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! 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.
Hoisin Sauce Uses
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
- Slathered on chicken, pork, ribs, duck or tofu and baked or grilled
- Added to veggies
- In marinades, vinaigrettes and barbecue sauces
- A general substitute for ketchup
- A new twist for meatloaf
- Slathered on 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
- As a dipping sauce for Chinese dumplings, egg rolls, wontons, chicken nuggets, etc.
© Beataaldridge | Dreamstime
How to Make Hoisin Sauce
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!
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! Check out our reader’s reviews in the comments below.
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 where 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.
Enjoy!
See “Hoisin Sauce Uses” above for some delicious ideas on how to use this versatile condiment.
For more phenomenal Asian condiments, be sure to try our:
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Yum Yum Sauce
- Plum SauceÂ
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Eel Sauce
- Kecap Manis
- Sweet Chili Sauce
- Ponzu Sauce
- Char Siu Sauce
- Ginger Sauce
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
Elsa says
I found this recipe a while ago and have been making it since as I can’t bring myself to buy the commercial stuff any more! This is so good 😊
Do you know if it can be frozen successfully? I’m trying to prep well in advance for a relaxed Christmas. TIA
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, Elsa, thank you! Generally sauces with cornstarch do not freeze well because it alters the texture of the cornstarch as it thaws. You can still freeze it but you may have to reheat it and re-thicken it with cornstarch.
Linda says
You mention that sauces with cornstarch do not freeze well; as there is no cornstarch in the recipe, then it would freeze well, correct? And if there is not supposed to be cornstarch in the recipe, then the question is will take to freezing well?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Sorry for the confusion, Linda. Correct, there is NO cornstarch in this sauce :) Yes, freezing is fine.
Alisha C Nguyen says
I’ve made hoisin sauce from other recipes, but NEVER one that so closely replicates the bottled stuff. Those other recipes are like hoisin sauce cousins, but this recipe is its twin brother!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Alisha, I’m thrilled you enjoyed it, thanks so much for the feedback! :)
Cindy Fricke says
I have never made or even eaten Hoisin sauce but found a recipe that looked delicious. I wanted to make my own but before I could do that I had to make the black bean paste. This turned out so good, we will be having this on the regular. Thank you for sharing.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Cindy, thank you!
Chef Hnoi says
I can’t believe how simple this is. You save me many agonizing hours of searching for this stuff in Bangkok. Thank you. You are awesome!
Angela Jeffery says
My daughter has Coeliac disease, so I was looking for a recipe for hoisin sauce I could tweak so she can still eat some favourite foods. I made this sauce with tamari instead of soy sauce and it worked perfectly. I served in with duck and rice wraps for her yesterday and in a stir fry today. It is by far the best recipe we’ve tried. Thank you!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s wonderful, Angela, thanks so much!
Evan says
Adding 1/2 teaspoon of garlic chilli paste adds little zip
Siddhi Shah says
Is there any substitute for Prunes.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Siddhi, you can try raisins instead.
Jon says
Two things. First is that dark brown sugar is white sugar to which molasses has been added. So, the argument of molasses having no home in hoisin sauce becomes spurious. Second, there is no way that 1Tb of this sauce has only 89mg of sodium when the soy sauce and fermented beans (both of which feature prominently in the proportions) are both very high in sodium. Otherwise, looks good!
Matthew M says
If you’re fussed about the sugar I’d guess that one could substitute jaggery. I almost certainly would if only because I have jaggery for Indian dishes while dark brown sugar isn’t something I habitually keep.
Tony Jones says
How annoying is Jon?
Teresa says
I absolutely agree with Jon regarding the molasses comment.
Dark brown sugar is simply less refined, which means that there is more molasses left in it.
Daniel says
Lost in translation: do not confuse prunes with plums. :) happened to me. Still tastes good but the sauce now is mainly plum and looks way different and is very runny. Maybe worth a hint ;)
Stephanie says
Loved how easy it was to whip up and the flavor was excellent!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Stephanie, thank you!
Suzy says
This was so much easier to make than I thought! It was so good too! Love how I can make this homemade with just a few simple ingredients!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Suzy, thank you!
Lily says
This sauce was so flavorful I would have never thought to make Hoisin sauce myself, I’ve always bought it, but this was perfect I added it to our stir fry and the flavor was incredible.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Lily, I’m so glad it was a hit!
LIsalia says
I’ve only used store bought hoisin sauce before. This was INCREDIBLE! Thanks for such an easy recipe that makes SUCH a difference!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m thrilled to hear that, LIsalia, thank you!
Aimee Shugarman says
This was so easy to make and turned out delicious.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad, Aimee, thank you!
Jen says
Wow, this has amazing flavor! I never knew how easy it was to make my own at home. Thank you for sharing!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Jen, thank you!