolve 1 tsp sugar in 1 tbsp warm water, add 2 to 3 drops rice vinegar.
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, alcohol-free, halal, kosher

Add ¼ tsp soy sauce or a pinch of dashi granules per tablespoon to put back some of the savoury depth the wine was carrying.
Keep the vinegar to a few drops. Mirin is barely sour, and this is the swap people push too far.
Reduce the sauce as usual - the sugar still needs to concentrate to gloss.

Mirin-style seasonings sold as aji-mirin are not alcohol-free either - most list alcohol on the label - so if avoiding alcohol is the point, mix this instead of buying a bottle.

Best where the glaze does the work. In a fish marinade it cannot do mirin's deodorising job, so rinse and pat the fish dry first instead.

Dry white wine + sugar

grapey and a little tart at the edges

Works because it is alcoholic and you are adding the sugar back, but grape and rice taste different, and white wine is noticeably more acidic than mirin.

Covers: Sweetness; Aroma & flavor identity; Browning & color
Misses: Acid — not covered; Umami & savory depth — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 tbsp dry white wine + 1 tsp granulated sugar for 1 tbsp mirin
Then: Dissolve the sugar, then simmer the sauce a minute longer than the recipe says to cook off the wine's own acidity.
Best for: when the only bottle in the house is wine, chicken and pork glazes where soy sauce covers the difference, recipes with plenty of other strong flavours
Texture: the same once reduced
Look: browns normally, though a light-coloured sauce can end up slightly greyer than it should
Prep: Dissolve 1 tsp sugar in 1 tbsp dry white wine; simmer a minute longer than the recipe says.
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: dairy-free, gluten-free
Contains: alcohol, sulfites

Choose the driest, least oaky white you have. Sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio disappear best; chardonnay leaves a buttery note that reads wrong.
Add 1 tsp sugar per tablespoon, and give the sauce an extra minute to boil the acidity down.
Never use a sweet wine and the full sugar together - pick one.

In a dish carrying soy sauce, garlic and ginger this passes easily. In a clear simmering liquid the grape flavour is obvious.

Cooked dishes only, and not in delicate broths, sushi rice or anything where the wine cannot hide.

Shaoxing wine + sugar

distinctly deeper and more fermented - the dish reads Chinese, not Japanese

A Chinese fermented rice wine with a much darker, sherry-like aroma than sake. Structurally the right kind of ingredient, but it changes which cuisine the dish tastes like.

Covers: Sweetness; Umami & savory depth; Aroma & flavor identity; Browning & color
Misses: Acid — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine + 1 tsp granulated sugar for 1 tbsp mirin
Then: Dissolve the sugar. If your bottle is the salted supermarket kind, cut the recipe's soy sauce by about a quarter.
Best for: when you already cook Chinese food and have the bottle open, pork and beef braises, stir-fries rather than Japanese simmered dishes
Texture: the same once reduced
Look: the glaze goes noticeably darker brown
Prep: Dissolve 1 tsp sugar in 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine; reduce the amount by a third in pale dishes.
Pantry: Special trip
Suits: dairy-free
Contains: alcohol, wheat

Use 1 tsp sugar per tablespoon.
Cut the amount by a third in anything pale or delicate - Shaoxing is far more aromatic than mirin and will take the dish over.
Check the label for salt; the bottles sold as cooking wine usually contain it.

Korean recipes often call for mirim, which is a mirin-style seasoning rather than Shaoxing; if that is what you are cooking, see Korean mirin.

Not for clear soups, chawanmushi or anything meant to taste specifically Japanese. There is more on this at can you substitute Shaoxing wine for mirin?.

Rice vinegar on its own

sharply sour instead of sweet - the dominant flavour of the dish becomes vinegar

Rice vinegar is roughly 4 to 4.5% acetic acid and mirin is barely acidic at all, so swapping one for the other multiplies the sourness of the dish many times over. It is listed here only because it is the swap people try most often.

Covers: Acid
Misses: Sweetness — not covered; Umami & savory depth — not covered; Aroma & flavor identity — not covered; Browning & color — not covered

What these mean

Amount: Not a swap in a cooked dish; in a cold dressing, up to 1 tsp rice vinegar + 1 tsp sugar + 2 tsp waterper 1 tbsp mirin
Then: If you want the sweet-sour balance of a sunomono dressing this works. If you want a glaze, it does not.
Best for: cold sweet-and-sour dressings, and nothing else, understanding why a substituted glaze tasted sharp
Texture: stays thin, because there is no sugar to concentrate
Look: the sauce never glosses or darkens; it stays watery and pale and runs straight off the meat
Prep: For dressings only: 1 tsp rice vinegar + 1 tsp sugar + 2 tsp water per tablespoon of mirin.
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, alcohol-free

If you have already added vinegar and the sauce tastes sharp, stir in ½ tsp sugar at a time plus 1 tbsp water and taste between additions.
In a dressing, keep the vinegar at or under 1 tsp per tablespoon of mirin called for and add 1 tsp sugar with it.

The half-cup-of-vinegar formulas that circulate for this swap will make a teriyaki taste like a pickle. There is a longer explanation at can you substitute rice vinegar for mirin?.

Do not use vinegar as a mirin swap in a glaze, a simmered dish, sushi rice seasoning built on mirin, or anything reduced.

Don’t swap it here

4 cases

You are about to pour vinegar into a teriyaki, yakitori, nimono or any sauce that gets simmered down.Use 1 tbsp sake, sherry or even water plus 1 tsp sugar per tablespoon of mirin. If you truly have nothing but vinegar, use sugar and water and leave the vinegar out.
The mirin goes into something served cold and never cooked - a dipping sauce, a sunomono dressing, a chilled marinade.Simmer your sake-and-sugar mixture for 30 seconds and let it cool, or use 1 tbsp water + 1 tsp sugar + a few drops of rice vinegar per tablespoon.
SafetyThe recipe is a tested pickling, canning, fermenting or curing recipe.Follow the tested recipe exactly, or pick a different tested recipe. The National Center for Home Food Preservation publishes them free at https://nchfp.uga.edu/.
SafetyYou are avoiding alcohol and thinking of buying a mirin-style seasoning instead.Mix 1 tbsp water + 1 tsp sugar + a few drops of rice vinegar per tablespoon of mirin. Read the label on any bottle if this matters for religious, medical or recovery reasons.

Safety

2 notes

Alcohol
Hon-mirin is about 14% alcohol, and sake, sherry, Shaoxing wine and white wine are all higher. How much survives cooking depends entirely on time: alcohol stirred into a boiling liquid and taken straight off the heat keeps most of it, and even a long simmer leaves a small fraction. A quick glaze finished in a minute or two is not alcohol-free. If alcohol is off the table for religious, medical, recovery or pregnancy reasons, use the water-and-sugar mix and read the label on any bottled mirin-style seasoning.
Source — USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6
Canning
Never change the acid or salt in a tested canning, pickling, fermenting or curing recipe, and that includes swapping mirin for vinegar or vinegar for mirin. Acidity is the safety control in those recipes; under-acidified home-canned food can support the bacterium that causes botulism. Use a tested recipe as written.
Source — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)

If it went wrong

4 fixes

The teriyaki never thickened and never got shiny - it is still watery in the pan.Not enough sugar, almost always because sake went in without it, or with the 1 tbsp per cup figure. Gloss comes from concentrated sugar, nothing else.Add 1 tsp sugar for every tablespoon of liquid you started with, then keep simmering until about a third of the volume has gone. It should coat a spoon before you take it off the heat.
The sauce tastes sharp and sour rather than sweet.Vinegar went in where mirin should have. Rice vinegar is many times more acidic than mirin.Stir in ½ tsp sugar plus 1 tbsp water at a time, tasting between additions - and if it needs more than 2 tsp of sugar per tablespoon of sauce to come back, start the sauce again. You cannot un-sour it past that point.
The finished dish smells and tastes boozy.The alcohol has not cooked off. A sauce added at the end and taken straight off the heat keeps most of its alcohol.Return it to a simmer for another 1 to 2 minutes. If the dish is served cold, simmer the sauce separately before it goes on.
The glaze is both very salty and very sweet.A mirin-style seasoning or a salted cooking wine went in, and the recipe's soy sauce went in on top of it.Dilute with 1 tbsp water per tablespoon of sauce and add a squeeze of citrus or a splash of unsalted stock. Next time, taste before adding the soy sauce.

Measure it

7 measures

1 tbsp mirin15 ml = 1 tbsp sake + 1 tsp sugarThis is the rule the whole page is built on. Everything else is this figure scaled.
1 cup mirin8 fl oz = 1 cup sake + 5 tbsp sugarThe widely repeated 1 tbsp of sugar per cup is roughly a fifth of what mirin actually contains, which is why glazes made that way stay thin.
Hon-mirin compositionroughly 40% sugars, about 14% alcohol, no added saltSugar first, alcohol second. Substitute in that order of importance.
Mirin-style seasoning (aji-mirin)sweetened with corn syrup, salted, and still contains alcoholIf you use it, taste before adding the recipe's full soy sauce - the salt is already in there.
Sake, for comparisonabout 15 to 16% alcohol and almost no sugarThis is exactly why the swap runs one way: you add sugar to sake, never the reverse.
Rice vinegar strengthabout 4 to 4.5% acetic acidMirin is barely sour. This number is the reason the vinegar swap fails.
Reduction target for a glazesimmer until about a third of the volume is goneDone when it sheets off the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through leaves a line that holds for a second.

Questions

8 questions

What is the best substitute for mirin?

One tablespoon of sake plus 1 teaspoon of sugar for every tablespoon of mirin, stirred until the sugar dissolves. For a whole cup, that is 1 cup of sake plus 5 tablespoons of sugar. Dry sherry works the same way if you have no sake. If you are avoiding alcohol, use 1 tablespoon of water plus 1 teaspoon of sugar and a few drops of rice vinegar.

How much sugar do I add to sake to replace mirin?

One teaspoon of granulated sugar per tablespoon of sake, which scales to about 5 tablespoons per cup. Mirin is roughly 40% sugar, so the commonly repeated figure of 1 tablespoon of sugar per cup of sake is far too little - it makes a teriyaki that never thickens, never shines and tastes thin. If your recipe already includes sugar or honey, use half a teaspoon per tablespoon instead.

Can I use rice vinegar instead of mirin?

Not in a cooked dish. Mirin is sweet and only faintly acidic, while rice vinegar is about 4 to 4.5% acetic acid, so a spoon-for-spoon swap makes the sauce taste sharply sour and, with no sugar in it, it never glosses. In a cold sweet-and-sour dressing you can use up to 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar plus 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 teaspoons of water per tablespoon of mirin.

What is a non-alcoholic or halal mirin substitute?

Mix 1 tablespoon of water with 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 or 3 drops of rice vinegar per tablespoon of mirin, and add ¼ teaspoon of soy sauce for depth. Unsweetened white grape juice or apple juice in place of the water gets you slightly closer. Do not assume a bottle labelled aji-mirin or mirin-style seasoning is alcohol-free - most list alcohol on the label.

Is mirin alcoholic, and does the alcohol cook off?

Hon-mirin is about 14% alcohol. How much survives depends on how long it cooks: alcohol added to a boiling liquid and taken straight off the heat keeps most of it, and even a long simmer leaves a small fraction behind. A glaze finished in a minute or two is not alcohol-free. If that matters, use the water-and-sugar mixture.

What is the difference between mirin and sake?

Sake is brewed to be drunk: about 15 to 16% alcohol with almost no sugar. Mirin is made for cooking: about 14% alcohol and roughly 40% sugar, brewed from glutinous rice with koji. That difference is why the swap only runs one way - you add sugar to sake, and you would have to remove sugar from mirin to get sake.

What is the difference between hon-mirin and aji-mirin or mirin-style seasoning?

Hon-mirin is true brewed mirin: fermented rice, roughly 40% sugars, about 14% alcohol, no added salt. Aji-mirin and mirin-style seasonings are cheaper imitations built from corn syrup, water, a little alcohol and salt. They work in a glaze, but because they are already salted you should taste the sauce before adding the recipe's full soy sauce.

Can I use mirin and sake interchangeably in a recipe?

Only with the sugar corrected. Using sake where the recipe says mirin, add 1 teaspoon of sugar per tablespoon. Going the other way, using mirin where the recipe says sake, cut the recipe's sugar by 1 teaspoon per tablespoon of mirin or the dish will be too sweet.

Tips for substituting mirin

6 tips

Mirin is roughly 40% sugar. If you remember one thing about substituting it, remember to add sugar - 1 tsp per tablespoon of whatever liquid you use.
The shine on a teriyaki is concentrated sugar, not starch. Simmer the sauce until about a third of the volume has gone and it sheets off the back of a spoon.
Mirin goes into fish dishes partly to kill the fishy smell: alcohol carries those compounds off as it evaporates. A sugar-and-water swap cannot do this, so rinse and dry the fish well instead.
Add mirin early enough to simmer. Stirred in at the last second and taken off the heat, most of its alcohol stays in the sauce and tastes raw.
Hon-mirin has no added salt; bottles labelled aji-mirin or mirin-style seasoning usually do. If you are using one of those, taste before you add the recipe's soy sauce.
Once opened, keep hon-mirin in a cool cupboard and use it within a few months - the aroma fades long before it spoils. Mirin-style seasonings, which are lower in alcohol, do better in the fridge.