The Best Fish Sauce Substitute Is Probably Already In Your Kitchen

Fish sauce packs a flavorful punch in just a few drops, which makes it one of our favorite condiments to have on hand at the Food Republic. We add it to chili for an umami flare, use it to transform Brussels sprouts from good to gourmet, and even add it to brine for steaks to get a rich, dynamic flavor. Not everyone has a bottle of fish sauce hanging around all the time, however, especially those who are allergic to fish or avoid animal-based ingredients. The good news is that you've probably got a great substitute already in your kitchen. Just mix soy sauce and rice vinegar. While it's not easy to replicate the exact flavor of fish sauce, equal parts soy and vinegar will create some of the same salty, sour qualities you need to perk up a batch of pad thai or whisk into a dumpling dipping sauce.

If you don't have soy sauce or rice vinegar handy, however, there are a couple of other options. The key is to remember that fish sauce gets its meaty, savory qualities from natural glutamates, which are created by fermenting fish. So any substitute needs to have at least some glutamate in order to replicate fish sauce flavor.

For gluten-free folks looking for fish sauce alternatives, you can use the trick of mixing soy with vinegar but go for liquid aminos or tamari instead of soy sauce. These products are made from either fermented soybeans or coconut sap and have a lot of the same complex characteristics as soy sauce. If you don't have any rice vinegar, try using apple cider, Sherry, white wine, or Champagne vinegar instead, which will give your faux fish sauce an acidic tang.

If the obstacle is that you don't have any fish sauce, but you're not allergic to it, the next best thing is to find something in your kitchen that's also made with anchovies, like steak sauce or Worcestershire sauce. Both of these sauces have a lot of other ingredients besides fermented fish juice so they're not great for substituting in light dishes, but they can add the complex umami flavor you're searching for in things like salad dressing and marinades. The oil from tinned fish like anchovies, oysters, and sardines mixed with some vinegar will also work in a pinch. Just make sure to test a small amount of whatever fish sauce substitute you plan to use in a separate container and give it a taste to see if you like it before scaling it up into the rest of the batch.