Mushroom ketchup substitutes

The nearest thing on an ordinary supermarket shelf, and a direct descendant of mushroom ketchup as a category of thin savoury seasoning liquid.

Best for

steak and kidney pie, beef stews and gravies, shepherd's pie, devilled kidneys, old British and colonial-era recipes

What changes: Worcestershire is built on tamarind, molasses and anchovy, so it is distinctly tangier, slightly sweeter and carries a fishy savoury edge instead of a woodsy mushroom one. A beef stew made with it tastes brighter and a touch fruity where mushroom ketchup would have tasted darker and more mushroomy. If the recipe also calls for vinegar or lemon, pull it back slightly to compensate. Worcestershire also contains anchovy, so it is not vegetarian, while mushroom ketchup is.

Soak a small handful of dried porcini or shiitake in half a cup of hot water for twenty minutes, strain carefully to leave the grit behind, then mix with soy sauce.

Best for

stews and braises, gravies, mushroom-forward dishes, vegetarian cooking

This is the closest flavour match you can build without shopping for anything unusual, because it brings back the actual mushroom note that every bottled swap is missing. What still differs: it has no vinegar sharpness and none of the clove and allspice warmth of the original, so add about a quarter teaspoon of malt or cider vinegar and a pinch of ground allspice per tablespoon of finished liquid. Strain the soaking water through a coffee filter or let it settle and pour off the top, because dried mushroom grit is unpleasant.

Chinese dark soy sauce infused with straw mushrooms, thick, very dark and strongly savoury.

Best for

braises, gravies, meat marinades, anything already dark in colour

What changes: it is considerably saltier and more soy-forward than mushroom ketchup, and much darker, so a pale sauce will go brown. The mushroom note is present but sits behind the soy rather than in front of it. Because it is saltier, taste the dish before adding salt at all, and if you are using more than a tablespoon, thin it with an equal amount of water first.

The other surviving historical British ketchup, made from green walnuts, vinegar and spice.

Best for

period recipes, beef and game, cold cuts and cheese

If you already have a bottle, this is a fair swap and belongs to the same family of thin spiced savoury condiments. What changes: walnut ketchup is sharper, more astringent and more heavily spiced, with a tannic bite that mushroom ketchup does not have. Use a slightly lighter hand in delicate sauces. Old recipes often list mushroom and walnut ketchup interchangeably, which tells you the swap was accepted long before we were arguing about it.

Plain soy sauce, the least-bad single-bottle answer when you have nothing else.

Best for

gravies, stews, meat rubs and marinades, emergencies mid-recipe

This is the honest least-bad option rather than a good one. It covers the salt and the savoury depth, which is most of the job, and in a stew with a dozen other ingredients almost nobody will identify the difference. What changes: no mushroom, no vinegar tang, no warm spice, so the result is flatter and more one-note, and the flavour reads faintly East Asian rather than old-fashioned British. Three quarters of the volume, because soy is saltier.

Concentrated yeast extract loosened with hot water into a pourable savoury liquid.

Best for

beef stews, gravies, pie fillings, vegetarian dishes needing depth

Enormously savoury for the money, and it does rescue a flat gravy. What changes: yeast extract has an unmistakable bitter, malty, almost meaty edge that mushroom ketchup does not, and it can taste harsh if you overshoot. Dissolve it fully before adding, start with half the amount you think you need, and keep it to cooked dishes. Do not use it anywhere the sauce is served raw or spooned over cold meat, where the bitterness has nothing to hide behind.