The best fish sauce substitute for most recipes is soy sauce mixed with rice vinegar in equal parts. This combination mimics the salty, sour, and savory qualities that fish sauce brings to a dish. But the ideal swap depends on your recipe, your dietary needs, and what you already have in the pantry.
Fish sauce gets its distinctive flavor from free glutamic acid, the same compound responsible for the savory taste known as umami. Some fish sauces contain more than 1,000 mg of glutamic acid per 100 mL, which is why it adds such deep, complex flavor from just a small amount. Any good substitute needs to deliver at least some of that salty umami punch.
Soy Sauce: The Easiest Swap
Soy sauce is the most accessible substitute because it’s fermented, salty, and rich in glutamates. On its own, though, it lacks the tangy brightness that fish sauce contributes. Start with less soy sauce than the recipe calls for in fish sauce, then taste and adjust. Soy sauce can be saltier drop for drop, so going light at first prevents you from oversalting the dish.
For a closer match, mix equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar. The vinegar adds the sour freshness that plain soy sauce misses. You can also swap in lime juice instead of vinegar, which works especially well in Southeast Asian dishes like pad Thai, salad dressings, and dipping sauces. This blend won’t perfectly replicate fish sauce’s funky depth, but in a stir-fry or soup, most people won’t notice the difference.
Worcestershire Sauce
Worcestershire sauce actually contains anchovies, so it already has a fermented fish backbone. It also brings tamarind, vinegar, and molasses into the mix, giving it a more complex, slightly sweet flavor. You can use it at a 1-to-1 ratio in most recipes. The color is darker and the flavor leans more Western, so it works better in marinades, braises, and meat dishes than in a Thai dipping sauce. Keep in mind that Worcestershire sauce is not vegetarian or vegan because of the anchovy content.
Coconut Aminos for Soy-Free Diets
If you’re avoiding both fish and soy, coconut aminos are the go-to option. Made from fermented coconut sap, they deliver a mild salty-sweet flavor that works as a 1-to-1 replacement. The biggest difference is sodium: fish sauce ranges from 320 to 600 mg per teaspoon, while coconut aminos contain roughly 90 to 130 mg per teaspoon. That’s a significant drop, so you may need to add a pinch of salt to compensate if the dish tastes flat.
Coconut aminos are also sweeter and less pungent than fish sauce. They’re a solid choice when the fish sauce plays a background role, like in a marinade or soup base, but they won’t replicate the sharp funk that fish sauce contributes to dishes where it’s a star ingredient.
Vegan Substitutes With Real Depth
Plant-based cooks have developed surprisingly effective fish sauce alternatives using ingredients that are naturally high in umami. The core building blocks are dried shiitake mushrooms and kombu (dried kelp). Shiitake mushrooms are one of the richest plant sources of glutamates, and kombu delivers a briny, oceanic quality that gets remarkably close to the “fishy” undertone without any seafood.
A common homemade vegan fish sauce uses about six dried shiitake mushrooms and five two-inch pieces of kombu simmered in salted water, sometimes with soy sauce and rice vinegar added. The mushrooms provide the savory depth while the kelp handles the marine flavor. Combining different mushroom varieties, like oyster and enoki alongside the shiitakes, builds even more complexity. After simmering and straining, this liquid keeps in the refrigerator for weeks.
Miso paste, particularly white miso, is another vegan option. It’s fermented, salty, and packed with umami. Because miso is a paste rather than a liquid, you’ll need to thin it with water to match fish sauce’s consistency. A teaspoon of white miso dissolved in a tablespoon of warm water gives you roughly the right texture. Red miso works too but has a stronger, more assertive flavor that can overpower delicate dishes.
Choosing the Right Substitute for Your Recipe
The best substitute depends on what role fish sauce plays in the dish. In high-heat cooking like stir-fries, where fish sauce is one of many bold flavors, the soy sauce and vinegar blend performs well because the nuances get lost in the heat anyway. Equal parts soy and rice vinegar will give you the salty-sour backbone a pad Thai or fried rice needs.
For cold applications like dipping sauces, salad dressings, or fresh spring roll sauce, the fish sauce flavor is more exposed. Here, a homemade vegan fish sauce made with mushrooms and kombu, or Worcestershire sauce with a squeeze of lime, will give you more of the complexity you need. Plain soy sauce on its own tends to taste one-dimensional in these settings.
In soups and curries where fish sauce simmers into the broth over time, coconut aminos or a miso-water mixture can quietly add depth without drawing attention to themselves. These are forgiving applications where the substitute blends into the surrounding flavors.
No single substitute perfectly replicates fish sauce’s unique combination of salt, funk, and umami. But layering two or three umami-rich ingredients together, like soy sauce with a splash of vinegar and a pinch of dried mushroom powder, gets you closer than any one ingredient alone.