Oyster Sauce substitute

Best substitute

Soy Sauce + Brown Sugar

2 tsp soy + 1 tsp sugar

Best for stir-fry sauces that must coat the food

Needs a tweakLikely in your cupboard

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 1/4 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.

Other oyster sauce substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Hoisin Sauce + Soy Sauce
Needs a tweak
2 tsp hoisin + 1 tsp soy
Already thick, already dark and already fermented from soybeans, so it clings the way oyster sauce does with no cornstarch needed.
What changes
It is sweeter and carries a five-spice, anise-like note that oyster sauce does not.
veganvegetariandairy-free
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
Taste
sweeter, spiced
Texture
thick and clinging
Covers
Sweetness
Umami & savoury depth
Thickening
Misses
Salt — not covered
Prep. Whisk 2 tsp hoisin with 1 tsp soy sauce until smooth before it goes in the pan.
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.
3Teriyaki Sauce
You'll taste it
1 tbsp + ½ tsp soy
A sweet soy-and-sugar glaze that already behaves like a stir-fry sauce.
What changes
The mechanics are right; it just tastes Japanese-sweet where oyster sauce tastes brothy.
Likely in your cupboarddairy-free
Best for
when teriyaki is the only Asian sauce in the fridge, chicken and salmon rather than greens, quick weeknight noodles
Taste
sweeter, gingery
Texture
similar to thin
Covers
Sweetness
Umami & savoury depth
Thickening
Misses
Salt — not covered
Prep. Whisk 1 tbsp teriyaki with 1/2 tsp soy sauce; add cornstarch slurry only if the bottle is thin.
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.
4Dried Shiitake Liquid + Soy Sauce + Sugar
You'll taste it
2 tsp liquid + 2 tsp soy
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.
What changes
veganvegetariandairy-free
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
Taste
earthy, mushroomy
Texture
same once thickened
Covers
Salt
Sweetness
Umami & savoury depth
Thickening
Prep. Steep 2 dried shiitake in 1/4 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.
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.
5Fish Sauce, Diluted + Sugar
You'll taste it
1 tsp fish + 1 tsp sugar
Fish sauce is the swap people reach for and then pour in spoon for spoon, which is why the dish comes out too salty.
What changes
Use a third of the amount, put the sugar back, and it works.
dairy-freegluten-free
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
Taste
sharp, fermented-fishy
Texture
thin unless thickened
Covers
Salt
Umami & savoury depth
Misses
Sweetness — not covered
Thickening — not covered
Prep. Dissolve 1 tsp brown sugar in 1 tsp fish sauce and 1 tsp water; add cornstarch slurry if the dish is glazed.
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.
6Soy Sauce Alone
In a pinch
Use 2 tsp for every 1 tbsp of oyster sauce
It seasons the food and adds savoury depth, and that is all.
What changes
The dish will be edible and will not look or feel like it was meant to.
Likely in your cupboardveganvegetariandairy-free
Best for
when the cupboard is genuinely bare, soups and braises where nothing needs to cling
Taste
salty, flat
Texture
thin, will not coat
Covers
Salt
Umami & savoury depth
Misses
Sweetness — not covered
Thickening — not covered
Prep. Use 2 tsp soy sauce per tablespoon of oyster sauce and expect a thin sauce.
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.

Check your case

Does the sauce need to coat the food, or just season it?

You are finishing a stir-fry - beef and broccoli, gai lan, noodles - and the sauce should coat everything in a shiny layer.
You need thickness as well as flavour. Use 2 tsp soy sauce + 1 tsp brown sugar + 1/4 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.
Jump to Soy Sauce + Brown Sugar or Hoisin Sauce + Soy Sauce
The oyster sauce is one of several things in a marinade, braise or filling and the dish is not glazed.
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.
Jump to Soy Sauce + Brown Sugar or Soy Sauce Alone
Someone eating the dish has a shellfish allergy, or is vegetarian or vegan.
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.
Jump to Soy Sauce + Brown Sugar or Hoisin Sauce + Soy Sauce
The dish is named after the sauce - gai lan in oyster sauce, oyster sauce beef.
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.

Don’t substitute oyster sauce here

When to keep looking rather than swap

You are cooking for someone with a shellfish allergy and reaching for a bottle labelled oyster-flavoured sauce or a generic stir-fry sauce.
Oyster sauce is made from oyster extract, and bottles labelled oyster-flavoured almost always still contain it. Bottled stir-fry, teriyaki and hoisin-style sauces sometimes contain oyster or fish extract too.
Instead. 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.
Fish sauce is roughly three times as salty as oyster sauce - about 1,410 mg of sodium per tablespoon against 490 mg - and it is thin and unsweetened. The dish comes out salty and the sauce runs off the food.
Instead. 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.
When the sauce is the dish, every substitute is defined by the briny oyster depth it does not have. No amount of soy sauce and sugar gets there.
Instead. 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.
Half of what oyster sauce does is physical. A thin, unsweetened sauce will not reduce and cling, so the food never glazes and the liquid separates out in the pan.
Instead. Always add 1 tsp of sugar, and 1/4 tsp of cornstarch slurried in 1 tsp of cold water, per tablespoon of oyster sauce you are replacing in a glazed dish.

What is Oyster Sauce?

Oyster Sauce is a thick, dark Cantonese sauce made from oyster extract, sugar, salt and usually a little starch, which is why it clings to stir-fried food as a glossy glaze rather than running off it.

Cooking tips

Oyster sauce is thick for a reason. If your substitute is thin, add 1/4 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.

Frequently asked questions

What 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, 1/4 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 1/4 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 1/4 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.

Related substitutes

More sauces & condiments substitutes

Oyster Sauce substitute

Other oyster sauce substitutes

2Hoisin Sauce + Soy Sauce

3Teriyaki Sauce

4Dried Shiitake Liquid + Soy Sauce + Sugar

5Fish Sauce, Diluted + Sugar

6Soy Sauce Alone