10 Best Substitutes for Dark Soy Sauce (Plus Recipe)

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If you've ever been looking at an ingredients list and the only thing you're missing is dark soy sauce, I've got you covered with these 10 substitutes for dark soy sauce!

Dark soy sauce is slightly thicker, darker in color and a little sweeter than your regular soy sauce.

While it's often used to flavor sauces and stir fries, it's often commonly used to darken dishes like noodles and fried rice.

Dark soy sauce is aged longer than its counterparts, which is how is gets it's thicker, richer flavor. It's simple made of fermented soy beans, wheat, water and salt.

If you prefer to make your own, I've included a recipe for dark soy sauce at the bottom of this post.

Jump to:

• How to Use Dark Soy Sauce
• Dark Soy Sauce Options
• Best Substitutes for Dark Soy Sauce
• Conclusion
• Recipe
• 💬 Comments

How to Use Dark Soy Sauce

Dark soy sauce is often used in braises, marinades and sauces. We have really loved using it in this hokkien mee recipe for the slight sweetness of it. We also use it in these dishes:

• Chinese braised pork belly
• Chinese BBQ pork
• Instant Pot bak kut teh
• Air fryer General Tso's chicken
• Instant Pot ramen

If you have a dish that you would like to add some color to, dark soy sauce can really make a difference.

Dark Soy Sauce Options

Before we move on to the substitutes, I wanted to give you some of my favorite options for dark soy sauce. Personally, we use the Pearl River Bridge Dark Soy Sauce when we have a recipe that calls for it. Check out these other options as well:

• Lee Kum Kee Dark Soy Sauce
• NPG Premium Dark Soy Sauce
• Yamaroku Shoyu Pure Artisan Dark Sweet Japanese Soy Sauce (Expensive!)
• Kimlan Dark Soy Sauce

Best Substitutes for Dark Soy Sauce

I do the best I can to use dark soy sauce for recipes that call for it, but I know sometimes we get in a pinch and need a quick substitute (and don't feel like making our own). Try some of these ideas:

1. Hoisin Sauce

Hoisin sauce is definitely a lot sweeter than dark soy sauce, so be careful when using this as a substitute. Start with a little and taste before you add more.

It does have similar umami flavor, with a nice sweetness that is similar to dark soy sauce, just sweeter.

We've always used the Lee Kum Kee Hoisin Sauce, but Kikkoman makes one as well.

2. Oyster Sauce

Oyster sauce is another sweet and salty sauce that can make a good substitute for dark soy sauce. It is, again, a little sweeter than soy sauce, so taste as you add it.

It has a strong sweet, savory umami flavor and adds a nice color to dishes, similar to the soy sauce.

We use Panda Brand Oyster sauce, but you can use whichever brand you prefer.

3. Double Black Soy Sauce

Double black soy sauce is a thicker, sweet version of dark soy sauce. It is brewed with soy sauce and molasses and is the best substitute for dark soy sauce in my opinion.

That said, if you don't have dark soy sauce, you may also not have double black soy sauce. You can try some of these popular brands:

• Koon Chun Double Black Soy Sauce
• Healthy Boy Brand (Thai brand)
• Haku Japanese Premium

4. Mushroom Flavored Dark Soy Sauce

Mushroom flavored dark soy sauce is just dark soy sauce infused with mushroom flavor. This is also a really good alternative to the plain dark soy sauce.

It's got a deep, rich umami flavor from the mushrooms and gives dishes a nice deep brown color as well. Here are some of our favorites:

• Lee Kum Kee Mushroom Soy Sauce
• Healthy Boy Brand Mushroom Soy Sauce
• Pearl Chung Mushroom Soy Sauce
• Haday Mushroom Soy Sauce

5. Coconut Aminos

Coconut aminos is just fermented coconut tree sap mixed with sea salt to make a salty, umami packed sauce.

Contrary to belief, this sauce does not taste like coconut. It has a slightly sweeter taste than soy sauce, making it a great substitute.

It has a thinner consistency, more like regular soy sauce. Here are some great options if you go tis route:

• Better Body Foods
• Nutiva
• Big Tree Farms

6. Teriyaki Sauce

Teriyaki sauce is similar to dark soy sauce in that it is slightly sweet and has a nice umami taste to it.

However, we do use sesame oil, garlic and onion in our teriyaki sauce which is not present in dark soy sauce. Basically, be careful adding this depending on the dish you are trying to make.

Here are some great options:

• Teriyaki sauce in this sous vide teriyaki recipe
• Kikkoman
• Kinder's
• Best of Thailand
• Primal

7. Kecap Manis

Kecap Manis is a Malay and Indonesian style sweet soy sauce made with palm sugar and soy sauce. It is thicker than regular soy sauce and has a wonderful molasses flavor.

It's a great substitute for dark soy sauce as it is also packed with umami flavor. It is slightly sweet, so taste as you're adding it.

We always use ABC Kecap Manis, but you can try other brands you might find at an Asian market.

8. Regular Soy Sauce

Yes, good old fashioned regular soy sauce can always be used as a substitute. It won't have the sweetness or thickness of dark soy sauce, but can still work in a pinch.

We use both Kikkoman and the small batch brewed Japanese soy sauce.

9. Worcestershire Sauce

This isn't my favorite substitute, but if it's all you have it can work. You'll want to use much less of this and taste it as you go as the flavor can be string.

Worcestershire sauce is made from fermented anchovies, molasses, vinegar and spices, so it has similar ingredients, it just tends to have more of a spicy tang than dark soy sauce.

10. Make Your Own!

You can make your own substitute for dark soy sauce just by using regular soy sauce, molasses and a touch of brown sugar. Check out the recipe at the bottom of the post!

Conclusion

If you turn around and find that your dark soy sauce is gone (or you never had it in the first place), these substitutes for dark soy sauce can really come in handy.

Recipe