This easy homemade hoisin sauce recipe is a tried-and-true version of the classic. Since I made a few adjustments while developing this recipe, we taste-tested our fair share and this is the version that came out as the winner in my house!
Hoisin sauce is often referred to as Chinese barbecue sauce given its thick consistency and the fact that it incorporates some similar elements to other styles of barbecue sauces. It’s simultaneously sweet and savory and packs a punch of umami flavor.
Hoisin is often served with traditional dishes like moo shu pork and Peking duck. But it’s also amazing when served as a dip, used as a marinade, or tossed into various meat or veggie-based dishes. The sky is really the limit on the savory foods you can pair with this tasty sauce!
What is Hoisin Sauce?
Hoisin sauce is a versatile and common Chinese condiment that’s often used in stir-fries, as a marinade or glaze, or as a dipping or finishing sauce. It has a balanced flavor profile that’s both sweet and savory with elements of umami and spiciness.
What Makes This Homemade Hoisin Sauce Special
Sure, you could buy hoisin sauce, but it can be so much more satisfying to make your own. Here’s why you’ll want to make this recipe:
- Ingredients are Accessible – Some recipes call for ingredients like black bean paste or black bean sauce but since that may not be a common ingredient in some kitchens, I’ve switched it up by using peanut butter instead.
- Sweetener – Other sweeteners that may be used to make hoisin sauce include prunes, dark brown sugar, or honey. However, I find that molasses gives the sauce the richest, deepest flavor.
- Peppercorns – Sichuan peppercorns are often incorporated into hoisin sauce, but I’m not big on the way those tingle on my tongue in this particular sauce. So, I swap out those for standard peppercorns, making it a little bit easier on everyone’s palate — feel free to add them in if you prefer!
- Thickness – Not all recipes call for a slurry like this one does. I find that the slurry gives the sauce the ideal structure as well as a luxurious, smooth texture.
Ingredients
All of these ingredients are easy to keep on hand so that you can whip up this quick and flavorful sauce any time.
- Soy Sauce – This sauce adds depth with its umami flavor as well as a bit of saltiness.
- Molasses – Molasses adds a sweet flavor and helps to make the sauce more rich.
- Creamy Peanut Butter – Peanut butter gives the hoisin a signature nutty flavor.
- Rice Vinegar – Vinegar balances out the sweet and salty ingredients with its acidity.
- Sesame Oil – Sesame oil adds nutty, flavor, too, and contributes to the silky texture of the sauce.
- Garlic – This aromatic adds garlicky flavor to the sauce — feel free to add more if you’re a garlic-lover like I am!
- Hot Chile Sauce (such as Sriracha) – Hot sauce is key for kicking up the spiciness in the sauce. If you want more or less heat, just adjust it to taste.
- Ground Black Pepper – Black pepper rounds out the sauce with its gentle heat.
- Water – You’ll need just a bit of water in order to make the slurry with the cornstarch.
- Cornstarch – This thickener gives the sauce its shininess and helps to make it rich. Be sure to mix it with the water first — otherwise clumps will form in the sauce.
What To Serve With Homemade Hoisin Sauce
Hoisin sauce is fantastic in any number of Chinese recipes, as well as other Asian cuisine. It’s a natural with a steak stir-fry, chicken stir fry rice noodles, or shrimp stir-fry. We also love it as a dipping sauce for vegetable spring rolls, egg rolls, dumplings, or crispy air-fried chicken wings.
I also like to serve it as a salad dressing to jazz up a simple side salad or spread it on wraps, sliders, or sandwiches and burgers. You can also use it as a marinade on proteins like beef, chicken, pork, tofu, or seafood for a delicious caramelized coating or toss it with veggies for a gorgeous glazed side dish.
How to Make Homemade Hoisin Sauce
This may be a simple sauce to make, but it’s full of complex layers of flavor.
- Add ingredients to saucepan. Add all of the ingredients except the water and cornstarch to a small saucepan and stir to combine.
- Make slurry. Once the peanut butter has melted and the ingredients are mixed together, add the water and cornstarch to a small bowl and whisk until combined. There should be no lumps in the mixture.
- Add slurry to sauce. Gradually add the cornstarch slurry to the saucepan, stirring it into the sauce.
- Stir continuously. Allow the mixture to remain on the heat while stirring.
- Cool to room temperature. When the sauce is thickened and has a glossy appearance, take it off of the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature before serving or adding it to a dish.
Variations
With a few different switch-ups, you can make your own version of this classic sauce.
- Nut and Seed Butter – Swap out the peanut butter for almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or your favorite alternative.
- Vinegar – Instead of rice wine vinegar, add acidity with white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or sherry vinegar.
- Thickener – Use arrowroot to make your slurry instead of cornstarch.
- Oil – While I love the nutty flavor that sesame oil brings to the table in this sauce, you can use neutrally flavored oil like avocado oil or olive oil instead.
- Soy Sauce – For less salty flavor, you can use a low-sodium variety. If you want to eliminate the gluten from the sauce, opt for a gluten-free variety or use tamari or coconut aminos instead.
- Spices – If you want more heat, use Sichuan peppercorns instead of the ground black pepper. Or, to incorporate a warm flavor that’s sweet as well, try adding Chinese five-spice powder.
- Umami – If you’re looking to up the umami in this sauce, try mixing in a bit of miso paste.
Storage and Freezing
Keep this sauce in the fridge or freezer and just let it come to room temperature before using. If removing it from the freezer, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator. If you want to serve it warm, just gently reheat it on the stovetop or gradually in intervals in the microwave.
How to Store Homemade Hoisin Sauce
Store hoisin sauce in a mason jar or other airtight container for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.
Can I Freeze Hoisin Sauce?
You can freeze hoisin sauce in a resealable freezer bag or ice cube tray for up to three months.
Common Questions About Homemade Hoisin Sauce
Recipes for hoisin sauce vary but they usually consist of a blend of hot sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sweeteners like molasses or sugar, and peppers.
Yes, hoisin has vinegar. A traditional variety would be rice vinegar but you can substitute other types if needed.
While Worcestershire sauce can impart umami flavor like hoisin, it’s not a solid substitute in terms of consistency — Worcestershire is thinner. It also doesn’t have the same spicy kick that hoisin has from pepper.
Other Asian-Inspired Sauces
There’s not dish that isn’t elevated by a delicious sauce. When making your favorite takeout copycat recipe, these are some of our favorite sauces to pair with them.
Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
Thai Sweet Chili Sauce Recipe
Curry Sauce Recipe
Homemade Hoisin Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons molasses
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 2 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic grated
- 1 teaspoon hot chile sauce such as Sriracha
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the soy sauce, molasses, peanut butter, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, Sriracha and black pepper. Stir together over low heat until combined and peanut butter has melted.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the water and cornstarch, slowly pour it into the saucepan and whisk until the sauce turns glossy and thickens.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool before using.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
Nutrition
Thank you for the extensive blog post! I love homemade sauces and this comes in handy when I find the bottled hoisin sauce starting to taste “store-bought”, know what I mean? Haha! Now I can adjust the saltiness and sweetness so it can perfectly fit my preference.
This is so easy to make and we use Hoisin for so many things. Stir fry, dipping and topping meats. Have saved for future reference.
Oh, this sounds delicious! I have been wanting to make my own hoisin sauce. I’ll be trying it soon. Thanks for sharing!
Love this homemade hoisin sauce recipe, now I can make it and know what ingredients are in the sauce and no hidden ones. Looks delicious. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Looks delicious and very easy to prepare. Thanks for sharing.
Looks delicious and very easy to prepare. I love to try this with stir fry vegetables! Thanks for sharing.
I tried this tonight and used it to make Mongolian Chicken. It was wonderful! We like it much better than store bought.1