Authentic Hoisin Sauce
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Potently flavorful and fragrant, this is a central ingredient in many Chinese dishes and will work absolute MIRACLES for the foods you add it to! Drizzle this homemade hoisin sauce over rice, stir-fries, noodles, burgers, use it as a dipping sauce, and more. Made from scratch with an unrivaled depth of flavor that will “wow” your taste buds, look no further for the BEST hoisin sauce recipe!
What is Hoisin Sauce?
Hoisin sauce is a thick, dark, fragrant and flavorful sauce that is commonly used as a dipping sauce, a glaze for meats and added to stir fries. It balances both sweet, tangy and salty flavors and contributes an intense umami element to whatever food it’s added to. Although the name hoisin is Chinese for “seafood” it does not contain any seafood, rather the name likely refers to the fact that the sauce is a common accompaniment for seafood.
As with most things, store-bought hoisin sauce doesn’t even begin to compare to homemade. The flavor and potency of this authentic homemade hoisin sauce will absolutely wow your taste buds!
Hoisin Sauce Key Ingredients
You’ll find a lot of recipes online for hoisin sauce calling for things like peanut butter and molasses – neither of those belong in hoisin sauce and do not remotely resemble the right flavor. Leave those two items on the shelf and instead grab the two key ingredients you’ll need to make the real deal: Chinese Five Spice and Black Bean Sauce. You can find Chinese five spice in the spice section of most grocery stores. The black bean sauce may be a little more challenging to find. However in both cases we HIGHLY recommend making your own anyway in order to achieve the absolute BEST flavor results. Black bean sauce is a key ingredient to the best Chinese food, so you’ll want the ingredients on hand to make that anyway.
So now all you have to do is combine the Chinese five spice powder with the black bean sauce and a few other ingredients and you’ve got the best homemade hoisin sauce ever!
Can I Make This Sugar Free?
Yes! While there still be a little bit of sugar from the prunes, you can make this sauce low sugar by using a brown sugar alternative like Sukrin Gold.
Hoisin Sauce Recipe
Let’s get started!
There are just two steps to make this sauce:
- Place all the ingredients in a blender
- Puree until smooth.
That’s all there’s to it!
Pour the sauce into a glass jar with a lid and store it in the refrigerator.
It will keep for about a week.
You can also freeze this for up to 3 months if you have more than you’re able to use or if you want to make a larger batch to conveniently have on hand whenever you need it.
Ways to Use Hoisin Sauce
Think of hoisin sauce as an incredible all-purpose condiment. It has so many uses and will add depth, flavor and umami to a wide variety of dishes. Here are just a few ways you can use it:
- In stir-fries and on noodles, like our Shanghai noodles
- Slathered on chicken, pork, ribs, duck or tofu and baked or grilled
- Added to steamed and grilled veggies
- In marinades, vinaigrettes and bbq sauce
- A general substitute for ketchup
- A new twist for meatloaf
- Slathered on burgers, like our Shanghai burgers
- For pulled pork or pulled chicken
- Added to soup broths for a great flavor
- The base sauce for Chinese-style pizza
- Added to mayo for a Chinese twist on fry sauce
- As a dipping sauce for Chinese dumplings, egg rolls, wontons, chicken nuggets, etc.
For more phenomenal Asian sauces, be sure to try my:
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Yum Yum Sauce
- Plum Sauce
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Eel Sauce
- Kecap Manis
- Sweet Chili Sauce
- Ponzu Sauce
- Chili Oil
- Char Siu Sauce
- Ginger Sauce
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Authentic Hoisin Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- or alternative brown sugar (for low sugar option)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons Homemade Chinese Black Bean Sauce
- or use store-bought Chinese Black Bean Sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 4 prunes
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Homemade Chinese Five Spice Powder (strongly recommended)
- or use store-bought five spice powder
- pinch of red pepper flakes or dash of sriracha sauce , optional for some heat
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Store in the fridge in a non-reactive airtight container. Chill overnight or preferable 24 hours before using. Will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet on April 26, 2016
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
So glad I found this. Almost had to change dinner plans but you saved the day! We had all the ingredients, just not the recipe. As usual anything made from scratch is way better than store bought. Thank You!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
Holy cow dude. What weight,mass or volume quantity is a “serving”??
It’s totally individual, JP. It’s like ketchup – one person will consider a tiny squirt a serving while another will heap it on like gravy! Generally though a “serving” of a sauce/condiment is 1-2 tablespoons.
I so wanted to use this Hoisin sauce but yet again it has sesame oil in it which I’m deadly allergic to. So what I would like to know is there an oil I can substitute the sesame oil with?
Hi Cyndi, the purpose for the sesame oil is strictly flavor so just omit it, no substitutions needed.
Love this hoisin sauce – made it quicker than buzzing to the store to buy some. I will never buy again! Thank you!
Fantastic, Simon, thank you!
I love your recipes. As I was reading other comments I noticed concerns about sugar. I never put the brown sugar in . I find the Hoisen is sweet enough and MY family loves it. I have also added bamboo shoots and pea pods. I used to live in Hawaii and chicago and now I am in VA. I have to say the worst Mongolian chicken I ever had is here in Roanoke . Clearly they like their fried chicken which is the best!
Keep up the good job. love all your recipes and I find it easy to substitute things in a pinch, it is an hour to the grocery store!
Thanks so much for the compliment and the feedback, Judy! And I’ll be sure to stick to the fried chicken when I visit VA :)
Guess what? I will still buy it from a store because store-bought is WAAAAAAAY more convenient!
There’s no doubt about that. Store-bought anything is ALWAYS more convenient than from-scratch. But that’s not the point here, is it?
I can’t eat processed sugar. Any idea if I can use raw honey in place of brown sugar?
Hi Kathy, yes that will work fine.
I made this recipe from your black bean sauce recipe and have to tell you how absolutely amazing they both are. Very authentic flavors and the intensity of the flavors is insane.
Thanks so much for posting your recipes, they are wonderful.
I’m so happy to hear that, Kathi, thank you!
Truly excellent and authentic tasting hoisin sauce, thanks for such a terrific recipe!
Thoroughly delicious and definitely THE BEST hoisin sauce I’ve tried!
As your black bean sauce was amazing, I wanted to make this one too. Unfortunately I can’t find prunes anywhere. Would drives ones work? Or is there something else I could substitute? Thank you!
Hi Melissa, I’m so glad you enjoyed the black bean sauce, thank you! I’m not sure I understand the question – prunes are dried, they’re dried plums. Are you looking for a substitute for the dried prunes?
Long story short, I had a blonde moment. I found the prunes and made the sauce. It’s amazing!! I’m using it for a stir fry tonight. Thanks for another great recipe!!
LOL! I’ve shared in similar blonde moments, Melissa! :) Awesome, I’m so glad you enjoyed this, thanks so much for the feedback!
I can buy jarred Prunes…can I use those or just dried?
Hi Heather, you can use either. Happy cooking!
You make your site very hard to get.
How so – hard to get in what sense?
I’ve already made your Chinese black bean sauce and teriyaki sauce, both of which were excellent. This one is another winner! Thank you so much for sharing all of these amazing recipes!
That’s fantastic, Carissa, thank you so much!
This is the only authentic recipe I’ve found online. SO, SO GOOD! Thanks for this awesome recipe.
Thanks so much, Tim!
This recipe is a slam dunk all the way. I lived and worked in Taiwan for several years and fell in love with the food. I’ve tried several recipes for hoisin sauce to try and replicate the flavors I had abroad. This recipe is by far the best, you’ve really hit it spot on. I make a double batch of this every couple of weeks or so to always have on hand. Thanks for this awesome hoisin sauce recipe!
Awesome, Nathan, thanks so much!