Soy sauce is a crucial ingredient in most fried rice recipes because soy sauce is an easy way to add lots of color, flavor, and moisture to rice-based dishes.
However, you may be wondering what soy sauce substitute you can use for fried rice. I compiled a list of fried rice soy sauce alternatives you can try!
8 Fried Rice Soy Sauce Substitutes
1. Hoisin Sauce
Hoisin sauce is a sauce made from fermented soybean paste, spices, and flavorings, making hoisin sauce an excellent substitute for soy sauce in a fried rice recipe.
Typically, hoisin sauce features sweet, tangy, savory, and spicy flavors, but the exact taste of hoisin sauce will depend on the brand.
However, hoisin sauce has a thicker consistency than soy sauce, so you may want to dilute hoisin sauce or mix the hoisin sauce into the fried rice very well.
Moreover, you may want to lessen certain seasonings or ingredients in your recipe depending on what type of hoisin sauce you have.
For instance, you do not need to add chili flakes or minced chili to your fried rice recipe if you have spicy hoisin sauce.
2. Liquid Aminos
Liquid aminos are a common substitute for soy sauce, and liquid aminos are concentrated amino acids made from soybeans.
Typically, liquid aminos looks and tastes like soy sauce, but liquid aminos are milder than most soy sauces with slightly sweet notes.
Therefore, you may need to add more liquid aminos in your fried rice recipe to get a stronger soy flavor.
Moreover, you will likely need to add salt into your fried rice since liquid aminos are not as salty as soy sauce.
3. Coconut Aminos
Cocout aminos are another popular alternative to soy sauce, especially if you want a soy-free soy sauce substitute since coconut aminos are made from fermented coconut sap.
Similar to liquid aminos, coconut aminos taste like mild and sweet soy sauce, but coconut aminos have a noticeably sweeter flavor than liquid aminos.
If you want to use coconut aminos in your fried rice recipe, you can use an equal ratio of coconut aminos to soy sauce, but you will likely need to add salt if desired.
4. Worcestershire Sauce
Worcestershire sauce is a fermented condiment made from various ingredients like anchovies, vinegar, sugar, salt, etc.
Generally, Worcestershire sauce is a tangy condiment, but Worcestershire sauce has lots of savory and salty flavors that can mimic soy sauce in a fried rice recipe.
Moreover, Worcestershire sauce is dark like most soy sauces, so Worcestershire sauce can easily replace soy sauce in a fried rice recipe.
However, most Worcestershire sauces are not as salty as soy sauce, so you may opt to add more salt to your fried rice.
5. Miso Paste
Miso paste is a paste made from salt, culturing mold, and fermented soybeans and some manufacturers may add a grain like barley or rice to their miso paste.
Typically, miso paste has salty and savory flavors like soy sauce, but some miso paste variants can have sweet or mild flavors.
Remember that you cannot directly add miso paste into a fried rice recipe because miso paste is very thick.
You will need to dilute your miso paste with water before mixing the miso paste into your fried rice dish.
Moreover, it is important to note that miso paste tastes particularly earthy, so you may taste earthy notes in your fried rice.
6. Fish Sauce
If you are looking for salty and savory flavors in your fried rice, you can opt to add some fish sauce instead of soy sauce.
Fish sauce is a condiment made from fermented small fish, typically anchovies, and salt, creating a briny, salty, and savory sauce.
However, fish sauce is more pungent and tastes stronger than soy sauce, so 1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce can replace 4 tablespoons of soy sauce.
Therefore, you cannot add too much fish sauce to your fried rice because your fried rice can taste overwhelmingly fishy and salty.
Moreover, fish sauce is usually reddish-brown, so the fish sauce will not add much color to your fried rice, especially since you cannot add a lot of fish sauce.
7. Maggi Seasoning
Maggi seasoning is a liquid condiment that contains fermented wheat proteins, meaning Maggi seasoning can offer you the same savory tastes like soy sauce.
Additionally, Maggi seasoning is dark brown, so Maggi seasoning can slightly darken your fried rice.
However, Maggi seasoning is a concentrated condiment, so you need to use small amounts of Maggi seasoning.
Typically, a few splashes of Maggi seasoning is more than enough for most fried rice recipes, but you can adjust the amount as needed.
8. Oyster Sauce
Oyster sauce is a thick sauce made from oysters, salt, water, cornstarch, and sugar, and oyster sauce is often used in stirfries, making the oyster sauce a great alternative to soy sauce for fried rice dishes.
Despite being called oyster sauce, the oyster sauce does not taste like oysters, but the oyster sauce does feature savory, salty, and sweet flavors.
Moreover, the oyster sauce has a very deep brown color, meaning oyster sauce can darken pale fried rice.
Keep in mind that oyster sauce is a lot thicker than most soy sauces, so you may want to dilute your oyster sauce first or mix the fried rice well.
Take a look at our other articles to learn if soy sauce is vinegar, sweet soy sauce versus dark soy sauce, and what white soy sauce is.
Conclusion
Soy sauce has become a staple ingredient in many fried rice recipes since soy sauce gives color, flavor, and texture to fried rice.
If you do not have any soy sauce on hand, you can easily get a fried rice soy sauce substitute by using hoisin sauce, Maggi seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and more.