Best Gluten Free Hoisin Sauce Recipe - Eatability (2024)

To my mind nothing really beats crispy duck rolls with hoisin sauce. It’s pretty much my favourite comfort food.

If I were abandoned on a desert island and left to a cruel fate, I might just about stand a chance of miraculous survival if I had packed my hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce makes bland food bearable, and makes a good dish velvety and irresistible.

But did you know that hoisin sauce is quick and easy to make at home? Not only that, but making it suitable for the gluten intolerant is simple. So we’ve included a simple gluten-free hoisin sauce recipe for you to try below.

What is Hoisin Sauce?

Hoisin sauce is a traditional condiment and staple of Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. It has a distinctive (and robust) tangy, salty and sweet taste, with an umami mouthfeel. It is both fragrent and pungent. Think of it as an exotic barbecue sauce.

Hoisin sauce is safe for vegans and vegetarians, and is made from fermented soybeans, five spice powder, garlic, sugar and chillies.

Do you use an Air Fryer when you cook? Did you know that modern models can fry, bake, roast and saute – amongst other things. What’s more, they are fabulous of reheating left-over (like pancakes and Peking duck), reviving them so that they are crisp and appealing again. For more information and prices, click here.

Hoisin sauce goes splendidly with poultry and seafood, and is often used in soups, noodles and stir fries. It’s legendary with Peking Duck!

And last but not least, hoisin sauce is awesome when wok-frying (particularly fried rice) and perfect for glazes, dips and marinades.

Is Hoisin Sauce Gluten-Free?

Buying standard hoisin sauce from your usual retailer comes with risks for the gluten-intolerant and coeliac sufferer.

Unfortunately, mass-produced hoisin sauce is often thickened with wheat flour, and likely contains soy sauce too. (Soy sauce, despite its name, is generally made with wheat).

So if you’re gluten-intolerant then you will need to be careful in purchasing hoisin sauce from your local supermarket.

You can buy Gluten Free Hoisin Sauce here or here, or simply make your own. We enjoy the process of making our own gluten-free hoisin (it’s not hard), and we’ve included an excellent gluten-free recipe below. In fact, you call it our best gluten-free hoisin sauce recipe.

Does Gluten-Free Hoisin Sauce Taste the Same as Regular Hoisin?

In our opinion, it tastes as good as the real thing. Gluten-free hoisin sauce still has that complex savoury, umami and yet sweet flavour. It posseses the same zest that makes the original so distinctive and yummy.

It’s important to ensure you maintain food variety when eating gluten-free, read our guide on how best to do this.

Is bacon gluten-free? What about quinoa? What’s a good gluten-free brand of pasta? Learn the facts.

Make Your Own Gluten-Free Hoisin Sauce Recipe

This recipe is reproduced with kind acknowledgement to Kristine O, the Gluten Free Lifesaver

This is a foolproof, failsafe, easy-for-all gluten free Hoisin Sauce recipe.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons of gluten-free soy sauce
2 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butteror black bean paste (this is totally up to personal preferance)
1 tablespoon of honey
2 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar
1 cloveminced garlic
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of crushed chili/ chili paste

Put it everything into a hand blender (we use a Mueller like this one). Give it a quick buzz and you’ll find that the sauce is made in a jiffy (and if you used crunchy peanut butter rather than black bean paste, you’ll find the crispy bits are delightful)

And there you have it, perfect hoisin sauce: gluten-free and gorgeous. Fresh, flavoursome and you made it yourself. You’ll never buy a jar again.

Well done, you.

Some other easy-to-make gluten-free recipes to try:

Up your curry game with our Gluten-free (and vegan) sweet potato masala

Tea time treats have never been easier than our Gluten-free almond and chia scones

Whether you eat then for breakfast or a snack, try our Gluten-free muffins

Embrace your inner Italian with these Gluten-free meatballs

Never struggle for meal ideas again with our Gluten-free dinner ideas