Oyster sauce substitutes
Oyster sauce substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Also called oyster-flavoured sauce, oyster flavored sauce, Cantonese oyster sauce, hao you
Use Soy sauce + brown sugar
Per 1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp soy sauce + 1 tsp brown sugar
For 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, use 2 teaspoons of soy sauce plus 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, and if the dish is meant to glaze, stir in ¼ teaspoon of cornstarch mixed into 1 teaspoon of cold water. The sugar and the starch are not optional extras: oyster sauce is thick and sweet, so soy sauce on its own tastes right but slides off the food and pools in the pan.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- The tweak —
- Mix 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp brown sugar and ¼ tsp cornstarch slurried in 1 tsp cold water; add at the end and toss until glossy.
- Best for —
- stir-fry sauces that must coat the food
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
Checked 22 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
But first: what’s the oyster sauce doing?
Pick your caseDoes the sauce need to coat the food, or just season it?
You need thickness as well as flavour. Use 2 tsp soy sauce + 1 tsp brown sugar + ¼ tsp cornstarch slurried in 1 tsp cold water per tablespoon of oyster sauce, added in the last 30 seconds and tossed until it turns glossy.
Notes on soy sauce + brown sugar or hoisin sauce + soy sauce
2 tsp soy sauce + 1 tsp brown sugar per 1 tbsp oyster sauce
Thickness does not matter, so you only have to match the savoury depth and the salt. Soy sauce with a little sugar is enough, and you can skip the cornstarch entirely.
Notes on soy sauce + brown sugar or soy sauce alone
2 tsp soy sauce + 1 tsp brown sugar per 1 tbsp oyster sauce
Oyster sauce contains shellfish, and so do most bottles labelled oyster-flavoured sauce. Build the sauce from soy sauce, sugar and cornstarch, or use hoisin, which is made from soybeans. Skip the fish sauce row - that contains fish.
Notes on soy sauce + brown sugar or hoisin sauce + soy sauce
2 tsp soy sauce + 1 tsp brown sugar per 1 tbsp oyster sauce
There is no swap that tastes like oyster sauce, because the oyster is the flavour of the dish. Dress the greens with soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and a few drops of sesame oil, and serve it as garlic greens rather than pretending.
Ask one question first: does the sauce have to coat the food? If it does, whatever you use has to be thick, which means sugar and usually a cornstarch slurry, not just soy sauce. If it does not - a marinade, a braise, a filling - you only have to match the savour and the salt, and soy sauce with a pinch of sugar is enough. Then check the salt: oyster sauce is about 490 mg of sodium per tablespoon, soy sauce nearly twice that and fish sauce nearly three times, which is why none of them go in spoon for spoon.
Oyster sauce carries deep shellfish umami, and because it is thickened with sugar and starch it clings. That cling is the point of a stir-fry glaze: the sauce must coat the greens, not sit under them.
Saltsecondary
About 490 mg of sodium per tablespoon, which is roughly half a tablespoon of soy sauce and about a third of a tablespoon of fish sauce. Every swap needs recalibrating against that number, not poured in spoon for spoon.
Sweetnesssecondary
There is real sugar in the bottle, which balances the salt and helps the sauce brown and gloss in the last thirty seconds of a stir-fry.
Umami & savory depthprimary
Oyster extract is boiled down until it is dense in free glutamates, which is what gives the sauce a savoury depth that soy sauce alone does not have. It reads as brothy and slightly briny rather than simply salty.
Thickeningprimary
Sugar and a little starch make the sauce viscous, so when it hits a hot pan it reduces and coats. Any thin swap will taste roughly right and look wrong - the liquid runs to the bottom of the pan and the food stays dull.
Every option, one card
Ranked · per 1 tbsp oyster sauce| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 tbsp oyster sauce | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soy sauce + brown sugarstir-fry sauces that must coat the food | 2 tsp + 1 tsp brown sugar + ¼ tsp cornstarch stirred into 1 tsp cold waterTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Hoisin sauce + soy saucewhen you want the cling without mixing a starch slurry | 2 tsp + 1 tsp soy sauceTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Teriyaki saucewhen teriyaki is the only Asian sauce in the fridge | 1 tbsp bottled teriyaki sauce + ½ tsp soy sauceYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Dried shiitake liquid + soy sauce + sugarvegan cooking where the depth actually matters | 2 tsp shiitake soaking liquid + 2 tsp soy sauce + 1 tsp brown sugar + ¼ tsp cornstarch in 1 tsp cold waterYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Fish sauce, diluted + sugarSoutheast Asian dishes where a fermented fish note is welcome | 1 tsp + 1 tsp brown sugar + 1 tsp water, plus ¼ tsp cornstarch in 1 tsp cold water if it must glazeYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Soy sauce alonewhen the cupboard is genuinely bare | 2 tspYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Soy sauce + brown sugar
cleaner and saltier, without the briny depth
The swap almost everyone can make right now, and the only reason it is usually done badly is that people leave out the sugar and the starch and then wonder why the sauce is thin.
- Covers
- Salt
- Sweetness
- Umami & savory depth
- Thickening
- Amount
- 2 tsp soy sauce + 1 tsp brown sugar + ¼ tsp cornstarch stirred into 1 tsp cold water for 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- Then
- Add it in the last 30 seconds of cooking and keep tossing. It goes from cloudy to clear and glossy as the starch cooks, which is the signal that it will now cling.
- Best for
- stir-fry sauces that must coat the food, shellfish-free and vegan cooking, when you have nothing but staples in the cupboard
- Texture
- the same once the cornstarch has cooked; thin and watery without it
- Look
- with the starch it glosses and coats like the real thing but comes out a lighter, redder brown; without it the sauce collects in a puddle under the food
- Prep
- Mix 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp brown sugar and ¼ tsp cornstarch slurried in 1 tsp cold water; add at the end and toss until glossy.
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, shellfish-free
- Contains
- soy, wheat
- Use 2 tsp soy sauce rather than a full tablespoon: soy sauce carries about 880 mg of sodium per tablespoon against oyster sauce's 490 mg, so a spoon-for-spoon swap makes the dish noticeably saltier.
- Skip the cornstarch if the sauce is not meant to glaze - a marinade or a braise does not need it.
- Add ¼ tsp of dark soy sauce, or ½ tsp of molasses, if the dish is meant to look dark brown.
The starch slurry is what separates a sauce that coats broccoli from one that sits in the bottom of the wok. Always mix cornstarch into cold liquid first - dropped into hot sauce it lumps.
It cannot reproduce the oyster flavour itself, so it is not the answer for a dish named after the sauce.
Hoisin sauce + soy sauce
sweeter, with a warm anise and garlic note behind it
Already thick, already dark and already fermented from soybeans, so it clings the way oyster sauce does with no cornstarch needed. It is sweeter and carries a five-spice, anise-like note that oyster sauce does not.
- Covers
- Sweetness
- Umami & savory depth
- Thickening
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Amount
- 2 tsp hoisin sauce + 1 tsp soy sauce for 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- Then
- Whisk them together before adding, or the thick hoisin will sit in a lump on the food.
- Best for
- when you want the cling without mixing a starch slurry, shellfish-free Cantonese-style stir-fries, pork and duck, where the extra sweetness suits the meat
- Texture
- the same - thick and clinging
- Look
- glosses well and comes out a darker, redder brown than oyster sauce
- Prep
- Whisk 2 tsp hoisin with 1 tsp soy sauce until smooth before it goes in the pan.
- Suits
- vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, shellfish-free
- Contains
- soy, wheat, sesame
- Add the 1 tsp of soy sauce. Hoisin carries only about 260 mg of sodium per tablespoon against oyster sauce's 490 mg, so on its own the dish tastes flat and oversweet.
- Cut any other sugar in the recipe - hoisin is already sweet, often with sugar as its first or second ingredient.
- Use two thirds of the amount in a delicate dish; the five-spice aroma is assertive.
This is the swap that changes the least about how the dish behaves and the most about how it tastes. If you are cooking for a shellfish allergy, it is the easiest safe route.
Not for a dish where the point is the clean briny savour of oyster - the spice in hoisin will be the thing people taste.
Teriyaki sauce
clearly sweeter and simpler, with a ginger-garlic edge from the bottle
A sweet soy-and-sugar glaze that already behaves like a stir-fry sauce. The mechanics are right; it just tastes Japanese-sweet where oyster sauce tastes brothy.
- Covers
- Sweetness
- Umami & savory depth
- Thickening
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp bottled teriyaki sauce + ½ tsp soy sauce for 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- Then
- If the teriyaki is the thin pourable kind rather than a thick glaze, add ¼ tsp cornstarch slurried in 1 tsp cold water.
- Best for
- when teriyaki is the only Asian sauce in the fridge, chicken and salmon rather than greens, quick weeknight noodles
- Texture
- similar if it is a thick teriyaki, thin if it is a marinade-style one
- Look
- very shiny and often darker, with a lacquered look that can tip into sticky
- Prep
- Whisk 1 tbsp teriyaki with ½ tsp soy sauce; add cornstarch slurry only if the bottle is thin.
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- dairy-free
- Contains
- soy, wheat
- Cut or drop any other sugar and any mirin in the recipe - bottled teriyaki is already heavily sweetened.
- Add ½ tsp soy sauce for the salt, and taste before adding more.
- Bottled teriyaki varies wildly in thickness; look at the bottle before deciding whether you need the cornstarch.
Check the label for the words oyster or fish - some bottled teriyaki and stir-fry sauces contain both, which matters if you are avoiding shellfish.
One tablespoon per portion is plenty; beyond that the dish tastes like teriyaki rather than a Cantonese stir-fry.
Dried shiitake liquid + soy sauce + sugar
deeply savoury but earthy and mushroomy rather than briny
The closest a plant-based sauce gets to oyster sauce's depth, because dried shiitake is dense in guanylate, a savoury compound that multiplies the effect of the glutamate in soy sauce.
- Covers
- Salt
- Sweetness
- Umami & savory depth
- Thickening
- Amount
- 2 tsp shiitake soaking liquid + 2 tsp soy sauce + 1 tsp brown sugar + ¼ tsp cornstarch in 1 tsp cold water for 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- Then
- Cover 2 dried shiitake with ¼ cup of just-boiled water and leave 30 minutes, or cover with cold water and refrigerate overnight for a cleaner flavour. Lift the mushrooms out gently and do not squeeze them - squeezing pushes grit and bitterness through.
- Best for
- vegan cooking where the depth actually matters, when you have ten minutes and dried mushrooms, shellfish-free versions of a dish named after the sauce
- Texture
- the same once thickened
- Look
- a shade paler and browner than oyster sauce, and it glosses properly
- Prep
- Steep 2 dried shiitake in ¼ cup hot water for 30 min, then combine 2 tsp of the liquid with soy sauce, sugar and the cornstarch slurry and simmer 1 to 2 minutes.
- Suits
- vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, shellfish-free
- Contains
- soy, wheat
- Simmer the mixed sauce for 1 to 2 minutes before using it, which concentrates it and cooks the starch.
- Chop the soaked mushrooms and add them to the dish rather than throwing them out.
- If it still tastes thin, reduce it by half rather than adding more soy sauce, which would only make it saltier.
Worth doing if you cook vegan food often - the soaking liquid keeps in the fridge for a few days and does the same job in any recipe that wanted oyster sauce.
The mushroom flavour is distinct. In a dish with strong garlic, ginger and sesame it disappears; in a plain plate of greens it announces itself.
Fish sauce, diluted + sugar
sharper and unmistakably fermented-fishy rather than brothy
Fish sauce is the swap people reach for and then pour in spoon for spoon, which is why the dish comes out too salty. Use a third of the amount, put the sugar back, and it works.
- Covers
- Salt
- Umami & savory depth
- Misses
- Sweetness — not covered
- Thickening — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tsp fish sauce + 1 tsp brown sugar + 1 tsp water, plus ¼ tsp cornstarch in 1 tsp cold water if it must glaze for 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- Then
- Stir the sugar in until it dissolves before it goes anywhere near the pan, and taste before adding any other salt.
- Best for
- Southeast Asian dishes where a fermented fish note is welcome, when the sauce does not need to coat anything, adding savoury depth to a braise
- Texture
- thin and watery unless you add the cornstarch
- Look
- the sauce stays glassy and runs straight off the broccoli into the bottom of the pan
- Prep
- Dissolve 1 tsp brown sugar in 1 tsp fish sauce and 1 tsp water; add cornstarch slurry if the dish is glazed.
- Suits
- dairy-free, gluten-free
- Contains
- fish
- Use 1 tsp, not 1 tbsp. Fish sauce carries roughly 1,410 mg of sodium per tablespoon against oyster sauce's 490 mg - close to three times as salty.
- Add the sugar. Without it the dish tastes sharply salty rather than rounded.
- Hold back any other salt or soy sauce in the recipe until you have tasted.
This is where the old spoon-for-spoon advice for this swap came from, and it is wrong on two counts: the salt and the thickness. Both are fixable with the amounts above.
One teaspoon per tablespoon of oyster sauce is the ceiling. Not in a Cantonese dish where the sauce is the point.
Soy sauce alone
salty and flat, with none of the roundness sugar gives
It seasons the food and adds savoury depth, and that is all. The dish will be edible and will not look or feel like it was meant to.
- Covers
- Salt
- Umami & savory depth
- Misses
- Sweetness — not covered
- Thickening — not covered
- Amount
- 2 tsp soy sauce for 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- Then
- Nothing else, which is exactly the problem - use this only if you have no sugar and no starch in the house.
- Best for
- when the cupboard is genuinely bare, soups and braises where nothing needs to cling
- Texture
- thin - it will not coat anything
- Look
- the food stays matte and the liquid pools under it instead of glazing
- Prep
- Use 2 tsp soy sauce per tablespoon of oyster sauce and expect a thin sauce.
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, shellfish-free
- Contains
- soy, wheat
- Use 2 tsp rather than 1 tbsp so the dish does not come out salty.
- If you have any sugar at all, add 1 tsp of it - that single change moves this row up two levels.
The single most common oyster sauce mistake on the internet is treating soy sauce as a spoon-for-spoon swap. It is not: it is saltier, thinner and unsweetened.
Do not increase the amount to compensate. More soy sauce makes it saltier, not thicker.
Don’t swap it here
4 cases- SafetyYou are cooking for someone with a shellfish allergy and reaching for a bottle labelled oyster-flavoured sauce or a generic stir-fry sauce.Build the sauce yourself from soy sauce, brown sugar and a cornstarch slurry, or use plain hoisin - and read the ingredients list on any bottle. If the allergy is severe, treat unlabelled restaurant stir-fries as unsafe.
- You are about to pour fish sauce in spoon for spoon.Use 1 tsp fish sauce plus 1 tsp brown sugar and 1 tsp water per tablespoon of oyster sauce, with a cornstarch slurry if the dish is glazed.
- The dish is named after the sauce - gai lan or broccoli in oyster sauce, oyster sauce beef.Dress the greens with soy sauce, a pinch of sugar, garlic and a few drops of sesame oil and serve it as garlic greens, or use the shiitake version and accept a mushroom-flavoured dish. Or buy a bottle - it keeps for months in the fridge.
- You leave the sugar and the starch out because the swap is only about flavour.Always add 1 tsp of sugar, and ¼ tsp of cornstarch slurried in 1 tsp of cold water, per tablespoon of oyster sauce you are replacing in a glazed dish.
Safety
2 notes- Allergen
Oyster sauce contains shellfish, including bottles labelled oyster-flavoured sauce. Fish sauce and Worcestershire sauce contain fish, and hoisin and soy sauce usually contain wheat and soy. If you are cooking for an allergy, read the ingredients list on the bottle rather than trusting the name on the front.
- Diet
Traditional oyster sauce is not vegetarian or vegan. Mushroom-based versions exist and are labelled as such; a soy sauce, sugar and cornstarch mixture, or plain hoisin, gets you there from staples.
If it went wrong
3 fixes- The stir-fry sauce is thin and has pooled in the bottom of the pan instead of coating the food.The swap replaced oyster sauce's flavour but not its thickness. Nothing in the pan can hold the liquid onto the food.Mix ¼ tsp cornstarch into 1 tsp cold water per tablespoon of liquid in the pan, pour it in, and toss over high heat for about 30 seconds. It will turn from cloudy to glossy and grab the food.
- The dish is too salty.A spoon-for-spoon swap with soy sauce or fish sauce, both of which are saltier than oyster sauce.Add ½ tsp sugar and 1 tbsp water or unsalted stock per serving, and serve it with more plain rice. Do not add more sauce to balance it - that only adds more salt.
- The sauce tastes strongly of fermented fish.Full-strength fish sauce went in where a third of that amount was needed.Stir in 1 tsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp water, plus a squeeze of lime, and add a starchy or fatty element - more rice, a beaten egg, a spoon of coconut milk. If it is still overpowering, that flavour cannot be taken back out.
Measure it
6 measures- 1 tbsp oyster sauceabout 490 mg sodiumFor comparison: soy sauce about 880 mg, fish sauce about 1,410 mg, hoisin about 260 mg per tablespoon. Every amount on this page comes out of those four numbers.
- To make any thin swap cling¼ tsp cornstarch in 1 tsp cold water per 1 tbsp sauceMix into cold liquid first, then add to the hot pan and cook 30 seconds until it turns from cloudy to clear.
- Thick enough testit coats the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through leaves a lineIf the line closes up immediately, keep reducing or add the starch slurry.
- Label check for shellfishoyster extract is usually the first or second ingredientBottles sold as oyster-flavoured sauce still contain oyster. Vegetarian versions are built on mushroom instead and say so on the front.
- Homemade version2 dried shiitake steeped in ¼ cup hot water for 30 minCombine 2 tsp of the liquid with 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp brown sugar and a ¼ tsp cornstarch slurry, then simmer 1 to 2 minutes.
- Once openedkeep it in the fridgeIt is a low-acid, high-sugar sauce; refrigerated it stays good for months, and the label will give a date.
Questions
7 questionsWhat can I use instead of oyster sauce?
For each tablespoon of oyster sauce, use 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar and, if the dish is meant to glaze, ¼ teaspoon of cornstarch mixed into 1 teaspoon of cold water. If you have hoisin, 2 teaspoons of hoisin plus 1 teaspoon of soy sauce is closer in texture and needs no starch.
Can I use hoisin sauce instead of oyster sauce?
Yes, and it is one of the better swaps because hoisin is already thick and clings like oyster sauce does. Use 2 teaspoons of hoisin plus 1 teaspoon of soy sauce per tablespoon of oyster sauce: hoisin carries only about 260 mg of sodium per tablespoon against oyster sauce's 490 mg, so it needs the soy sauce or the dish tastes flat and oversweet. Expect a sweeter result with a warm anise note from the five-spice.
Can I use fish sauce instead of oyster sauce?
Not spoon for spoon. Fish sauce is roughly three times as salty - about 1,410 mg of sodium per tablespoon against 490 mg - and it is thin and unsweetened, so a straight swap gives you a salty dish with a sauce that runs off the food. Use 1 teaspoon of fish sauce plus 1 teaspoon of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of water per tablespoon, and add a cornstarch slurry if the dish should glaze.
What is the difference between oyster sauce and soy sauce?
Soy sauce is thin, salty and unsweetened; oyster sauce is thick, sweetened and made from concentrated oyster extract. That difference is physical, not just a matter of flavour: oyster sauce coats stir-fried food in a glossy layer, while soy sauce runs off and collects in the pan. Soy sauce is also nearly twice as salty per tablespoon, which is why you use 2 teaspoons rather than a full tablespoon.
Does oyster sauce contain shellfish, and is it vegetarian?
Yes to the first and no to the second: oyster sauce is made from oyster extract, and bottles labelled oyster-flavoured sauce contain it too. Vegetarian versions built on mushrooms exist and say so on the front. If you are avoiding shellfish, use soy sauce with brown sugar and cornstarch, or hoisin, and check the ingredients list on any bottled stir-fry sauce.
How do I make an oyster sauce substitute at home?
Cover 2 dried shiitake mushrooms with ¼ cup of just-boiled water and leave them 30 minutes. Combine 2 teaspoons of that liquid with 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon of cornstarch slurried in 1 teaspoon of cold water, then simmer for 1 to 2 minutes until it coats a spoon. That makes about a tablespoon and keeps three days in the fridge.
Can I just use more soy sauce instead of oyster sauce?
Adding more soy sauce makes the dish saltier, not thicker or sweeter. Half of what oyster sauce does is physical - it clings. Keep the soy sauce at 2 teaspoons per tablespoon of oyster sauce and add 1 teaspoon of sugar and a cornstarch slurry instead.
Tips for substituting oyster sauce
6 tips- Oyster sauce is thick for a reason. If your substitute is thin, add ¼ tsp cornstarch slurried in 1 tsp cold water per tablespoon of sauce, then cook it 30 seconds until it goes from cloudy to glossy.
- Add oyster sauce and its substitutes in the last 30 seconds of a stir-fry, off the heat or with the pan moving. Boiled hard for minutes, the sugar in it scorches and turns bitter.
- Do not salt a stir-fry before the sauce goes in. At about 490 mg of sodium per tablespoon, oyster sauce is doing most of the seasoning already.
- Oyster sauce contains shellfish, and so do bottles labelled oyster-flavoured sauce. For an allergy, read the ingredients list rather than the front label.
- A tablespoon of oyster sauce plus a splash of water is enough to dress a whole head of blanched broccoli or gai lan - it does not need a poured-over sauce.
- Keep the bottle in the fridge once opened. It will not spoil quickly, but the flavour dulls and darkens at room temperature.