Sweet Soy Sauce Substitute (13 Alternatives To Use)

Sweet soy sauce is a fun condiment that can add both salty and sweet notes to many recipes but what can you substitute it for when you don’t have any?

For your convenience, I put together a list of 13 alternatives you can use to substitute sweet soy sauce. Here’s what I found!

Sweet Soy Sauce Substitute (13 Alternatives To Use)


1. Soy Sauce And Sugar

Regular soy sauce can easily replace sweet soy sauce when you mix it with a bit of molasses and some brown sugar.

Additionally, regular soy sauce has the same basic flavors you can get from sweet soy sauce. To mimic the extra sweetness, just add molasses and sugar into it.

This adjusted soy sauce can work in almost any recipe that calls for sweet soy sauce.

2. Hoisin Sauce

Hoisin sauce is a slightly thick sauce that has salty and sweet flavors, making it an excellent replacement for sweet soy sauce.

Sweet soy sauce is naturally thick because it is reduced with sugar and soy sauce while hoisin sauce is thick because of cornstarch.

Hoisin sauce works well in most recipes that need sweet soy sauce, especially if you need to add color and flavor.

You may dilute the hoisin sauce with water if you want a thinner consistency.

3. Oyster Sauce

Oyster sauce is sweet and salty with a thick consistency, making it an excellent substitute for sweet soy sauce.

Oyster sauce can easily be added to recipes that use sweet soy sauce as dips, seasonings, and more.

If needed, you may mix your oyster sauce with some water before adding it to a dish to make it thinner.

4. Soy Sauce and Honey

If you don’t have sweet soy sauce but have other pantry staples like honey and soy sauce, you can combine them to create sweet soy sauce.

All you need to do is to mix 1 part of soy sauce and 3 parts of honey. Honey will help thicken the sauce, making it similar to sweet soy sauce, and the regular soy sauce will add the salty and umami flavors you need.

5. Fish Sauce and Honey

Another unique condiment combination you can try to replace sweet soy sauce is mixing 2-3 parts of honey with 1 part fish sauce.

Fish sauce has savory and salty notes but the honey will tone it down and add some sweetness.

Because the fish sauce is very pungent and fishy, you may need to adjust how much honey you want to add.

Moreover, you may only want to add just a little of this to your recipe since the fish sauce can easily overwhelm your recipe.

6. Coconut Aminos

Sweet Soy Sauce Substitute

Coconut aminos is a fantastic replacement for sweet soy sauce because it tastes like regular soy sauce with sweeter notes.

However, coconut aminos are not as salty so you may need to add a bit of salt to make up for it.

Additionally, if you feel like your coconut aminos still lack some sweetness, you can add some brown sugar or honey.

7. Ohsawa White Nama Shoyu Sauce

This shoyu sauce has a thicker texture than most soy sauces with a slightly sweet flavor and a fruity aroma, meaning it can replace sweet soy sauce well.

You can add this into most recipes that need sweet soy sauce, adjusting the amount to your preference.

However, you may still want to add honey or brown sugar to this sauce if you think it lacks sweetness.

8. Tianmian Sauce

Tianmian sauce is a Chinese sweet bean sauce that is salty, savory, and a bit sweet, so it shares a lot of similarities to sweet soy sauce.

Tianmian sauce is thicker than sweet soy sauce but it may not be an issue in most recipes. You can always dilute it with water if you want a thinner consistency.

Moreover, you can add some brown sugar or honey to give it more sweetness.

9. Tamari Sauce

Tamari sauce is soy sauce that is made without wheat. While it does not have the same sweetness as sweet soy sauce, you can fix that by adding sugar or brown sugar.

Once you mix it with a sweetener, tamari sauce can be used in almost any recipe that needs sweet soy sauce.

10. Tamarind Paste

Tamarind paste is dark and sticky. It is typically used in more savory dishes so it cannot serve as a sweet soy sauce replacement on its own.

However, tamarind paste can work as a substitute for sweet soy sauce when you combine it with other ingredients.

Mix 2 cups water, 1 cup tamarind pulp, and sugar to taste and boil it. After you boil it, strain out any sediments and let it cool.

11. Dark Soy Sauce

Dark soy sauce is darker, thicker, and slightly sweeter than light or regular soy sauce, so it can easily replace sweet soy sauce.

However, you may need to tweak your dark soy sauce by adding brown sugar or honey to make it sweeter.

12. Light Soy Sauce

Light soy sauce can work in a pinch if you need an alternative to sweet soy sauce but you will need to adjust its flavor before you use it.

You will likely need to add brown sugar or honey to your light soy sauce as it is much saltier than sweet soy sauce.

13. Liquid Aminos

Liquid aminos taste like regular soy sauce thanks to its umami and salty flavors but it also has a bit of sweetness.

However, you ought to add some sugar or honey into your liquid aminos before using it in your recipe as its sweetness will not match the flavors of sweet soy sauce.

If you want to learn more about soy sauce, you can see our related posts on dark soy sauce substitutes, light soy sauce substitutes, and white soy sauce substitutes.

Conclusion

Sweet soy sauce is an excellent ingredient that adds sweet and salty flavors to many recipes as seasoning, dip, and more.

If you do not have sweet soy sauce available, you can use any of the substitutes listed above to add to your recipes!

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