Miso paste substitutes

Miso paste substitutes — 5 options, ranked, with the exact amount

Also called Miso, aka miso, awase miso, fermented soybean paste, miso, shiro miso

Use thisBest of 5 options

Use Soy sauce or tamari

1 ½ tsp for every 1 tbsp miso paste

It depends on whether the miso is being dissolved or has to cling. Dissolving into a soup, broth or thin dressing, use 1 ½ teaspoons of soy sauce per tablespoon of white miso and take 2 teaspoons of liquid out of the recipe. For a miso glaze, miso butter or a marinade that has to coat something, soy sauce cannot do it - use 2 teaspoons of tahini plus 1 ½ teaspoons of soy sauce so you still have a paste.

Verdict —: Tweak it
The tweak —: Whisk 1 ½ tsp soy sauce into the dish off the heat and remove 2 tsp of other liquid.
Best for —: soups, broths and braises where the miso dissolves anyway
Pantry —: Likely in your cupboard

Checked 22 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps

But first: what’s the miso paste doing?

Pick your case

Is the miso being dissolved into a liquid, or does it need to stay put?

The paste texture does not matter here, so soy sauce works. Use 1 ½ tsp soy sauce per tablespoon of white miso, or a full tablespoon if the recipe means red, and take 2 tsp of other liquid out of the recipe to keep the balance.
Notes on soy sauce or tamari or fish sauce
1 ½ tsp per 1 tbsp
A liquid will run straight off. You need something with body: 2 tsp tahini plus 1 ½ tsp soy sauce per tablespoon of miso, mashed together first. Peanut butter works the same way if you have no tahini and no peanut allergy at the table.
Notes on tahini + soy sauce
2 tsp tahini + 1 ½ tsp soy
There is no miso soup without miso - but a clear Japanese soup, suimono, is dashi seasoned with soy sauce and salt, and it is a real dish rather than a failed one. See miso soup. If what you are actually short of is the dashi, that is a different problem: dashi substitute for miso soup.
Notes on soy sauce or tamari
1 ½ tsp per 1 tbsp
This is a real substitution, not a detail. Red miso is roughly twice as salty as white: if the recipe says white and you have red, use half the amount plus ½ tsp sugar per tablespoon. If it says red and you have white, use the same amount plus 1/8 tsp salt and expect a milder, sweeter result. See white miso and red miso.
Notes on soy sauce or tamari
1 ½ tsp per 1 tbsp

Ask whether the miso dissolves or has to stay put. Dissolved into soup, broth or a thin dressing, soy sauce covers it at 1 ½ tsp per tablespoon of white miso, with 2 tsp of other liquid taken out. Clinging to something - a glaze, miso butter, a marinade - you need a paste, which means tahini and soy sauce, because a liquid will run off and burn. Then check which miso the recipe means: red is roughly twice as salty as white, and getting that wrong is a bigger error than choosing the wrong substitute.

Job by job4 jobs

Miso is a salty ferment in the form of a paste. The ferment gives savoury depth; the paste is structural - it clings to fish as a glaze and holds a dressing together. A liquid loses that half.

Saltprimary

Salt is a preservative in miso, not just a seasoning, and the amount is the single biggest difference between types: about 5 to 6% in white miso and 11 to 13% in red. Substitute without knowing which one your recipe means and you will be out by a factor of two.

Umami & savory depthprimary

Months of fermentation break soy protein down into free amino acids, mostly glutamate. It is why 1 tbsp of miso whisked into a cup of stock tastes finished, and why a soup seasoned with salt alone tastes thin however much you add.

Aroma & flavor identitysecondary

Its malty, faintly sweet smell is volatile and heat-sensitive. Boil miso soup after the miso goes in and the aroma dulls within a minute, which is why it is whisked in off the heat.

Emulsifyingsecondary

Miso's protein and its paste texture hold oil and water together, which is what stops a miso dressing separating in the bowl and what makes a miso glaze sit on top of a fillet of fish instead of running into the tray.

Every option, one card

Ranked · per 1 tbsp miso paste

Miso Paste substitutes compared
#	Substitute	Instead of 1 tbsp miso paste	Verdict
1	Soy sauce or tamarisoups, broths and braises where the miso dissolves anyway	1 ½ tspTweak it	Tweak it
2	Tahini + soy saucemiso glazes on fish, aubergine or tofu	2 tsp + 1 ½ tsp soy sauce + ¼ tsp rice vinegarTweak it	Tweak it
3	Fish saucebraises, ramen broths and stews with strong flavours	1 tspYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
4	Worcestershire saucestews and gravies rather than Japanese dishes	1 tsp + 1/8 tsp fine saltYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
5	Yeast extract + waterdark broths, stews and gravies	½ tsp Marmite or another yeast extract + 2 tsp warm water + a pinch of fine saltYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
Not a swap	Nutritional yeast on its own	not a swap — not a substitute alone; 1 tsp added to 1 ½ tsp soy sauce is a usable versionNot for this	Not for this

What changesWhat changes, option by option5 options

Soy sauce or tamari

savoury and correct but sharper and less malty-sweet

The same kind of ferment in liquid form, so the savoury depth transfers directly. What does not transfer is the body: this is a swap for miso that gets dissolved, not miso that has to cling.

Covers: Salt; Umami & savory depth
Misses: Emulsifying — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 ½ tsp soy sauce or tamari for 1 tbsp white (shiro) miso
Then: Take 2 tsp of another liquid out of the recipe to make up for the liquid you have added. If the recipe means red miso, use a full 1 tbsp of soy sauce instead - red miso is about twice as salty as white.
Best for: soups, broths and braises where the miso dissolves anyway, thin dressings and dipping sauces, when you want the depth and do not need the paste
Texture: thinner - the broth loses the faint body miso gives it
Look: the soup stays clear instead of turning cloudy and pale, which in miso soup is the giveaway
Prep: Whisk 1 ½ tsp soy sauce into the dish off the heat and remove 2 tsp of other liquid.
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free
Contains: soy, wheat

Use 1 ½ tsp per tablespoon of white miso, not a full tablespoon. Soy sauce carries about 880 mg of sodium per tablespoon, and white miso only about 370 mg, so a spoon-for-spoon swap more than doubles the salt.
Reduce another liquid in the recipe by 2 tsp per tablespoon of miso replaced, or the dish comes out looser than intended.
Add 1/8 tsp sugar per tablespoon if you are replacing a sweet white miso - shiro miso is noticeably sweeter than soy sauce.
Use tamari if the dish must be gluten-free; check the miso type too, as barley miso contains gluten.

The old advice for this swap was a tablespoon for a tablespoon with a vague note to adjust the liquid. Both halves of that are wrong: the amount is 1 ½ tsp for white miso, and the liquid correction is 2 tsp.

Only where the miso is dissolved into liquid. Not in a glaze, miso butter or a marinade that has to coat.

Tahini + soy sauce

nuttier and rounder, without miso's fermented tang

The only swap on this page that keeps miso's body, which is what a glaze or a dressing actually needs. Tahini brings thickness and richness; the soy sauce brings the salt and the ferment.

Covers: Salt; Umami & savory depth; Emulsifying
Misses: Aroma & flavor identity — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 2 tsp tahini + 1 ½ tsp soy sauce + ¼ tsp rice vinegar for 1 tbsp white (shiro) miso
Then: Mash the tahini and soy sauce together with a fork until it is smooth and the colour of milky coffee, then add the vinegar. It will be the same consistency as miso and behaves the same way in a pan.
Best for: miso glazes on fish, aubergine or tofu, dressings that must stay emulsified, miso butter and anything spread rather than stirred
Texture: very close - thick, spreadable, and it clings
Look: paler and beiger than a red miso glaze; it still browns and blisters under a grill
Prep: Mash 2 tsp tahini with 1 ½ tsp soy sauce until smooth, then stir in ¼ tsp rice vinegar.
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free
Contains: sesame, soy, wheat

Add ½ tsp of honey, maple syrup or sugar if you are replacing a sweet white miso in a glaze - dengaku-style glazes are sweet as well as salty.
Stir the tahini and soy sauce together before anything else goes in. Added separately to a hot pan the tahini seizes into lumps.
Loosen with 1 tsp warm water at a time if it is stiffer than the miso would have been.

Smooth peanut butter or cashew butter does the same job if you have no tahini - but say so out loud before serving, because peanut is a serious allergen and a brown glaze gives no clue.

Not for a clear soup, where the sesame clouds the broth and the flavour is obvious.

Fish sauce

savoury but clearly fishy and sharper; the dish stops tasting Japanese

A different ferment doing the same work. It brings as much savoury depth as miso and more salt, and it tastes distinctly of fermented fish rather than soybeans.

Covers: Salt; Umami & savory depth
Misses: Aroma & flavor identity — not covered; Emulsifying — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 tsp fish sauce for 1 tbsp white (shiro) miso
Then: Add it near the end of cooking and taste before adding any other salt.
Best for: braises, ramen broths and stews with strong flavours, Southeast Asian dishes where the fish note belongs, when depth matters more than which cuisine it suggests
Texture: thin - no body at all
Look: the broth stays clear and amber rather than going cloudy and pale
Prep: Add 1 tsp fish sauce near the end of cooking; taste before adding other salt.
Suits: dairy-free, gluten-free
Contains: fish

Use 1 tsp per tablespoon of white miso. Fish sauce carries about 1,410 mg of sodium per tablespoon, roughly four times white miso, so this is a teaspoon job.
Halve it again if you are replacing red miso by weight of flavour rather than salt, then taste and build up.
Add ¼ tsp sugar to round it off, since miso is maltier and sweeter than fish sauce.

Contains fish, so it is out for vegetarians and for a fish allergy. It is usually gluten-free, which soy sauce is not.

One teaspoon per tablespoon. Never in a glaze, and not in a dish where you want a clean, malty miso flavour.

Worcestershire sauce

tangy, spiced and sweet-sour - recognisably not miso

Fermented, savoury and in most kitchens already, but it is thin, sour, sweet and spiced. It puts depth into a dish that has none; it does not make the dish taste of miso.

Covers: Umami & savory depth
Misses: Salt — not covered; Aroma & flavor identity — not covered; Emulsifying — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce + 1/8 tsp fine salt for 1 tbsp white (shiro) miso
Then: Add both, then taste. Cut any vinegar in the recipe, since Worcestershire is already sharp.
Best for: stews and gravies rather than Japanese dishes, when the cupboard has no soy sauce either, adding savour to a soup that tastes empty
Texture: thin
Look: darkens the dish reddish-brown rather than the cloudy pale of miso
Prep: Add 1 tsp Worcestershire plus 1/8 tsp fine salt; reduce the recipe's vinegar by half.
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: dairy-free
Contains: fish, wheat

Add 1/8 tsp fine salt - Worcestershire is far less salty than miso and the dish will taste sour before it tastes seasoned.
Keep it to 1 tsp per tablespoon of miso. The clove and tamarind notes build fast.
Cut the recipe's vinegar or lemon by about half.

Contains anchovies and usually wheat, so it is neither vegetarian nor gluten-free.

Not in a glaze, not in a dressing that needs to hold, and not in a clear soup.

Yeast extract + water

powerfully savoury with a distinct malty, bitter yeast note

An enormously savoury paste that is genuinely full of glutamates, and tastes unmistakably of itself. It rescues a flat soup; it does not stand in for miso in anything delicate.

Covers: Umami & savory depth
Misses: Salt — not covered; Aroma & flavor identity — not covered; Emulsifying — not covered

What these mean

Amount: ½ tsp Marmite or another yeast extract + 2 tsp warm water + a pinch of fine salt for 1 tbsp white (shiro) miso
Then: Dissolve the yeast extract in the warm water completely before it goes in - undissolved, it stays in intensely strong specks.
Best for: dark broths, stews and gravies, vegan cooking with no soy sauce in the house, when a dish tastes hollow and you need depth in one spoonful
Texture: thin once dissolved
Look: stains the dish dark brown, which in a pale soup looks wrong
Prep: Dissolve ½ tsp yeast extract in 2 tsp warm water with a pinch of salt before adding.
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free
Contains: wheat

Start at ½ tsp per tablespoon of miso and taste. Yeast extract is many times more assertive than miso by volume.
Add a pinch of salt - a half teaspoon of yeast extract is nowhere near miso's saltiness.
Add ¼ tsp sugar to soften the bitter edge yeast extract can leave.

Most yeast extracts contain barley or wheat, so check the label if the dish must be gluten-free.

Half a teaspoon per tablespoon of miso is the ceiling. Never in miso soup or a clear broth.

Nutritional yeast on its own

cheesy and mild rather than salty and fermented; the dish tastes under-seasoned

Nutritional yeast is savoury and cheesy, but it is unsalted, unfermented in the way miso is, and a dry flake rather than a paste. It is listed here because it is often recommended, and on its own it does none of miso's jobs.

Misses: Salt — not covered; Umami & savory depth — not covered; Aroma & flavor identity — not covered; Emulsifying — not covered

What these mean

Amount: Not a substitute alone; 1 tsp added to 1 ½ tsp soy sauce is a usable versionper 1 tbsp white (shiro) miso
Then: If you use it, whisk it into liquid first or it floats on the surface as dry flakes.
Best for: adding a cheesy note to a dish that already has salt and body, boosting a soy sauce swap rather than replacing miso
Texture: grainy if it does not dissolve, and no thickening at all
Look: pale specks float on the surface of a broth instead of clouding it evenly
Prep: Only useful whisked into 1 ½ tsp soy sauce; never as a straight replacement.
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free

Pair it with 1 ½ tsp soy sauce per tablespoon of miso if you want to use it at all - the soy sauce supplies the salt and the ferment.
Whisk it into hot liquid rather than sprinkling it on top, or the flakes sit on the surface.

It is a good ingredient doing the wrong job here. Fortified nutritional yeast also carries added B vitamins, which is a nutrition question rather than a cooking one.

Do not use it as the only substitute. Do not use it in a glaze - there is nothing in it to make anything cling.

Don’t swap it here

4 cases

The miso has to cling - a dengaku glaze on aubergine, miso-marinated black cod, miso butter, a thick dressing.Use 2 tsp tahini plus 1 ½ tsp soy sauce per tablespoon of miso, plus ½ tsp of sugar or honey for a glaze. If you have neither, make a soy-and-sugar teriyaki-style glaze and call the dish something else.
You are making miso soup and have no miso.Make suimono, the clear Japanese soup: dashi seasoned with 1 tsp soy sauce and a pinch of salt per cup, with tofu and spring onion in it. It is a real dish, and it is what a Japanese kitchen makes when there is no miso.
SafetyAnyone eating has a soy allergy.Use chickpea miso, which is sold as a soy-free miso, or make a paste from 2 tsp tahini with 1/8 tsp salt and a few drops of rice vinegar. Check every bottled sauce in the recipe, since soy appears in most of them.
SafetyYou are following a tested recipe for misozuke pickles, a fermented vegetable pickle, or anything cured or canned.Follow the tested recipe with the type of miso it names, or use a different tested recipe. The National Center for Home Food Preservation publishes tested recipes free at https://nchfp.uga.edu/.

Safety

2 notes

Allergen
Miso is a soybean product, and barley or wheat miso also contains gluten - check the tub, since rice-koji miso does not. Of the substitutes here, soy sauce and tamari are soy, tahini is sesame, Worcestershire and fish sauce contain fish, and most yeast extracts contain barley. Chickpea miso is sold as a soy-free option.
Canning
Do not change the type or quantity of miso in a tested recipe for misozuke pickles, fermented vegetables, or anything cured or canned. White and red miso differ in salt by roughly a factor of two, and in a ferment or a cure the salt concentration is a safety control rather than a matter of taste.
Source — National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)

If it went wrong

4 fixes

The soup tastes salty but watery and hollow, as though nothing is behind it.Soy sauce replaced the miso but nothing replaced the stock. If there was no dashi to begin with, the miso was carrying the whole dish.Steep a 4-inch piece of kombu or 2 dried shiitake in the hot liquid for 20 minutes off the boil, or stir in ¼ tsp of instant dashi granules per cup. That, not more salt, is what is missing.
The glaze slid off the fish and burned onto the tray.A liquid was used where a paste was needed. Nothing in soy sauce can hold onto a surface.Mix 1 tsp tahini and ½ tsp sugar into the remaining glaze to thicken it, and brush it on in the last few minutes of cooking rather than at the start.
The miso soup went grainy and its smell dulled.It boiled after the miso went in. The aroma compounds are volatile and go off with the steam, and the paste separates.Take the pan off the heat and whisk in a fresh ½ tsp of miso, dissolved first in a ladleful of the hot broth. Do not let it boil again.
The dish is far too salty.Red miso was used where the recipe meant white, or soy sauce went in spoon for spoon rather than at 1 ½ tsp per tablespoon.Add unsalted stock or water a tablespoon at a time, plus ½ tsp sugar to round it back out, and add more tofu, noodles or rice to spread the salt further.

Measure it

8 measures

1 tbsp miso pasteabout 17 g, averaging around 630 mg sodiumAn average across types. The type you have matters more than the average does - see the next two rows.
White (shiro) misoabout 5 to 6% salt, short-fermented, sweeterRoughly 370 mg of sodium a tablespoon. More rice koji and less soybean, which is where the sweetness comes from.
Red (aka) misoabout 11 to 13% salt, long-fermented, assertiveRoughly twice as salty as white. Recipes that say simply miso usually mean a white or a mixed awase miso.
Swapping white for redrecipe says white and you have red: use half, plus ½ tsp sugar per tbspGoing the other way - it says red and you have white - use the same amount plus 1/8 tsp salt, and expect a milder result.
1 tbsp white miso in salt termsabout 1 ½ tsp soy sauceSoy sauce carries about 880 mg of sodium a tablespoon against white miso's 370 mg. This is the arithmetic behind the top row.
Miso soup, for reference1 tbsp miso per 1 cup (240 ml) dashiWhisk the miso with a ladleful of the hot dashi in a small bowl first, then stir that back in off the heat.
Heatadd miso off the heat, or in the last minuteBoiling dulls its aroma quickly and kills the live cultures in unpasteurised miso. It also makes the soup look grainy.
Storagekeeps in the fridge for many monthsIt darkens and gets more assertive with age, which is worth tasting for before you measure an old tub by the spoonful.

Questions

8 questions

What is the best substitute for miso paste?

It depends on the job. Where the miso is dissolved into a soup, broth or thin dressing, use 1 ½ teaspoons of soy sauce or tamari per tablespoon of white miso and take 2 teaspoons of liquid out of the recipe. Where it has to cling - a glaze, miso butter, a marinade - use 2 teaspoons of tahini plus 1 ½ teaspoons of soy sauce, mashed together, so you still have a paste.

How much soy sauce do I use instead of miso paste?

One and a half teaspoons of soy sauce per tablespoon of white miso, and a full tablespoon per tablespoon of red miso. Soy sauce carries about 880 mg of sodium per tablespoon against white miso's 370 mg, so a spoon-for-spoon swap more than doubles the salt. Take 2 teaspoons of other liquid out of the recipe to make up for the liquid you added.

What is the difference between white and red miso?

Salt and time. White (shiro) miso is fermented briefly with a high proportion of rice koji and is about 5 to 6% salt, so it tastes mild and slightly sweet. Red (aka) miso is fermented for much longer with more soybean and is 11 to 13% salt, which makes it roughly twice as salty and far more assertive. If the recipe says white and you only have red, use half the amount plus ½ teaspoon of sugar per tablespoon.

Can I make miso soup without miso paste?

Not miso soup, no - the miso is the soup. What you can make is suimono, the clear Japanese soup: dashi seasoned with about 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and a pinch of salt per cup, with tofu and spring onion. If the thing you are actually missing is the dashi rather than the miso, steep a 4-inch piece of kombu or two dried shiitake in hot water for 30 minutes and use that.

What is a soy-free substitute for miso paste?

Chickpea miso, which is fermented the same way with chickpeas instead of soybeans and behaves almost identically. Without it, mash 2 teaspoons of tahini with 1/8 teaspoon of fine salt and a few drops of rice vinegar per tablespoon of miso - you get the paste texture and the salt, though not the fermented depth. Soy sauce, tamari and liquid aminos are all soybean products and do not solve a soy allergy.

Can I use miso paste in a glaze if I only have soy sauce?

Not on its own. A glaze needs something with body that will sit on the surface, caramelise and stay there; soy sauce runs into the tray and burns. Mash 2 teaspoons of tahini into 1 ½ teaspoons of soy sauce with ½ teaspoon of sugar per tablespoon of miso, and brush it on in the last few minutes of cooking.

What makes miso paste so salty?

Salt is what makes the fermentation safe and stable - it keeps spoilage organisms out while the koji mould and the soybeans do their work over months. That is also why the salt level tracks the fermentation time: short-fermented white miso needs about 5 to 6%, and long-fermented red miso needs 11 to 13%.

Do I have to keep miso in the fridge?

Yes, once opened. It is salty enough not to spoil quickly, but in a warm cupboard it darkens and its flavour turns more assertive, so a tablespoon of an old tub is not the same seasoning as a tablespoon of a fresh one. Taste before measuring if it has been open a while.

Tips for substituting miso paste

7 tips

Whisk miso with a ladleful of the hot liquid in a separate bowl before stirring it into the pot. Dropped in as a lump it never fully disperses and the soup tastes uneven.
Add miso off the heat, or in the last minute of cooking. Boiling dulls its aroma within a minute, makes the soup look grainy, and kills the live cultures in unpasteurised miso.
White (shiro) miso is about 5 to 6% salt and red (aka) miso is 11 to 13%, so red is roughly twice as salty. If the recipe just says miso, it usually means white or a mixed awase miso.
Miso is a paste, and in a glaze or a dressing that is half its job. If you swap it for a liquid, put the body back with 2 tsp of tahini per tablespoon or the glaze will run off.
One tablespoon of miso per cup of dashi is the standard for miso soup. Scale from there rather than from the size of your bowl.
Miso browns and blisters fast under a grill because of the sugars in it. Glaze fish or aubergine in the last few minutes of cooking, not at the start.
Keep the tub in the fridge, where it lasts many months. It darkens and gets stronger with time, so taste an old tub before measuring it by the spoonful.

Sources — USDA FoodData Central (opens in a new tab), National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)

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