Is Hoisin Sauce Suitable For Vegans

While store-bought hoisin sauce is vegan, it’s also super easy to make homemade vegan hoisin sauce.

Since you can adapt a homemade version to your personal taste, it’s often even tastier than the store-bought version. Plus, you avoid the preservatives included in bottles you buy in the store.

Making your hoisin sauce is pretty simple and only requires a few ingredients. You probably have most, if not all, of these ingredients in your kitchen.

To make homemade vegan hoisin sauce, you will need:

• One cup of fermented soybean paste
• Two tablespoons of rice vinegar
• Three tablespoons of dark brown sugar
• One teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of five-spice powder
• 1/4 cup of water

You’ll need to combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Once you’re happy with the flavor, pour the mixture into a jar or container and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Your homemade hoisin sauce will last for several weeks due to the amount of sugar, salt, and vinegar in the sauce. However, it would be best to refrigerate your homemade hoisin sauce to prevent it from going bad. If your sauce changes color, has an odd smell, or mold is growing, it’s time to throw it out.

Raw Vegan Hoisin Sauce

If you eat a raw vegan diet and are craving hoisin sauce, you’re in luck. You can also make this recipe without any cooked ingredients. All you need is:

• One cup raisins
• 1 1/4 cup of water
• Two cloves garlic
• One tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• One teaspoon of dulse flakes
• One teaspoon of barley miso

You’ll need to soak the raisins in water for at least an hour – you want them to be quite mushy. Then, put the soaked raisins, the raisin water, and all the other ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth. Pour into a jar and serve or store in the fridge for up to a week.

Cooking with Hoisin Sauce

Now that I’ve answered: is hoisin sauce vegan? You might be wondering how to cook vegan food with it.

The good news is that hoisin sauce is easy to cook with. It’s a great dipping sauce for vegetable spring rolls and dumplings. It also goes well in your favorite stir-fry or on grilled veggies. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment. This sauce is versatile and can also be added to boost the flavor of most meat alternatives and other protein sources.

Substitutes for Hoisin Sauce

There are some reasonable substitutes if you run out of your homemade hoisin sauce. Peanut butter, miso, and black bean paste are all passable substitutes. However, Chinese brown bean sauce is the best replacement.

You can even make a hoisin sauce substitute with your favorite American BBQ sauce. All you need to do is add some sriracha and Chinese five-spice, and you have an almost identical sauce. The only difference is this substitute is a little sweater than hoisin sauce.