22 Great Substitutes for Worcestershire Sauce

Are you trying to find substitutes for Worcestershire sauce when it is sold out in the market? Worcestershire sauce is often used as a feature ingredient in vegetable salads. Its exceptional flavor will make the salad more delicious and attractive.

However, it would be better for you to know about other sauces or ingredients that can substitute for Worcestershire to make your meal more delicious. So, if you want to get more experience in this field, let’s find all great replacements together!

Is It Complicated To Find Worcestershire Sauce Substitutes?

You want to cook meals that require Worcestershire sauce, but you can not find it in the market. Or you’re not sure if Worcestershire sauce can expire, and don’t want to take any chances. Worry not, here is a list of 22 substitutes for Worcestershire sauce you can easily find.

Worcestershire Sauce Substitutes Made With Soy Sauce.

1. Soy Sauce and Ketchup
2. Soy Sauce and Apple Juice
3. Apple Cider Vinegar, Soy Sauce, and Red Pepper Flakes
4. Soy Sauce, Lemon Juice, Sugar, and Hot Sauce
5. Hoisin sauce and Soy sauce

Fish Sauce – An Excellent Ingredient To Make Worcestershire Sauce Substitutes

1. Fish Sauce and Tamarind Concentrate
2. Fish Sauce, Red Wine Vinegar, and Salt
3. Fish Sauce, Soy Sauce, and Brown Sugar

Make Worcestershire Sauce Substitutes Starting With Vinegar

1. Balsamic Vinegar and Tamarind Paste
2. Malt Vinegar, Blackstrap Molasses, and Tamarind Paste
3. Balsamic Vinegar, Molasses, and Chicken or Beef Broth

3 Pastes – Great Suggestions For Worcestershire Sauce Substitutes

1. Tamarind Paste
2. Anchovy Paste
3. Miso Paste

Other Fantastic Substitutes For Worcestershire Sauce

1. Hoisin Sauce
2. Steak Sauce
3. Oyster Sauce
4. Marmite
5. Coconut Aminos
6. Maggi Seasoning Sauce
7. Dry Sherry
8. Liquid Smoke

It is simple for you to replace Worcestershire sauce with other ingredients in a suitable ratio. The below table will help you know what you should do right now.

Let’s go to the next section. All the helpful information is waiting for you to discover right now!

The Origin Of Worcestershire Sauce

Before discovering the replacements for this sauce, You will have a chance to go back to the past to figure out the exciting information of its origin and specific features.

Worcestershire sauce is also called Worcester. It was produced in the 1830s by John Wheeley Lea ⁽¹⁾ and William Henry Perrins ⁽²⁾. They were the British chemist and the owners of Lea and Perrins Company ⁽³⁾.

Worcestershire sauce is a perfect combination of the spices such as sour, seasoning, and quite sweet. This sauce is dark brown and is used in several Western recipes. Many people think that it is the “fish sauce” of the West because of its widespread use.

The main components are malt vinegar, wine vinegar, molasses, onion powder, and garlic powder. Ingredients will be made for 18 months before blending and bottling in the city of Worcester.

Although the sauce was produced in the 1830s, its flavor did not satisfy John Lea and William Perrins. So they stopped researching it, and it disappeared a few months later.

It was not until the sauce containers were aged for a while and began to smell that they realized the special deliciousness of this sauce and began to write down the recipe and conduct production and business.

How To Make Worcestershire Sauce At Home?

Another option that you can apply if you cannot find the Worcestershire sauce in the market is to make it at home. In this section, I will show you the fantastic way to make it at home.

To make Worcestershire sauce, you need to prepare some ingredients:

• Apple cider vinegar
• Soy sauce
• Water
• Brown Sugar
• Mustard powder
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder

Follow these instructions step to step to get a high result:

• Step 1: After preparing all ingredients, you just need to put all the ingredients into a pot.
• Step 2: Cook on low heat and stir continuously until the ingredients are dissolved and the mixture boils. When the sauce thickens, let’s turn off the heat.
• Step 3: After cooking the sauce, you should wait for it to cool completely and put it in a jar.
• Step 4: You had better preserve Worcestershire sauce in the fridge to keep its quality.

Now, we will come to the next section to learn some fantastic substitutes for Worcestershire sauce. Keep reading.

Substitutes To Diversify Your Cooking Ingredients.

What can you do to save your dishes if you can not find Worcestershire sauce and do not have time to make it at home? Do not panic! 11 great substitutes for Worcestershire sauce will solve your problem.

Worcestershire Sauce Substitutes Made With Soy Sauce

I can say soy sauce is the best substitute, especially for people wondering if they can add Worcestershire sauce to their vegan diets. Moreover, soy sauce is pretty popular; you can easily find it in supermarkets, markets, and convenience stores.

Soy sauce gives a salty taste to dishes, so it is a top choice for dressing. Soy sauce will bring a specific aroma and flavor to your words. If you want to make its taste more similar to Worcestershire sauce, you can add brown sugar to the soy sauce.

1. Soy Sauce And Ketchup Together For A Lip-Smacking Sauce.

Try combining soy sauce and ketchup in a 1:1 ratio. You will get a surprising result. This combination will yield a little sour and sweet. Ketchup will become thinner when combined with soy sauce. This combination is a great substitute for Worcestershire sauce.

If you’re on a strict plant-based diet, you might be asking if ketchup is a vegan condiment. Fortunately, most store-bought kinds of ketchup are. Nonetheless, you should always double-check the ingredient list to make sure.

This mixture will be extremely suitable for dishes such as soups, stews, and burgers. You can also use it for salad dressings.

2. Soy Sauce And Apple Juice For A Fantastic Worcestershire Sauce Substitute.

Soy sauce and apple juice, when combined in a 1:1 ratio will make a great substitute for Worcestershire sauce. This mixture will give you salty, sweet, and tart flavors that blend together.

You should add this sauce to dishes that have more than one taste. This will add more value to your dish. If you add it to uncooked dishes, the apple flavor will be outstanding.

3. Soy Sauce, Apple Cider Vinegar, And Red Pepper Flakes For An Authentic Worcestershire Sauce.

Mixing the mixture in a ratio of two parts water, 1 part vinegar, and adding a little red pepper flake will create a sauce that has all the sweet, spicy, and sour elements of Worcestershire sauce.

It would help if you use this sauce in stews, soups. That will help add flavor to those dishes. However, for cocktails, you should not use too much of this mixture.

4. Soy Sauce, Lemon Juice, Granulated Sugar, And Hot Sauce Mix

To make a mixture to replace 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, you can apply the following recipe.

Use 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, combine with 1 part 4 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 part 4 tablespoons sugar, and add in some hot water to help the mixture dissolve better.

This combination will bring out sour, salty, and sweet flavors. You can use this sauce to replace Worcestershire sauce in all dishes as long as you mix it well.

5. Soy Sauce And Hoisin Sauce Combination For Another Version Of Worcestershire Sauce

Soy sauce and hoisin sauce, when combined in a 1:1 ratio will create a perfect substitute for Worcestershire sauce. If you want to add a little more sour taste, you can add apple cider vinegar. This also helps to make the taste more like Worcestershire sauce.

When you’re in a pinch, oyster sauce might seem like a viable fill-in for hoisin sauce. However, I’d suggest you refrain from using oyster sauce to replace hoisin sauce in this case. The few dissimilarities between oyster sauce and hoisin sauce mean you shouldn’t do so here.

You can use this mixture as a substitute for Worcestershire sauce in any dish. However, you should not use it for salad dressings and cocktails because its color is quite dark and quite thick.

Fish Sauce – An Excellent Ingredient To Make Worcester Sauce Substitutes

You can use fish sauce as a substitute ingredient for Worcestershire sauce because the flavor you can get from fish sauce is quite similar to Worcestershire. Fish sauce is made up of fermenting anchovies for a long time, which explains its similarity to Worcestershire sauce.

6. Fish Sauce And Tamarind Concentrate Mix For A Worcestershire Sauce Replacement

Let’s create a great mixture to replace Worcestershire sauce with fish sauce and tamarind concentrate. Combine fish sauce and tamarind concentrate in a 1:1 ratio, then mix until the mixture is completely dissolved.

You should not use too much of this solution for drinks as well as sauces because it is pretty thick, and its flavor is also quite strong.

Let’s jump into the kitchen to discover the recipe to make Worcester sauce replacements with fish sauce.

7. Fish Sauce, Red Wine Vinegar, And Salt Combination For A Wonderful Sauce

You want to create an alternative to Worcestershire sauce from fish sauce, and want to reduce the strong taste of the fish sauce. Why don’t you try combining fish sauce with red wine vinegar and a little salt?

Mix fish sauce and red wine vinegar in a 1:1 ratio, add a little salt. This combination will bring out the taste, almost like Worcestershire sauce. You can incorporate this mixture into nearly any dish.

8. Fish Sauce, Soy Sauce, And Brown Sugar Together For Lip-Smacking Sauce

A mixture with a 1:1 combination of fish sauce and soy sauce, with a little brown sugar added. Then dissolve thoroughly until the sugar is completely dissolved into the mixture. This mixture would be a great substitute for Worcestershire sauce.

You should combine this mixture for cooked dishes, this will help the sugar dissolve entirely into the dish if you do not mix it well.

Make Worcestershire Sauce Substitutes Starting With Vinegar

Some people are concerned about whether their Worcestershire sauce may have gluten. In this case, I recommend replacing it with vinegar. 

Since the latter is fermented from grapes, it has a dark brown color, a slightly thick texture, and a sour taste. Aside from being a Worcestershire sauce substitute, vinegar is an indispensable condiment in Italian cuisine.

9. Balsamic Vinegar And Tamarind Paste Mix

If Worcestershire sauce can become the perfect alternative for tamarind paste, I don’t see why the opposite can’t happen. Mix 1 part balsamic vinegar with 1 part tamarind, you’ll have a Worcestershire sauce alternative. Use ½ part of this sauce for 1 part Worcestershire.

Since it is quite dark and quite thick, I highly recommend that you should not use this sauce for cocktails and salad dressings.

10. Malt Vinegar, Blackstrap Molasses, And Tamarind Paste Together

The combination of malt vinegar, tamarind paste, and blackstrap molasses in equal proportions will make a reasonable substitute for Worcestershire sauce.

This sauce will help add flavor to dishes when you add it to stews, burgers and meat dishes. However, it is not good if you use it for cocktails and salad dressings.

11. Balsamic Vinegar, Molasses And Beef Or Chicken Broth Combination

You can also make a great sauce substitute for Worcestershire sauce by combining balsamic vinegar with molasses and chicken or beef broth. One tablespoon of this mixture can replace 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce.

Combine half a cup of beef or chicken stock with 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 part 4 tablespoon molasses, then add garlic powder, salt, ground ginger, and pepper. Mix well until it all dissolves together.

3 Paste – Great Suggestions For Worcester Sauce Substitutes.

In addition to making different types of sauces to replace Worcestershire sauce, you can also use the following 3 types of paste to add more flavor to the dish when the Worcestershire sauce runs out.

12. Tamarind Paste – King Of Sourness.

I assume that what happens if you can not find the ingredients that I have mentioned? Will you stop cooking the dishes? No, do not give up!. Let’s try using tamarind paste to replace Worcestershire sauce. It is also a great choice.

Tamarind paste is a common ingredient. It is used in soups or salads when you want to increase the sourness of your dishes. Tamarind paste does not have sweetness like Worcestershire sauce.

However, if you want to increase its sweetness, the combination of some sugar, a little apple cider vinegar, some water, and tamarind paste will create a perfect mixture. The result is the decrease of sourness, and its taste will be more familiar with Worcestershire sauce.

Let’s take a trip to Thailand to learn how to make crispy fried fish with a tamarind sauce recipe.

13. Anchovy Paste – A Surprised Ingredient For Worcestershire Sauce Substitutes

I believe that you will be surprised by the information because you do not think anchovy paste is a substitute for Worcestershire sauce. But anchovy is an essential ingredient in Worcester sauce. A little anchovy will bring a specific taste to your dishes.

And if you’re familiar with Pissaladiere, a popular appetizer from France, chances are that you’ll know exactly what anchovy paste is. If that’s the case, what are you waiting for? Let’s try out this substitute now.

You can probably combine anchovy paste with other kinds of sauce, such as soy sauce and fish sauce to increase the sauce’s flavor. On the other hand, anchovy paste and meat are also perfect to create a fantastic dish. Moreover, you should use it for cooked dishes.

14. Miso Paste – A Signature Ingredient Of Japanese Cuisine

Miso paste is an indispensable ingredient in Japanese cuisine culture. Many components create miso’s fantastic taste, but soybeans, rice, seaweed, and salt are the main components of miso paste.

Thanks to those components, miso paste will become an excellent option to replace Worcestershire sauce. You can mix miso paste and water in 1:1 ratio to have a taste that is familiar with Worcestershire sauce.

Meat, soup, stir dishes will have a fantastic taste when you combine miso paste with them. For a more satisfactory result, I recommend that you purchase miso paste from trustworthy brands only.

Learn 6 cool ways to use miso paste to create fantastic meals for your family. You can see this video to know more:

Keep scrolling! In the next part, you will know other substitutes to apply for your cooking methods.

Other Fantastic Substitutes For Worcestershire Sauce

There are many fantastic other substitutes that you can replace with Worcestershire sauce. In this part, I will show you 8 other replacements for you to diversify your cooking ingredients. Let’s check them out!

15. Hoisin sauce – A Representative Sauce Of Chinese Cuisine

Hoisin sauce is dark in color, salty, and sweet. The main ingredients of hoisin sauce are soybeans, chili, and garlic. It also includes sugar and vinegar. Hoisin sauce is a thick paste and is often used in East Asia cuisine.

The word “hoisin” in Chinese means seafood. Therefore, hoisin sauce is also known as seafood sauce. But actually, hoisin sauce is not made from any kind of seafood.

Hoisin sauce is often used to spread on grilled meat, as a seasoning for stir-fries, and as a dipping sauce. Thanks to its flavor, hoisin sauce is an excellent substitute for Worcestershire sauce.

16. Steak Sauce – Another Great Choice In Cooking

If you are finding another option to replace Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce is a choice you need to consider. In addition, steak sauce is trendy, and you can probably combine it in any dish to replace Worcestershire sauce.

Its flavor is familiar with beef; that is why its name is “steak sauce”. Add steak sauce in any dishes such as meats, soups, or stews will bring excellent flavors. That flavor is also as fantastic as when you use Worcestershire sauce.

On the other hand, you should add garlic powder and onion powder into the steak sauce. Their combination will enhance the taste of steak sauce, and you will have a mixture that tastes more familiar with Worcester sauce.

17. Oyster Sauce – The Best Sauce For Fish Dishes

You are cooking fish dishes and wanting to mix with Worcestershire sauce, but you run out of the sauce. Do not worry! Oyster sauce is an excellent substitute for Worcester, especially for premium oyster sauce produced by leading brands.

Adding a little soy sauce, water, and sugar is one of my highly recommended tricks to increase the flavor of oyster sauce.

The combination of them will create a fantastic replacement for Worcestershire sauce because the taste of the mixture will be familiar with its taste. You can use Oyster sauce as a substitute for Worcestershire sauce in a 1:1 swap.

In addition, besides using an oyster sauce with fish dishes, you can also use it with salads, noodles. You will be surprised about their flavor because their taste is not different when you combine them with Worcestershire sauce.

18. Marmite – Perfect Choice For Vegetarians

You are a vegetarian, and you want to find another Worcestershire sauce substitute option to add to vegetable dishes; you had better consider Marmite as a suitable choice.

Marmite has pure umami because it is made from salt, sugar, caramel color, yeast, celery, and other vegetables. One serving of Marmite provides almost no calories, a small amount of protein, and no carbohydrates or fat.

Mixing 1 part marmite with 2 parts lemon juice and 2 parts hot water to get a fantastic mixture that can replace 1 part Worcestershire sauce.

You can mix Marmite with butter or other foods to dilute the flavor. People usually spread Marmite on bread, toast, or crackers to add a zesty flavor.

Blow your mind with some helpful information about Marmite. You can see this video to know more:

19. Coconut Aminos – Key Ingredient Of Asia Recipes

Coconut aminos belong to the fermented ingredients group. Therefore, coconut aminos’ taste is familiar with Worcestershire sauce’s taste. Coconut aminos are created by fermenting coconut and salt.

This is a fantastic healthy sauce for vegetarians if you want to find a substitute for Worcestershire sauce.

Furthermore, If you want to make fish recipes more delicious, you can mix this sauce with some sugar and water to create a compatible mixture. Finally, you just need to add the mix to any fish dishes and enjoy its fantastic flavor.

20. Maggi Seasoning Sauce

Another full-bodied umami sauce that you can substitute for Worcestershire sauce is Maggi seasoning sauce.

Maggi seasoning sauce is full of sour, spicy, salty, and sweet flavors that will make your dishes more delicious and attractive. You should use about 1 quarter tablespoon of Maggi seasoning sauce instead of 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce as it tastes quite salty.

21. Dry Sherry

Dry sherry is a wine commonly used to add flavor to many dishes. And it is also a perfect substitute for Worcestershire sauce.

Since this signature Spanish drink is not as salty and spicy as Worcestershire sauce, you should add a little salt and ground pepper to make it taste more like Worcestershire sauce.

22. Liquid Smoke

Liquid smoke is also an alternative to Worcestershire sauce that you should consider. It will bring out as much flavor to the dish as you would using Worcestershire sauce.

You should use liquid smoke for cooked dishes, stews, soups, and dressings. However, you should not use it too much because it will make the taste of the dish difficult to eat.

FAQs

I believe that you will have many questions related to Worcestershire sauce substitutes. So, in this section, I will answer some frequently asked questions about replacements for Worcestershire sauce. I hope my answer will be helpful for you.

Can You Share Your Experience With These Worcestershire Sauce Substitutes?

Each ingredient has its specific flavor. So it is complicated for you to find a suitable substitute for any elements. The purpose of this article is to share some practical options that you can replace for Worcestershire sauce.

However, you had better identify the flavor you need for each recipe to have the best choice. I hope you can find compatible Worcestershire sauce alternatives for cooking from the helpful information I have provided.

If you feel this post is helpful and have other substitutes for Worcestershire sauce, let’s share your practical idea to help others have more fantastic options. I am delighted to receive your contribution. Thanks a lot!

References

(1), (2), (3) En.wikipedia.org. 2021. John Wheeley Lea – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wheeley_Lea>.