Fish sauce shows up in small amounts across an enormous range of dishes, a splash in a stir-fry, a spoonful in a dipping sauce like the nuoc cham that comes with a Vietnamese-style mixed grill, a background note in a soup, doing far more flavor work than its quantity suggests. That makes it genuinely useful to replace once you understand what it’s actually contributing, but it also means a careless substitute can throw off a dish more than people expect, and a few of the most commonly recommended substitutes carry allergy risks that rarely get mentioned alongside the recipe advice.
What can I use instead of fish sauce?
The short answer: Soy sauce is the closest all-purpose substitute for the salty, savory backbone fish sauce provides, though it lacks fish sauce’s distinct funk. Coconut aminos works similarly with less sodium and no soy. For a closer flavor match, a small amount of minced anchovy or anchovy paste mixed with soy sauce gets you both the saltiness and the fishiness. Miso paste, oyster sauce, and vegan fish sauce (made from fermented soy, seaweed, and mushrooms) are all reasonable options depending on the dish. One important caveat: if you’re substituting away from fish sauce specifically because of a fish allergy, several popular substitutes are not automatically safe. Worcestershire sauce typically contains anchovies, which are fish, and oyster sauce contains oysters, a shellfish. Read labels rather than assuming a substitute is allergen-free just because it isn’t called fish sauce.
If you’re wondering about the bottle you already have rather than replacing it, see the guides to whether fish sauce goes bad and whether fish sauce needs to be refrigerated. For other common cooking swaps, see the guide to wine substitutes for cooking.
Fish Sauce Substitutes: At a Glance
All-purpose, closest overall match
Soy sauce, 1:1, or soy sauce + a little minced anchovy
Closest match to fish sauce’s tang
Equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar (or lime juice) plus a pinch of salt
Lower sodium option
Coconut aminos, roughly 1:1, may need slightly more for saltiness
Closest flavor match
Anchovy paste or minced anchovy, about 1 fillet per ½ teaspoon fish sauce
Umami depth in soups and braises
Miso paste, thinned with a little water or broth
Stir-fries and marinades
Oyster sauce, 1:1, but noticeably sweeter and thicker
Fully vegan option
Commercial vegan fish sauce, or soy sauce + seaweed
If substituting for a fish allergy
Avoid Worcestershire sauce (usually contains anchovies); read labels
If substituting for a shellfish allergy
Avoid oyster sauce (contains oyster, a mollusk)
Key Takeaways
Fish sauce’s savoriness comes primarily from glutamate and other amino acids released during a long fermentation process, which is why other fermented, protein-rich condiments make the best substitutes.
Soy sauce is the most reliable all-purpose swap, but it lacks fish sauce’s distinct fishy depth, which anchovy paste or m
