Best Fish Sauce You Can Buy at the Grocery Store

For having such a complex flavor, fish sauce is shockingly simple. It’s essentially just the liquid that results from fermenting salted fish. But fish sauce truly is more than the sum of its parts. It has a wildly complex flavor that varies from brand to brand. And it’s essential for so many recipes (particularly Southeast Asian recipes). Seriously, there really is no such thing as a fish sauce replacement. 

Related: What Is Fish Sauce? An Explainer

But what’s the best fish sauce? We culled the grocery store shelves (and Amazon) for all the most widely available fish sauce brands and tested them out in search of the best fish sauce to rule them all. 

How we chose fish sauce brands for our taste test

We sourced fish sauces from our local branches of nationally present grocery stores (hi, Kroger), as well as 99 Ranch, a large Asian market chain, and Amazon. We tried to find a variety of fish sauce brands, including Vietnamese brands and Thai brands. And we tasted fish sauces from a fairly wide price range (we skipped the super expensive ones, though). 

How we tasted the fish sauce 

I tasted each fish sauce straight from a spoon and on vegan scrambled eggs (it’s what we had around), which served as a neutral base and showed how the sauce changed in food. 

What we looked for in the best fish sauce 

Anyone who regularly cooks with fish sauce has their own preferences for how the best fish sauce should taste, but we think the best fish sauce brands have a few things in common. They are complex—we want layered flavors of salt and sweet and umami. They are funky—why use fish sauce if you don’t want at least a little funk? And they taste like fish! There should be some sort of oceanic notes that let you know that yes, indeed, this is fermented fish juice. With that all out of the way, let’s get to the ranking of the best fish sauce brands. 

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Best Fish Sauce

Best Widely Available

Thai Kitchen Fish Sauce

Instacart

If you’re looking for the best fish sauce at a national grocery store chain, chances are you’ll find this one. And that’s A-OK because it’s pretty darn good. It’s not as complex or interesting as the other fish sauces on this list, but it certainly has enough funk to add depth to a recipe. That said, it’s also more soy sauce-y than other fish sauces on this list. It’s a great intro to fish sauce if you aren’t quite sure about the savory, salty appeal of fermented fish juice.

Credit: Merc / Instacart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best for a Dipping Sauce

Nuoc Mam Nhi Viet Hu’o’ng

Instacart

The aroma is powerful. It’s funky and fishy. But the flavor—compared to the others, at least—is quite mild. It has a touch of sweetness and a bit of a bite on the end. But in general, this is the most gentle fish sauce I tried, which is why it’s the best fish sauce to use for a dipping sauce like nuoc cham. This fish sauce comes in a big ol’ bottle, which is good; since it is pretty mild, you’ll be going through a lot of it.

Credit: Merc / Instacart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Vietnamese Fish Sauce

Son Fish Sauce

Amazon

Aged for one year, this 100% pure anchovy sauce is both zesty and earthy at the same time. And it really, really tastes like anchovy. It has that anchovy tang, which gives it a brightness. Son fish sauce adds mouthwatering umami flavor to anything it touches. But you definitely need to be okay with a fishy flavor. Aside from our number one pick, this is the best Vietnamese fish sauce we tried.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Thai Fish Sauce

Lucky Fish Sauce

Amazon

Not only is this the best Thai fish sauce we tried, it’s also the best fish sauce to buy if you’re looking for a bargain. You can get a big bottle of this stuff for around $3 to $5. But cheap as it may be, it’s still packed with complex flavors. It smells like fishy redwoods—or like wood-roasted anchovies, if you prefer a comparison based in reality. It’s less zippy and tangy than the Vietnamese fish sauces we tried. It’s extremely savory and absolutely delicious. It’s definitely worth a try if you’ve only ever had Vietnamese fish sauce.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best Splurge

Wangshin Fish Sauce

Amazon

Do you need a treat? Do you deserve a little fancy in your pantry? This is the best brand of fish sauce for you. A little bottle of this stuff costs around $15, but this all-natural fish sauce aged for two years in clay pots is worth it. A whiff of this is as good as smelling salts. It smells like burnt fish skin and charred seaweed in the best way. And there are so many layered flavors—more of that charred fish skin and seaweed. It’s bright and tangy and it will add so much flavor to any dish. Yes, it comes in a small bottle, but just a couple of drops will do the job.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

Red Boat Fish Sauce

Amazon

Here it is, every foodie’s favorite fish sauce—and for good reason. It’s classic fish sauce done perfectly. It has a funky, fermented fish aroma, and a rich, seaweed-forward flavor with a soy sauce undertone. It’s so, so savory with just the right amount of funk. It’s interesting enough for those who are well-versed in fish sauce but not so crazy pungent to scare off a fish sauce neophyte. Trust the hype. This is the best fish sauce. 

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other fish sauce brands we tried: Haku Iwashi Whisky Barrel Aged, Phu Quoc, Squid Brand