Try this homemade hoisin sauce once and you will never want to use a store bought one again. This is a flexible recipe that you can customize based on the ingredients you have on hand.
Why would you ever want to make hoisin sauce at home when you can easily get it from an online store or any Asian market? The answer is that it tastes a hundred times better. The end.
Hoisin sauce is very popular in southern Chinese cooking. As a northerner myself, I seldom use it. If I need to enhance the flavor of a dish with a sauce shortcut (like in this recipe), I’ll use oyster sauce most of the time. However, hoisin sauce does play an important part in making marinades and glazes, such as that for Chinese BBQ.
It never occurred to me that someone might want to make hoisin sauce at home, until a reader mentioned to me that it could be pretty expensive to purchase, depending on where you are. Plus, it doesn’t make sense to buy a big bottle of it when you just need a tablespoon for a special recipe.
When I tried to make a small batch of hoisin sauce last week, I was even more convinced of how great an idea it was. The homemade version uses better quality ingredients, such as honey, natural peanut butter, and fresh garlic. It has a superior flavor compared to the bottled one. I wouldn’t say the homemade version tastes 100% identical to a supermarket-bought hoisin sauce, but it adds a great subtle flavor to the dishes I used it in and I was very satisfied with the taste.
After some research, I found that the only problem with making this sauce is that you need to use another sauce as an ingredient. Most of the recipes online call for hot sauce, sriracha, or miso. Its sounds strange. But the problem is that real hoisin sauce gets its flavor from fermented beans, and it’s quite difficult to create this subtle hint from most of the basic spices found in the average pantry.
In the end, I decided to use the hoisin sauce recipe from Food.com as a base. I divided the base into four parts and experimented with miso, doubanjiang (Chinese spicy fermented bean paste), Thai chili sauce, and gochujang (Korean spicy fermented chili paste) to complete the various trials. In the end, miso paste and doubanjiang created the taste most similar to hoisin sauce. However, all of them yielded satisfying results.
In this recipe, I listed all four options. Depending on what do you have in your pantry, you can easily make a great tasting hoisin sauce in 5 minutes!
More recipes to use your hoisin sauce
- Chinese BBQ Char Siu
- Hoisin Roasted Asparagus
- Chicken Lettuce Wrap
- Slow Cooker Spare Ribs in Plum Sauce
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Homemade Hoisin Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic , grated
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon miso paste (OR 1/2 teaspoon spicy fermented bean paste, OR 1/2 teaspoon gochujang + 1/4 teaspoon five spice powder, OR 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce + 1/4 teaspoon five spice powder)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Store hoisin sauce in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to a month.
I am happy to run across your recipe, I have a husband with wheat intolerance and a son with a peanut allergy, I am going to substitute Sunbutter for the peanut butter and of course I already have gluten free Tamari at home. Most prepared sauces you buy have soy sauce (wheat) so I often can’t get what I need at the store. Will be using this in Garlic Beef tonight, thanks so much!
I was a little concerned that it was too runny . I put it on the stove and in 2 min it had that nice thick consistency that I was looking for, perfect for coating my wings tonight! Thanks for the recipe!
Yay! I was looking for a more natural way to enjoy my favorite lettuce wrap recipe and I was so happy to find this! Thank you ❤️
Hi Maggie! Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I had recently discovered the joy of hoisin sauce as an accompaniment to my homemaderice paper rolls, but really hate using sauces from the supermarket that contain loads of additives. I tried your recipe and it worked out wonderfully! I omitted the grated garlic as I was time poor and it was still delicious. I will definitely be making this again!
Hello, this recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it. I have just one question… do you ALWAYS add the 1/4 Tsp Five Spice powder? I was lookin at using the miso paste option but it looks like in that case you DON’T use the 5 spice? I am thinking maybe I am reading it incorrectly, as all the other options mention the 5 spice and that flavor is so distinctive. Thanks in advance. 😊
Hi Jay, I did skip the five spice powder when I use the miso paste because miso paste has enough flavor so I don’t think extra five spice powder is needed. On the other hand, if you like the taste of five spice powder, you could try adding a smaller amount (1/8 teaspoon) and I believe the sauce will come out well.
We substituted tahini for peanut butter to avoid that flavor on broiled pork chops. Call it Eastern glaze perhaps. Great results.
That’s great to hear cuz I can’t have peanut butter!!!!
Have used this recipe twice recently – so delicious! thank you.
Thank you! Love that you used honey I stead of sugar!
Delicious! #makeitnow
Winner, winner. . . . tea-smoked chicken dinner!!!
I was out of store-bought hoisin and wondered if it could be made at home with ingredients I had readily available. YUP!!!! And THIS recipe knocks it out of the stadium!!! And it’s easy! Plus I have control over the sodium content. (I went with the chili paste and 5-spice powder option.)
Since I AM making tea-smoked chicken tonight, I added about 1-2 TBS of sherry to enhance the moisture and even browning of the skin. (1 TBS with overflow) heheheheh.
I look forward to trying the other ingredient options as well. Thank you Maggie! Well done!
Rick
I used what I had- and most of what the recipe called for, but no miso paste. I substituted Sweet and Sour sauce. Can’t say this is anything like store bought Hoisin, but it was perfect in my garlic pork (with egg noodles and broccoli slaw) recipe! I prefer this over the store bought and we love the peanut butter in it! Thank you!
Great recipe. I used the Gochujang version. I added preserved lemons and fresh cilantro with beef tips.
I made this sauce using miso paste. I went a little light on the honey, as I’m trying to avoid sugar right now.
The sauce ended up completely delicious!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Can I use Chinese 5-spice in this recipe? What other sauces need Chinese 5-Spice? What are the best uses for Chinese 5-Spice? Thank you!
Thanks so much Maggie, my wife is gluten intolerant and it is difficult to find it in the stores. I look forward to other recipes of yours. I have been to China 38 times on business and love authentic Chinese dishes.
This was amazing & the perfect addition to the pulled BBQ mushrooms I made!
When using miso paste, which should I use: red or white? Also, I’ve seen sesame paste in the ingredient list for store-bought hoisin. Would tahini be a viable substitute for the peanut butter?
You should red miso. As for the peanut butter substitute, I wouldn’t recommend tahini because it has a very different taste. If you can access to an Asian market, the Chinese sesame paste (http://omnivorescookbook.com/chinese-sesame-paste) would be a way better option.
Thanks for the recipe! I cannot wait to try it! I have been nightshade plant free for 4 months now and have been searching for a hoison sauce recipe which is without chilli. Would it be possible to freeze this sauce?
Hi Jessica, I haven’t tried to freeze this sauce yet but I think you probably can. It might separate a bit but then you can always whisk it together when it’s thawed.
Tastes great, but very watery. Is there anything I can do to counteract this? Should I simmer it on the stove for better consistency?
Hi Adam, you could adjust the recipe by reducing the light soy sauce. What you can do is to add it 1 tablespoon at a time, and taste the sauce. It also reduces saltiness this way. Replacing light soy sauce with soy sauce also slightly reduce saltiness.
I have so much trouble in cooking Chinese food as im allergic to seafood and shellfish and mushrooms and peanuts so can you give me any paperwork should ideas for substitutes please