Soy sauce substitutes
Soy sauce substitutes — 7 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Also called soya sauce, shoyu, koikuchi shoyu, all-purpose soy sauce
Use Tamari
Same amount as the soy sauce
Tamari is the one true swap for soy sauce: same amount, nothing else to change. It is brewed the same way from soybeans, with little or no wheat, so it is also the answer if you need the dish to be gluten-free. If you have no tamari, coconut aminos work but are about a third as salty and noticeably sweeter, so add 1/8 to ¼ teaspoon of fine salt per tablespoon.
- Verdict —
- Works
- The tweak —
- Same amount, and nothing else to change.
- Best for —
- gluten-free cooking, where it is the only genuinely close option
Checked 22 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
But first: what’s the soy sauce doing?
Pick your caseIs anything ruled out - gluten, soy, sodium - or do you just need something salty and savoury?
Ordinary soy sauce is brewed with roasted wheat, so it is not gluten-free to begin with. Tamari is brewed with little or no wheat and swaps in at the same amount with nothing else to change - just check the bottle says gluten-free, since a few tamari brands do include some wheat. See gluten-free soy sauce.
Notes on tamari
Same amount
Coconut aminos is the one widely sold soy-free option. It is about a third as salty and clearly sweeter, so add 1/8 to ¼ tsp of fine salt per tablespoon and cut any other sugar in the recipe. More at soy-free soy sauce.
Notes on coconut aminos
1 tbsp + 1/8 tsp salt
Dark soy sauce is thicker, less salty and much darker than the ordinary kind, and its job is the colour. Per teaspoon of dark soy sauce use 1 tsp of ordinary soy sauce plus ¼ tsp of molasses. Swapping in plain soy sauce alone tastes right and leaves the dish pale. See dark soy sauce substitutes.
Notes on tamari
Same amount
Nothing is cooked, so nothing hides a substitute. Tamari is the only swap that passes here. Coconut aminos in a sushi dish tastes sweet, and a salt-and-water mixture tastes of nothing but salt.
Notes on tamari
Same amount
If tamari is in the cupboard, stop there - it is the same amount and nothing else changes. Otherwise the choice is decided by what is ruled out. No gluten: tamari or liquid aminos or coconut aminos. No soy at all: coconut aminos, plus 1/8 to ¼ tsp of salt per tablespoon to make up for how much less salty it is. Nothing but staples: 1/3 tsp of fine salt per tablespoon, and accept that the dish will taste salty rather than savoury and will look pale. And check whether the recipe wanted dark soy sauce, which is a different bottle doing a different job.
Soy sauce is the salt of the dish - about 880 mg of sodium a tablespoon - plus the fermented glutamates that make food taste finished rather than merely salted. It also stains everything brown.
Saltprimary
About 880 mg of sodium per tablespoon, roughly the same as a third of a teaspoon of fine salt. In most stir-fries and marinades it is the only salt in the recipe, so any swap has to be measured against that figure rather than poured in by eye.
Umami & savory depthprimary
Months of fermentation break soy protein down into free amino acids, mostly glutamate. That is why a splash makes a broth taste finished, and why salt alone leaves the same dish tasting salty but hollow.
Aroma & flavor identitysecondary
The roasty smell that rises when soy sauce hits a hot wok is volatile and short-lived. Boil it for twenty minutes and the aroma is gone, leaving only salt - which is why soy sauce goes into a stir-fry near the end and into a marinade at the start.
Browning & colorsecondary
It stains everything it touches brown, and its sugars and amino acids brown further in a hot pan. This is why the same recipe made with coconut aminos comes out looking pale even though it tastes right.
Every option, one card
Ranked · per 1 tbsp soy sauce| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 tbsp soy sauce | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tamarigluten-free cooking, where it is the only genuinely close option | 1 tbspWorks | Works |
| 2 | Liquid aminosgluten-free cooking when there is no tamari | 2 tsp, then taste before adding moreTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Worcestershire saucemeat marinades, gravies and stews | 2 tsp + 1 tsp water + 1/8 tsp fine saltYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Coconut aminossoy allergies and soy-free diets | 1 tbsp + 1/8 to ¼ tsp fine salt, to tasteYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Fish sauceThai and Vietnamese cooking, where it is the native seasoning | 2 tsp + 1 tsp waterYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Oyster sauceChinese stir-fries that should be glossy | 1 tbsp + 1/8 tsp fine saltYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 7 | Fine salt + A pinch of sugarwhen there is genuinely nothing else in the kitchen | 1/3 tsp + a pinch of sugar, dissolved in 1 tbsp waterYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Tamari
very slightly rounder and less sharp
Brewed the same way as soy sauce, from soybeans with little or no wheat. It is slightly thicker, slightly less sharp and marginally saltier, and in a finished dish nobody will pick it out.
- Covers
- Salt
- Umami & savory depth
- Aroma & flavor identity
- Browning & color
- Amount
- 1 tbsp tamari for 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Best for
- gluten-free cooking, where it is the only genuinely close option, raw dipping sauces for sushi and dumplings, any recipe at all, if the bottle is in the cupboard
- Texture
- a touch thicker in the bottle, identical in the pan
- Look
- the same dark brown
- Suits
- vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Contains
- soy
- Same amount, and nothing else to change.
- If you are cooking for coeliac disease, check the label says gluten-free - a small number of tamari brands are brewed with some wheat.
Tamari carries about 1,000 mg of sodium per tablespoon against soy sauce's 880 mg. The difference is small enough to ignore in a stir-fry and worth tasting for in a delicate broth.
Liquid aminos
similar but sharper and saltier, with less of the roasted note
A soy-derived seasoning that tastes close to soy sauce but is markedly saltier per spoonful, which is why the swap is two teaspoons rather than a tablespoon.
- Covers
- Salt
- Umami & savory depth
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 2 tsp liquid aminos, then taste before adding more for 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Then
- Add it as you would soy sauce. It is gluten-free, so it also solves that problem, though it is still made from soybeans.
- Best for
- gluten-free cooking when there is no tamari, dressings and marinades, when you want soy flavour with no wheat
- Texture
- the same
- Look
- the same dark brown, sometimes a shade lighter
- Prep
- Start with 2 tsp per tablespoon of soy sauce, then taste before adding more.
- Suits
- vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free
- Contains
- soy
- Start with 2 tsp per tablespoon of soy sauce and taste. Read your bottle's sodium figure per serving - the common brands are saltier per spoonful than soy sauce, sometimes by half again.
- Hold back any other salt in the recipe until the dish is nearly done.
- It is thinner and less aromatic than soy sauce, so add it earlier in the cooking rather than as a finishing splash.
Still a soybean product, so it is not an option for a soy allergy. Gluten-free, which is its main advantage over ordinary soy sauce.
Do not pour it in spoon for spoon on the assumption it is interchangeable - that is how the dish gets too salty.
Worcestershire sauce
sweeter, tangier and spiced - clearly a different sauce
A fermented sauce with anchovies, tamarind, molasses and spices in it. The savoury depth is real, but so is the sweetness and the tang, and it is much less salty than soy sauce.
- Covers
- Umami & savory depth
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce + 1 tsp water + 1/8 tsp fine salt for 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Then
- Mix before adding, and taste before putting any other salt in the dish.
- Best for
- meat marinades, gravies and stews, Western dishes that want depth rather than an Asian flavour, when Worcestershire is the only fermented bottle in the house
- Texture
- the same
- Look
- similar in colour, slightly redder
- Prep
- Mix 2 tsp Worcestershire with 1 tsp water and 1/8 tsp fine salt.
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- dairy-free
- Contains
- fish, wheat
- Add 1/8 tsp of fine salt per tablespoon. Worcestershire is only about a quarter as salty as soy sauce, so on its own the dish tastes sweet-sour and under-seasoned.
- Cut any vinegar and any sugar in the recipe - Worcestershire brings both.
- Use two thirds of the volume rather than a straight swap; the spice and clove notes build up quickly.
Contains anchovies, so it is neither vegetarian nor safe for a fish allergy. Most versions also contain wheat.
Not for a Japanese or Chinese dish where soy sauce is the whole seasoning, and never as a dipping sauce.
Coconut aminos
distinctly sweeter and milder, with a faint caramel note
Made from fermented coconut sap, so it is free of both soy and wheat. It is the go-to for a soy allergy, and it is a good deal sweeter and much less salty than soy sauce.
- Covers
- Umami & savory depth
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos + 1/8 to ¼ tsp fine salt, to taste for 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Then
- Add the salt gradually and taste - brands differ, so the bottle's sodium figure is worth reading.
- Best for
- soy allergies and soy-free diets, gluten-free cooking without soybeans, dressings, where the extra sweetness is easy to balance with acid
- Texture
- slightly thinner and more syrupy at once
- Look
- paler - a stir-fry stays light brown rather than going dark, and glazes do not deepen the same way
- Prep
- Use 1 tbsp coconut aminos plus 1/8 to ¼ tsp fine salt; cut other sugar in the recipe by a third.
- Suits
- vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free
- Add 1/8 to ¼ tsp of fine salt per tablespoon. The widely sold brands carry roughly 270 mg of sodium per tablespoon against soy sauce's 880 mg, which is why an unsalted swap tastes sweet and flat.
- Cut other sugar, honey or mirin in the recipe by about a third.
- Add a few drops of rice vinegar to sharpen it if the dish tastes cloying.
Read the bottle. Sodium per tablespoon varies enough between brands that the salt correction is a range, not a fixed figure. There is more at coconut aminos soy sauce.
Not for a sushi dipping dish or anywhere soy sauce is tasted neat.
Fish sauce
sharper and unmistakably fermented-fishy
Very savoury and very salty, and it belongs in Thai and Vietnamese dishes rather than Chinese and Japanese ones. Two teaspoons, not a tablespoon - this is the correction most recipes online get wrong.
- Covers
- Salt
- Umami & savory depth
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Browning & color — not covered
- Amount
- 2 tsp fish sauce + 1 tsp water for 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Then
- Stir together and add near the end of cooking. Taste before adding any other salt.
- Best for
- Thai and Vietnamese cooking, where it is the native seasoning, soups and braises that need depth fast, when there is no soy sauce but there is fish sauce
- Texture
- the same
- Look
- much paler - the food does not darken the way it would with soy sauce
- Prep
- Mix 2 tsp fish sauce with 1 tsp water; taste before adding other salt.
- Suits
- dairy-free, gluten-free
- Contains
- fish
- Use 2 tsp per tablespoon of soy sauce. Fish sauce carries about 1,410 mg of sodium per tablespoon against soy sauce's 880 mg, so a spoon-for-spoon swap makes the dish clearly too salty.
- The dish will stay pale, since fish sauce is amber rather than dark brown. Add ¼ tsp of molasses if the colour matters.
- Finish with a squeeze of lime, which suits fish sauce and takes the edge off the fermented note.
Contains fish, so it is out for vegetarians and for a fish allergy. Usually gluten-free, unlike soy sauce.
Two teaspoons per tablespoon is the ceiling. Do not use it in a sushi dipping dish or a Japanese simmered dish.
Oyster sauce
sweeter, brinier and rounder
Thick, sweetened and made from oyster extract. The savoury depth is there, but it changes the texture of the sauce as well as the flavour - it clings where soy sauce would run.
- Covers
- Umami & savory depth
- Browning & color
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce + 1/8 tsp fine salt for 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Then
- Thin it with 1 tsp water if the dish is a soup or a marinade rather than a glaze.
- Best for
- Chinese stir-fries that should be glossy, when a thicker sauce is welcome, vegetable dishes that need coating
- Texture
- much thicker; it coats the food instead of soaking in
- Look
- glossier and darker, with a lacquered finish on stir-fried vegetables
- Prep
- Use 1 tbsp oyster sauce plus 1/8 tsp fine salt; thin with 1 tsp water for soups.
- Suits
- dairy-free
- Contains
- shellfish, soy, wheat
- Add 1/8 tsp of fine salt: oyster sauce is about 490 mg of sodium per tablespoon, a little over half soy sauce's 880 mg.
- Cut other sugar in the recipe - oyster sauce is sweetened.
- Thin with water for anything that should stay liquid; the starch in it will cloud a clear broth.
Contains shellfish, including bottles labelled oyster-flavoured sauce. Not vegetarian.
Never in a clear soup or a dipping dish - it clouds the liquid.
Fine salt + A pinch of sugar
correctly salty but hollow; there is no savoury backbone
If soy sauce is only there to season the dish, salt does that part and nothing else. Worth knowing because it is always available, and worth being honest that the dish loses its savoury depth and its colour.
- Covers
- Salt
- Misses
- Umami & savory depth — not covered
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Browning & color — not covered
- Amount
- 1/3 tsp fine salt + a pinch of sugar, dissolved in 1 tbsp water for 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Then
- Dissolve it before adding so it disperses evenly, and taste - it is easy to overshoot when you are measuring salt into a dish that expected a liquid.
- Best for
- when there is genuinely nothing else in the kitchen, soups and simmered dishes where colour does not matter, avoiding soy, wheat, fish and shellfish all at once
- Texture
- the same
- Look
- the dish stays pale, which is the most visible difference of any swap on this page
- Prep
- Dissolve 1/3 tsp fine salt and a pinch of sugar in 1 tbsp water before adding.
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Suits
- vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free
- Use 1/3 tsp of fine salt per tablespoon of soy sauce, and up to ½ tsp if the dish still tastes flat. One tablespoon of soy sauce carries about 880 mg of sodium, which is roughly what 1/3 tsp of fine salt carries.
- If you have any savoury thing at all - a mushroom, a spoon of tomato paste, a scrape of Marmite, a piece of Parmesan rind - add it. Depth is what you are missing, not salt.
- Use fine salt, not coarse or flaky, or the measurement will be well short.
This is the row that shows what soy sauce actually does: take away the ferment and you can still salt the dish, but you cannot make it taste finished.
Do not add extra salt to try to make up for the missing depth - past ½ tsp per tablespoon the dish is simply salty.
Don’t swap it here
4 cases- The soy sauce is served as it is - a dish of it for sushi, sashimi or dumplings.Use tamari, which is the only swap that holds up neat. If you have none, serve the fish with a little flaky salt and a squeeze of lemon, or the dumplings with rice vinegar, chilli oil and grated garlic.
- SafetyYou are cooking for coeliac disease and reaching for the ordinary bottle.Use tamari labelled gluten-free, or liquid aminos, or coconut aminos. Check every other bottled sauce in the recipe as well, not only the soy sauce.
- SafetyThe recipe is a tested cure, brine, pickle or canning recipe - jerky, soy-cured eggs, preserved vegetables.Follow the tested recipe exactly, and if you need it gluten-free or soy-free, find a recipe written that way rather than substituting inside one that is not. The National Center for Home Food Preservation publishes tested recipes free at https://nchfp.uga.edu/.
- The recipe asks for dark soy sauce and you reach for the ordinary kind, or the reverse.Per teaspoon of dark soy sauce, use 1 tsp of ordinary soy sauce plus ¼ tsp of molasses. Going the other way, use dark soy sauce plus 1/8 tsp of salt per teaspoon.
Safety
2 notes- Allergen
Ordinary soy sauce contains both soy and wheat. Of the swaps here, tamari and liquid aminos are still soybean products, Worcestershire contains fish and usually wheat, oyster sauce contains shellfish, and only coconut aminos or plain salt avoid all four. For coeliac disease, choose a tamari labelled gluten-free and check the other bottled sauces in the recipe too.
- Canning
Do not change the salt or the acid in a tested curing, brining, pickling, fermenting or canning recipe, and that includes swapping soy sauce for a much less salty coconut aminos. In those recipes the salt concentration and the acidity are what keep the food safe, not what make it taste good. 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 dish is too salty.A saltier substitute went in spoon for spoon - fish sauce, tamari or liquid aminos - or the recipe's own salt went in before tasting.Add unsalted liquid a tablespoon at a time - water, unsalted stock, coconut milk - plus ½ tsp sugar and a squeeze of citrus, and serve with more rice or noodles. Do not add acid alone; it makes salt taste sharper.
- The dish tastes right but looks pale and washed out.Coconut aminos, fish sauce or a salt-and-water swap seasons the food without staining it. Colour is a separate job soy sauce was doing.Stir in ¼ tsp of molasses, or ½ tsp of dark soy sauce if you have it, per tablespoon of soy sauce the recipe wanted. A minute more in a hot pan will also darken the surface.
- The coconut aminos version tastes sweet and slightly flat.Coconut aminos is much less salty and considerably sweeter than soy sauce, so an even swap under-seasons and oversweetens at once.Add 1/8 tsp fine salt per tablespoon used, taste, and add a few drops of rice vinegar. Cut any honey, sugar or mirin still to go into the dish.
- A reduced sauce turned bitter and harsh.Soy sauce was boiled hard for a long time. Its aroma goes first and its salt concentrates, and past a certain point the flavour turns acrid.Add water a tablespoon at a time plus a pinch of sugar to round it off. Next time add the soy sauce in the last few minutes rather than at the start.
Measure it
8 measures- 1 tbsp soy sauceabout 880 mg sodiumThat is roughly what 1/3 tsp of fine salt carries. Every amount on this page is calibrated against this number.
- 1 tsp soy sauceabout 290 mg sodiumUseful when a recipe finishes a dish with a teaspoon and you are working out whether to add salt as well.
- Tamariabout 1,000 mg sodium per tbspMarginally saltier than soy sauce. Not enough to change the amount, enough to taste for in a clear broth.
- Coconut aminosroughly 270 mg sodium per tbsp, brand-dependentAbout a third of soy sauce, which is why it needs 1/8 to ¼ tsp of added salt per tablespoon. Read the bottle, since brands vary.
- Fish sauce and oyster sauce, for comparisonabout 1,410 mg and about 490 mg sodium per tbspFish sauce goes in at 2 tsp per tablespoon of soy sauce; oyster sauce goes in at a full tablespoon plus a pinch of salt.
- Dark soy sauce1 tsp = 1 tsp ordinary soy sauce + ¼ tsp molassesDark soy is thicker, sweeter and less salty than the ordinary kind. Its job is the colour.
- Glutenbrewed from soybeans and roasted wheat, so ordinary soy sauce contains glutenTamari is brewed with little or no wheat; check the label says gluten-free if it matters medically.
- Storageit does not spoil, but the aroma fadesAn opened bottle keeps its brightness for a few months in the fridge and rather less in a warm cupboard.
Questions
9 questionsWhat is the best substitute for soy sauce?
Tamari, at the same amount, with nothing else to change - it is brewed the same way from soybeans, with little or no wheat, so it is also the gluten-free answer. Without tamari, coconut aminos plus 1/8 to ¼ teaspoon of fine salt per tablespoon is the next best, and if the cupboard is bare, 1/3 teaspoon of fine salt dissolved in a tablespoon of water will season the dish, though it will taste hollow and look pale.
Can I use tamari instead of soy sauce?
Yes, at the same amount. Tamari is brewed from soybeans with little or no wheat, which makes it the closest match and the standard gluten-free option. It carries about 1,000 mg of sodium per tablespoon against soy sauce's 880 mg, so it is marginally saltier - worth tasting for in a clear broth, and irrelevant in a stir-fry. If it is for coeliac disease, check the bottle says gluten-free.
Is coconut aminos a good substitute for soy sauce?
It is the best soy-free option, with two corrections. It carries roughly 270 mg of sodium per tablespoon against soy sauce's 880 mg, so add 1/8 to ¼ teaspoon of fine salt per tablespoon; and it is sweeter, so cut other sugar, honey or mirin in the recipe by about a third. It is also paler, so a stir-fry will not darken the way it would with soy sauce.
Can I use fish sauce instead of soy sauce?
Yes in Thai and Vietnamese dishes, but not spoon for spoon. Use 2 teaspoons of fish sauce plus 1 teaspoon of water per tablespoon of soy sauce: fish sauce carries about 1,410 mg of sodium per tablespoon against 880 mg, so a straight swap makes the dish too salty. It will also leave the food paler, since fish sauce is amber rather than dark brown, and it is not vegetarian.
What is the difference between light and dark soy sauce?
Light, or ordinary, soy sauce is thin and salty and does the seasoning; dark soy sauce is thicker, sweeter, less salty and does the colour, which is why it appears in red-braised dishes and lo mein. They are not interchangeable: per teaspoon of dark soy sauce use 1 teaspoon of ordinary soy sauce plus ¼ teaspoon of molasses, and going the other way add 1/8 teaspoon of salt per teaspoon.
What is the best soy sauce substitute for fried rice?
Tamari, at the same amount, because fried rice depends on soy sauce for both the seasoning and the colour and tamari supplies both. Coconut aminos works but will leave the rice noticeably paler and slightly sweet, so add 1/8 teaspoon of salt per tablespoon and a few drops of rice vinegar. Add it down the side of the hot pan in the last thirty seconds.
How do I make a soy sauce substitute at home?
Simmer 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce with 1 tablespoon of water, 1/8 teaspoon of fine salt and a pinch of sugar for a minute; that gets you a soy-like seasoning liquid for a marinade or a gravy. For a soy-free version, mix 1 tablespoon of coconut aminos with 1/8 teaspoon of salt and a few drops of rice vinegar. Neither is fermented soy sauce, so neither belongs in a dipping dish.
What is the best low-sodium soy sauce substitute?
Coconut aminos, at roughly 270 mg of sodium per tablespoon against soy sauce's 880 mg - the lowest of any option here, and the only one that keeps some savoury depth. Diluting ordinary soy sauce half and half with water gets you to about 440 mg per tablespoon and halves the flavour too, so add ¼ teaspoon of rice vinegar and a pinch of sugar to compensate.
Is soy sauce gluten-free?
Ordinary soy sauce is not: it is brewed from soybeans and roasted wheat in roughly equal parts. Tamari is brewed with little or no wheat and is the usual gluten-free choice, though a few brands do include some, so read the label. Coconut aminos and most liquid aminos are also gluten-free.
Tips for substituting soy sauce
7 tips- Soy sauce is the salt of most stir-fries and marinades, not a seasoning on top of it. Add it, taste, and only then decide whether the dish needs salt.
- In a marinade, soy sauce goes in first - that is the whole point of a marinade. In a stir-fry it goes in near the end, poured down the side of the hot pan so it sizzles and its aroma blooms rather than boiling away.
- Long boiling costs soy sauce its aroma and concentrates its salt. If a braise needs an hour, add half the soy sauce at the start for colour and the rest in the last five minutes for flavour.
- Dark soy sauce and ordinary soy sauce are not the same bottle. Dark soy is thicker, less salty and there for colour; per teaspoon you can fake it with 1 tsp of ordinary soy sauce plus ¼ tsp of molasses.
- Ordinary soy sauce is brewed with roasted wheat, so it is not gluten-free. Tamari, brewed with little or no wheat, is the swap that keeps flavour and drops the gluten.
- An open bottle will not spoil, but its aroma fades within a few months in a warm cupboard. Keep it in the fridge and it stays bright for longer.
- If a substituted dish tastes salty but somehow empty, what is missing is fermented depth, not more salt. A spoon of mushroom soaking liquid, ¼ tsp of miso or a scrape of tomato paste will do more than another splash of anything.
Sources — USDA FoodData Central (opens in a new tab), National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)