I first got hooked on sweet soy glaze when I received it in my Hello Fresh box. I was instantly on a quest to find a way to make sweet soy glaze just like Hello Fresh.
Sweet soy-glazed salmon is my new favorite weeknight meal. Even my kids adore the sweet, salty taste of the perfectly glazed salmon.
How can I recreate the unique hello fresh sweet soy glaze taste and what substitutes can I use to get the flavor as close as an original sweet soy glaze?
The best hello fresh sweet soy glaze substitute is hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce has a similar taste and texture to sweet soy glaze. Coconut aminos are a fantastic low sodium substitute for sweet soy glaze. Our homemade sweet soy glaze is fresh, bold and perfect to add to any Asian-inspired recipe.
Hello Fresh Sweet Soy Glaze Substitutes
1. Tianmian Sauce AKA Sweet Bean Sauce
Tianmian sauce is very popular in Asian cuisine. It is just as dark as sweet soy glaze but has a thinner texture. We Love Lee Kum Kee’s sweet bean sauce.
You can’t beat the amazing umami taste that Tianmian sauce adds to any recipe.
Tianmian sauce is made with wheat flour, salt, sugar and fermented soybeans. It is sweet like soy glaze so you can replace soy glaze with exactly the same amount of Tianmian sauce.
A tablespoon of Tianmian sauce has about 40 calories and 550 mg of sodium.
2. Oyster Sauce
Oyster sauce is made with an oyster extract which gives the sauce a salty, sweet flavor.
Oyster sauce is just as dark and thick as sweet soy glaze. It does have a slightly fishy taste but that can be really delicious in stir-fries and barbecue sauces.
Oyster sauce is a little less sweet than soy sauce glaze. If you want to increase the sweetness, whisk in a teaspoon of brown sugar to every ¼ cup of oyster sauce.
Once your oyster sauce is sweetened, use it to replace sweet soy glaze with a 1:1 ratio.
One tablespoon of oyster sauce has about 9 calories and 492 mg sodium. Keep this in mind when you use this substitute!
Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce 18 Ounce (1 Pack)
$9.62 in stock
Free shipping
Amazon.comFeatures
- Item Package Length: 7.112cm
- Item Package Width: 7.366cm
- Item Package Height: 33.274cm
- Item Package Weight: 0.907kg
3. Hoisin Sauce
Hoisin sauce is a fantastic sweet soy glaze substitute. In fact, it is often used to make sweet soy glaze! Hoisin sauce is thick, dark, and has a salty but sweet taste.
You may be wondering is hoisin sauce the same as sweet soy glaze? They do look and taste very similar! However, they are different.
Wok Mei Gluten Free Hoisin Sauce, 8 Oz.
Free shipping
Features
- All Natural
- Gluten Free
- Incredible Hoisin Sauce, also available in Food Service sizes.
- No refined sugars, no modified starches.
- The secret to Mu Shu Pork!
Hoisin sauce is made with fermented soybeans, sesame oil, garlic, vinegar, Chinese five-spice, and also chilies.
So Can you substitute hoisin for sweet soy sauce? Absolutely! You can use hoisin sauce right out of the bottle to replace soy glaze, using the same amount of hoisin to replace the glaze.
4. Tamari Sauce
Tamari sauce is made from soybeans just like regular soy sauce. However, it is made from a liquid that is strained from fermented soybeans, making it a little thicker and less salty than regular soy sauce.
It is a perfect substitute for sweet soy glaze thanks to the similar flavor and texture.
Use the same quantity of tamari to replace sweet soy glaze. It is perfect for using as a condiment for dipping or as a marinade for meat.
A tablespoon serving of tamari sauce has about 5 calories but still contains around 630 mg of sodium.
San J International, Sauce Tamari Reduced Sodium Organic, 20 Fl Oz
Free shipping
Features
- Organic Shoyu is brewed with soybeans and wheat resulting in a more aromatic sauce perfect for dipping or as a table condiment
- Best quality product
5. Shoyu Sauce
So what can you substitute sweet soy glaze? We have yet another option: Shoyu sauce!
Shoyu sauce is a type of Japanese soy sauce. It is made with fermented soy beans, wheat, water and salt.
These ingredients give shoyu sauce a sweet and salty taste, perfect for replacing sweet soy glaze in any recipe. Use the same quantity of shoyu sauce to replace sweet soy glaze.
San J International, Sauce Tamari Reduced Sodium Organic, 20 Fl Oz
Free shipping
Features
- Organic Shoyu is brewed with soybeans and wheat resulting in a more aromatic sauce perfect for dipping or as a table condiment
- Best quality product
Shoyu sauce has about 15 calories but around 1010mg of sodium. It is definitely best eaten as a special dinner treat!
6. Soy Sauce And Honey
Hello Fresh sweet soy glaze has a delicious rich taste. You can get that same richness by making your own sweet soy glaze with honey.
Try this super quick, simplified recipe for Hello Fresh sweet soy glaze.
Mix ¾ cup of honey with 1 cup of soy sauce and ½ cup of water. Bring the mix to a boil and simmer until the sauce is thick. This will only take about 5 minutes!
Replace the Hello Fresh soy glaze with the same quantity of homemade honey soy glaze.
It is nutritionally about the same but will contain no preservatives or additives which make it extra appealing.
7. Homemade Soy Glaze
Our homemade sweet soy glaze is extremely delicious. It is full of complex flavors thanks to the garlic and ginger.
Our homemade soy glaze recipe may have a few more steps than the quick honey soy glaze above, but it will give you a flavor even closer to the sauce from Hello Fresh.
Add the red pepper flakes in the recipe to give your soy glaze a little spice. The sweet and spicy flavors go really well on ribs, fish and really any meat.
Our homemade soy glaze will have just about as many calories and sodium as store bought glaze so you can replace it with a 1:1 ratio. Check our recipe below.
8. Soy Sauce And Brown Sugar – Best Low Sodium Sweet Soy Glaze Alternative
Grab a bottle of low sodium soy sauce and some brown sugar and get ready to make your own soy glaze.
Generally speaking, soy sauce glaze is very high in sodium. With around 390 mg of sodium per tablespoon, many people may want a lower salt alternative.
Bring ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce and two tablespoons of brown sugar to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Your perfect, easy homemade glaze is ready to use!
Use this very easy sweet soy sauce recipe for dumplings, as a sweet soy sauce recipe for chicken or for sushi. It is a great, healthier option for any dish!
Low sodium soy sauce has about half of the sodium as regular soy sauce. This is a fantastic way to make delicious soy glaze in a much healthier way.
Use the same quantity of this homemade glaze to replace store-bought soy glaze.
9. Coconut Aminos
Coconut aminos are sweet and salty. They taste very similar to soy sauce and many people use coconut aminos to replace soy sauce in any recipe.
Coconut aminos are completely soy free and also lower in sodium.
Coconut aminos have a thin texture like soy sauce. You can choose to boil the coconut aminos with some sugar to make a glaze.
You can also replace the soy glaze in your recipe with two times more coconut aminos.
One tablespoon of coconut aminos has just 15 calories and 180 mg sodium. It is a lower calories and lower sodium substitute for sweet soy glaze.
10. Apple Cider Vinegar And Corn Syrup
A tablespoon of apple cider vinegar has just 3 calories and .7mg of sodium. It is a very healthy alternative to sweet soy glaze.
However, if you want to make apple cider vinegar taste more like sweet soy glaze, you should mix in some sweetener.
Whisk together ¼ cup apple cider vinegar and 2 Tbsp of dark corn syrup. Dark corn syrup will thicken the vinegar, give it a sweeter flavor and also make it look more like soy sauce glaze.
11. Black Bean Sauce – Best Gluten Free Soy Glaze Substitute
Black bean sauce is made from fermented soya beans. It is also called Douchi is Chinese. The sauce is thick and sweet, perfect for using in place of sweet soy glaze.
Black bean sauce is made with beans, oil, ginger, garlic, sugar and salt. It is a great gluten free option for replacing soy glaze.
Black bean sauce is chunkier than soy glaze so you may want to puree it in the food processor before using to get a smoother paste.
Substitute the same quantity of black bean sauce for soy glaze for any recipe.
12. Stir Fry Sauce
Stir fry sauce is made with soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil and garlic powder. It is usually thickened with cornstarch making it completely gluten free.
Stir fry sauce is a great multi-purpose sauce. It is sweet, a little salty, and perfectly thick.
You should easily be able to find stir fry sauce in any grocery store. Use half the amount of stir fry sauce and replace the remaining half with some honey to get the same sweetness in a soy glaze.
What Is Sweet Soy Glaze?
Have you ever received that little packet of soy glaze blue apron sends?
Or maybe you are a huge fan of the sweet soy glaze Hello Fresh includes in many of their boxes. What exactly is that magical, delicious glaze?!
Sweet soy glaze is a thickened, sweetened soy sauce. It is quite popular in Thai, Chinese and Japanese cuisines.
There is also a type of Indonesian sweet soy sauce called kecap manis.
Soy glaze is often used to sweeten up a stir fry as a finishing sauce. It can be used as a marinade for fish, chicken or any meat.
Sweet soy sauce is a sticky, sweet and tangy glaze that is delicious on almost anything!
Sweet Soy Glaze Ingredients
Sweet soy glaze is often homemade. You can easily make it using soy sauce, garlic, honey, ginger, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, vinegar and a little pinch of red pepper flakes.
Check out our Hello Fresh Soy Glaze CopyCat recipe below!
Hello Fresh Soy Glaze (Copycat)
Hello Fresh sweet soy glaze is pretty delicious. That is why we modeled our easy soy glaze recipe after the Hello Fresh soy glaze. We think ours is just as good, if not better!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 inch ginger root, sliced
- ¼ cup honey
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a small pot and whisk together.
- Bring the mix to a boil, stirring frequently to make sure the sauce doesn’t burn.
- Cook for about 5 minutes to thicken. Remove the pot from the heat once the sauce has reduced and is nice and thick, coating the back of a spoon completely.
- Pour the sauce through a strainer and discard all the extra pieces.
- Use the sweet soy glaze right away as a marinade or dip. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a month.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 56Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 579mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 0gSugar: 9gProtein: 1g
There are also bottled versions of soy glaze that you can buy. The Kikkoman sweet soy glaze recipe includes:
- Corn Syrup
- Soy Sauce
- Corn Starch
- Caramel Color
- Salt
Soy Sauce and some types of sugar are definitely the main ingredients in sweet soy glaze, whether you are making it at home or buying a big bottle.
Is Sweet Soy Glaze Healthy?
Sweet soy glaze is not necessarily a portion of healthy food. Enjoying it in moderation is definitely key!
The high amounts of sodium and sugar are what you really want to keep an eye on when using sweet soy glaze(source)
Here is a quick look at the nutritional info for one tablespoon of sweet soy glaze.
| Calories | 40 |
| Fat | 0 grams |
| Carbs | 8 grams |
| Sodium | 390 mg |
We Thought You Would Like
Final Considerations
Sweet soy glaze is a delicious way to liven up your BBQ ribs, Asian style fish dishes or to use as a dipping sauce for egg rolls.
No matter how you use your sweet soy glaze, I know you will become addicted to this tasty sauce (I definitely did!).
If you ever run out and need a sweet soy glaze alternative, keep all of these yummy options in mind!
We are a team of passionate moms and homemakers. Among us are certified nutritionists, chefs, certified food handlers, accountants, financial gurus, and other professionals. Our joint goal is to educate homemakers. Check out the about us page for more information about our team’s credentials.