Homemade Hoisin Sauce

Making authentic Asian recipes requires a delicious Hoisin Sauce, and now you can make it at home quick and easy. Skip the store bought for the best flavor!

Homemade Hoisin Sauce Recipe

Hoisin sauce is to Asian cuisine what garlic is to Italian food, it is in just about all Asian recipes and it is easy to make at home. 

You can make your own so you don’t need to scour shelves in a grocery store for it, and it will taste better anyway!

Homemade Hoisin Sauce is the key to a great stir fry, perfect spring rolls, and any Asian salad dressing like the one for this ramen noodle salad.

I love it in this easy Chicken Stir Fry, these Chinese Steamed Buns, this General Tso’s Chicken, and these Honey Ginger Short Ribs!

What is Hoisin Sauce?

Right from the gate, we can tell the difference between a similar sauce, oyster sauce, and Hoisin Sauce is there is no oyster in this sauce. It has a soy base instead, and is slightly sweeter.

• The texture is smooth, glossy and thick consistency, similar to molasses or even a sweet barbecue sauce.
• The flavor is sweet and salty, with a slight spiciness from chilies.
• It has a rich, caramel-like smell.
• It’s used both as a glazing/dipping sauce and an ingredient stirred into dishes like stir fries, noodle dishes, etc. It adds a lovely sticky sweetness.
• Common tastes it might be compared to are molasses, soy sauce, sweet garlic sauce, or an Asian style barbecue sauce. But it’s really unique!

Ingredients Needed

Soy Sauce – Use regular or light soy sauce. If you want to make this gluten free, use Tamari instead.

Honey – If you want to make this vegan, switch to maple syrup or agave syrup.

Tahini – Don’t have this? Use sesame oil instead.

Chili Sauce – If you don’t like the spiciness of the chili sauce try using black bean sauce instead.

Pantry Staples – White vinegar, vegetable oil, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste.

“I’ve used this a half dozen times with tofu stir fry and veggies over rice or faro. Delicious and easy.”

~Linda

Looking for more leftover worthy dishes? Follow LTB on Pinterest and pin to a board!

How to make Homemade Hoisin Sauce

First: To a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients. Stir to combine.

Second: Over medium – low heat, cook until the honey melts completely and the flavors all come together. Remove from the heat.

Third: Cool slightly and store in an air tight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the full recipe and detailed baking instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post.

How do you use Hoisin sauce?

You can use it in a lot of recipes from Chinese cuisine. I use it to make stir fry, dressings, marinades, or even a dipping sauce!

What are some good Hoisin substitutes?

If you don’t want to use Hoisin Sauce you can try using miso paste, fish sauce, sweetened soy sauce,  or a stir fry sauce.

I have had read some recipes where they substitute Worcestershire sauce for hoisin sauce but the consistency is very diffferent.

What does it taste like?

Hoisin Sauce has a salty and sweet taste with a little bit of a kick and the slight tang of vinegar. It really hits every flavor you can imagine and nails the umami flavor profile very well. I love it in this steak fried rice🙂

Is it gluten free or vegan?

In order to make sure your homemade Hoisin Sauce is gluten free you need to check your soy sauce and make sure it is only made of soy and has no additional fillers. 

If you can’t find a gluten-free soy sauce you can use Tamari soy sauce instead.

If you wanted to make this sauce vegan you would need to substitute for the honey, which you could use maple syrup or sugar for.

Tips for No Leftovers

• You can use Hoisin sauce for any Asian recipe you are putting together that has a sweet and spicy flavor combination, as well as on its own.
• Make a double batch and share with neighbors and family!
• Traditional hoisin sauce doesn but I don’t put Chinese five-spice powder in mine but if you like the flavor feel free to add a pinch or two.
• If you need a hoisin sauce substitute, try soybean paste or BBQ molasses.

If you love this recipe as much as I do, please write a five-star review in the comment section below (or on Pinterest with the “tried it” button – you can now add pictures into reviews, too!), and be sure to help me share on facebook!

For your next Asian inspired meal I encourage you to try this homemade Hoisin Sauce Recipe and see if your family can tell the difference. I would love to hear your thoughts and if you changed up any of the ingredients here to make it even better!

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