Home » Sauces and Condiments » Authentic Hoisin Sauce

Authentic Hoisin Sauce

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.

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!

hoisin sauce recipe best authentic traditional without peanut butter fermented black beans chinese

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.

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.
hoisin sauce recipe best authentic traditional without peanut butter fermented black beans chinese

Hoisin Sauce Ingredients

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!

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 best authentic traditional without peanut butter fermented black beans chinese

Hoisin Sauce Recipe

Let’s get started!

There are just two steps to make this sauce:

  1. Place all the ingredients in a blender
  2. Puree until smooth.

That’s all there’s to it!

placing all ingredient in a bowl

Then pour the sauce into a glass jar with a lid and store it in the refrigerator.

It will keep for about a week.

pouring sauce into glass jar

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.

hoisin sauce recipe best authentic traditional without peanut butter fermented black beans chinese

Enjoy!

See blog post above for some delicious ways to use this versatile sauce.

beef and broccoli recipe best chinese takeout from scratch

For more phenomenal Asian sauces, be sure to try my:

Save This Recipe

Enter your email address and we’ll send it straight to your inbox!

hoisin sauce recipe best authentic traditional without peanut butter fermented black beans chinese

Authentic Hoisin Sauce

An incredible depth of flavor, this will work magic on the dishes you add it to.  Simply the best, you’ll never use store-bought again!
4.91 from 128 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course condiment, Sauce
Cuisine Asian, Chinese
Servings 14 servings
Calories 35 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

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

Serving: 1tablespoonCalories: 35kcalCarbohydrates: 7gSodium: 89mgPotassium: 31mgSugar: 6gVitamin A: 20IUCalcium: 6mgIron: 0.1mg
Keyword Hoisin Sauce
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Originally published on The Daring Gourmet on April 26, 2016 

kimberly killebrew the daring gourmet

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!

Read more about me...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




4.91 from 128 votes (64 ratings without comment)

218 Comments

  1. I live in Turkey and Chinese ingredients are hard to find, but very expensive if you can get them. Made this and tasted delicious. I couldn’t find prunes so used dates instead, but am so happy with the results. Thank you

  2. How lucky l was for having fou d The Daring Gourmet! I had prepared the usual recipe with peanuts and peanut butter and, evidently had little to do with the one you can taste in a good chinese dinner. I was trying to find other ways to prepare and then your recipe came along. Now l have to adjust a bit the proportions and will have it! Just one question, pls, in the small town l live in France there’s just one Chinese food/supplies shop and the fermented black beans are too salty, they are contained in soja oil. Can l rinse them or they would lose their punch? I don’like buying in the internet, l’m a firm supporter of local commerce and real shops and well, this is what l have here! Merci Beaucoup!

  3. Outrageous!
    Have always wanted to make my own Hoisin sauce and this recipe is a winner! Mine came out a bit thin so next time I will eliminate the two tablespoons of water.

  4. I decided to try this since I had all the ingredients needed. Wow! So very good! Thank you for the recipe!

  5. This recipe was spot-on; tasted authentic and way better than store-bought. I’ve tried dozens of online hoisin recipes and no others even came close.

  6. The directions call for Chinese Five Spice Powder and Chinese Five Spice. The second Chinese Five Spice should read, Fermented Black Bean Paste. I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but I look forward to it.

    1. Hi Ken, I’m not sure I understand. The recipe calls for Chinese five spice and black bean sauce. I provide two options for each – the link to the recipes to make them yourself, and links to examples of where you can purchase them online.

      1. I think Ken means there is a typo at the top of the directions and while it correctly links to the black bean paste, it actually says “chinese five spice”.

    1. Hi Tricia, you can but cornstarch does not freeze well, it breaks down when thawed, so you may need to reheat it and re-thicken with cornstarch. That’s if you’re using it for a dipping sauce and need it to be a thicker consistency. If you’re just adding it to your cooking you probably don’t need to worry about re-thicken it.

      1. Haven’t tried it yet but plan to – but where is the cornstarch? Can’t see any mention in the recipe…

          1. I’m confused, on this comment you tell Kimberly that the sauce won’t freeze well because of cornstarch.. then say to Keith that there is no cornstarch? So then it should freeze alright..? Thanks.. it sounds great!

            1. Oh dear, clearly I was confused too, lol! I was getting this mixed up with the Black Bean Sauce that incorporates this hoisin sauce and DOES use cornstarch. That is correct, Jon, this hoisin sauce does not have any cornstarch in it and yes, it can be frozen!

  7. You just saved me. Not because I followed the recipe but because I was able to convert it to low carb easily and the flavor is still spot on!!! We are trying to reduce carbs and my son can’t resist using hoisin like it’s ketchup, so this is amazing! Thank you so much for the ONLY authentic hoisin recipe on the internet!

      1. I’d use erythritol or monk fruit sweetener. Since brown sugar in this recipe helps thicken, using guar gum will do the same without adding significant carbs. I prefer it over xanthan gum which I find has an unpleasant mouthfeel. Hope that helps!