Uni substitutes
Uni substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Egg yolk plus bottarga or anchovy, plus butter
Per 2 servings
2 yolks, 1 tbsp grated bottarga or 2 anchovy fillets, and 2 tbsp butter
Be warned that for uni eaten raw, on rice or on its own, there is no substitute worth the name. For uni pasta there is a good answer: two egg yolks plus a tablespoon of grated bottarga or two mashed anchovy fillets and two tablespoons of butter per two servings, loosened with pasta water. That copies what uni actually does in the sauce, which is act as a rich marine egg yolk. Pounded smoked cod roe is the closest single ingredient.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- What changes —
- different taste, similar texture
- Best for —
- uni pasta
Updated 26 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of uni | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egg yolk plus bottarga or anchovy, plus butteruni pasta | 2 yolks, 1 tbsp grated bottarga or 2 anchovy fillets, and 2 tbsp butter per 2 servingsTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Smoked cod roe or tarama, poundedpasta sauces | 2 tbsp per servingTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Salmon roe (ikura), tobiko or masagogarnishing | 1 to 2 tbsp per serving, as a garnishYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Raw scallop or sweet shrimp (amaebi)nigiri | Same amount by volumeYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Scallop or shrimp puree with butter and kombupasta | 3 oz shellfish, 2 tbsp butter, ¼ tsp kombu or dashi powder per 2 servingsYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Lumpfish caviargarnishing | 1 tbsp per serving, as a garnishYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Egg yolk plus bottarga or anchovy, plus butter
different taste, similar texture
A built substitute that copies uni's job in a sauce rather than its flavour.
- Best for
- uni pasta, risotto, creamy seafood sauces
The practical answer, and it works because uni functions as a rich emulsifying yolk. You get the same glossy, silky sauce and a real marine saltiness. What is missing is uni's sweet mineral perfume and its colour; a quarter teaspoon of tomato paste or a pinch of sweet paprika restores the orange without adding much flavour. Emulsify off the heat with pasta water.
Smoked cod roe or tarama, pounded
different taste, similar texture
Cured fish roe that whips into oil the way uni does.
- Best for
- pasta sauces, spreads, spooning onto toast or rice
The closest single ingredient for texture, because it is the only common roe that emulsifies rather than bursting. It is much saltier, smokier and far less sweet, so the sauce reads as cured and savoury rather than sweet and oceanic. Soak it in a little milk first if it is very salty, and salt the dish at the end.
Salmon roe (ikura), tobiko or masago
different taste and texture
Discrete fish eggs with a bright colour and a popping bite.
- Best for
- garnishing, topping rice bowls, finishing pasta
Right colour and right burst of sea salinity, wrong physics. These eggs pop; uni melts. Do not try to make them the sauce, because they will not emulsify and heat makes them tough and cloudy. Spoon them over a yolk-based sauce instead, where they add the marine hit that the yolk cannot.
Raw scallop or sweet shrimp (amaebi)
different taste and texture
Sweet, soft raw shellfish for raw preparations.
- Best for
- nigiri, crudo, a spoonful on rice
This is the least-bad option for raw service, and it is honestly not close. Scallop and amaebi share uni's sweetness and clean sea flavour, but they are firm and springy where uni is custard, so a piece of nigiri eats as a bite of fish rather than dissolving. Buy fish sold for raw consumption, and dress it with a little olive oil or a few drops of soy to add richness.
Scallop or shrimp puree with butter and kombu
different taste and texture
Raw shellfish blitzed smooth and enriched, for a mild sauce.
- Best for
- pasta, risotto, sauces for delicate fish
The gentlest and least fishy option: sweet, marine and pale. It has no fat of its own so it lives or dies on the butter, and it will not hold an emulsion as reliably as a yolk, so keep it well below a simmer. Tastes clean and sweet rather than deep and oceanic.
Lumpfish caviar
different taste and texture
Small, firm, dyed fish eggs sold cheaply in jars.
- Best for
- garnishing, canapes
The cheap garnish option and the weakest on this list. It is briny and salty in a flat, one-note way, the eggs are small and firm rather than luscious, and the black dye bleeds grey streaks into any cream or yolk sauce. Add it at the very last second, on top, or not at all.
Questions
5 questionsWhat does uni taste like?
Sweet, briny and very rich, with a custardy texture closer to soft butter or a runny egg yolk than to fish. Good uni tastes of clean seawater and cream. Bad or old uni tastes bitter and metallic, which is why so many people who dislike it were unlucky rather than wrong.
Can I use tobiko or salmon roe instead of uni?
Only as a garnish, not as a replacement. Those are discrete eggs that pop; uni is a soft emulsifying paste. They give you the colour and a hit of salt-and-sea, but they cannot thicken a sauce or melt over warm rice the way uni does, and heating them makes them tough.
Can I make uni pasta without uni?
Yes, and it is a good dish in its own right. Per two servings, whisk two egg yolks with two tablespoons of soft butter and a tablespoon of grated bottarga or two mashed anchovy fillets, then emulsify it into the hot drained pasta off the heat with a splash of cooking water. It gives the same silky richness and a real marine saltiness. Pounded smoked cod roe does the same job with more smoke.
Can I just leave it out?
In a pasta sauce, no, because uni is the fat, the salt and the thickening all at once, and leaving it out gives you buttered noodles. Build the yolk and bottarga sauce instead. If the recipe is a piece of nigiri or a spoonful of uni on rice, then there is nothing to substitute and you should cook something else.
Why is uni so expensive?
Each urchin yields only a few small lobes, they are hand-shucked, and the roe is highly perishable, with a useful life of a few days. That combination of tiny yield, hand labour and short shelf life is why a tray costs what it does, and why substitution questions come up so often.
Tips for substituting uni
5 tips- Never let uni or a uni sauce reach a simmer. It is essentially a marine custard and it splits into grains and oil the same way an overheated hollandaise does. Take the pan off the heat, then stir it in, using hot pasta water to bring the sauce together.
- Taste before you add any salt. Uni is naturally saline and a couple of lobes will season a plate of pasta on their own, which catches people out when they salt the sauce first out of habit.
- Lemon juice flattens uni and can make it taste tinny. Use zest, or a few drops of good olive oil and a pinch of flaky salt, if you want to lift it.
- If it smells sharply of ammonia or iodine, or the lobes have collapsed into liquid, throw it out. Rinsing does not fix bitter uni, and bitterness is the single most common complaint from people who bought it from a shop with slow turnover. Fresh uni smells faintly sweet and of clean seawater.
- Reserve the two best-looking lobes and lay them raw on top of the finished dish. Uni loses its perfume when it is stirred into anything warm, so the raw garnish is what makes the plate taste of uni rather than merely rich.