Oyster sauce is the unsung hero in popular dishes like beef and broccoli and chow mein. It’s normally made by reducing oyster liquid until it’s supercharged with flavor. Oyster sauce is a dark, syrupy flavor bomb that’s salty, full of umami, and often at least slightly sweet. It is a shortcut to adding depth to almost any dish. Even the smallest pour of oyster sauce instantly adds depth and deliciously nuanced taste. But what’s the best oyster sauce? We tried 19 bottles of oyster sauce to find out.
How we tasted the oyster sauces
We ate oyster sauce after oyster sauce straight off a spoon so you wouldn’t have to. We’ve never been so equipped to make tasty food, and our breath has never smelled worse. Ya win some, ya lose some.
What we looked for in the best oyster sauce
The best oyster sauce is savory, salty, and slightly sweet. It’s dark and robust, almost like caramel. It has a powerful, condensed umami flavor. The best oyster sauce is complex and possesses a mouth-smacking meaty flavor. In our taste tests, we looked for not only the best oyster sauce in the traditional sense, but also the best vegan oyster sauce, the best gluten free oyster sauce, and we even sought out low sodium oyster sauce and no MSG oyster sauce.
Here are the best oyster sauce brands to seek out at the grocery store and online.
Best Oyster Sauce Brands, Ranked
- Sauce Grandmaster Gluten Free Matsutake Vegetarian Oyster Sauce
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We’re telling you here that this is a vegetarian oyster sauce (made with mushrooms) and a no MSG oyster sauce to save you the trouble of Google translating because this label is in Japanese. The flavor doesn’t scream “oyster sauce.” It is more akin to a sweet, thick soy sauce because it lacks that extra oyster sauce funk, but it really does taste good. It’s certainly the best vegetarian oyster sauce for those who fear the funk—or the MSG. Bonus points for having a squeeze bottle, and not forcing users to turn over a glass bottle full of concentrated oyster juice, only to hope that it doesn’t come glopping out. — Hebba Gouda
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Lucky Foods Organic Vegan Oyster Sauce
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This thick-bodied oyster sauce is damn meaty for being a vegan oyster sauce, and man is it effing good. The ingredients listed on Lucky Foods’ oyster sauce are just phenomenal. Check out this flavor parade: tamari soy sauce, vinegar, cane sugar, coconut sugar, shiitake mushroom powder, and seaweed powder. That’s a lot of umami, my friends. The result is a funky, salty, sweet, slightly tangy and very savory “oyster” sauce that won’t have you missing oysters at all. It’s the best oyster sauce for plant-based folks. And the best part? No fishy flavor. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Maekrua Oyster Sauce Thailand
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Maekrua oyster sauce is a product of Thailand that’s smoky, sweet, and savory. I really love that Maekrua tells you exactly how much of each ingredient is in the sauce. It lists 30% oyster extract, 28.8% soy sauce, 11.8% water, etc. It’s rare to see that in a product, as it’s been explained to me by Best Foods that nobody legally has to list the exact amount of each ingredient. Maekrua is another no MSG oyster sauce, but it maintains great umami all the same. There is a subtle vegetal quality in this sauce that almost tastes like celery. It’s quite unique—the best oyster sauce for people who like a little smokiness and definitely the best oyster sauce brand for people who want full transparency. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- 24Vegan Oyster Sauce
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This oyster sauce stands out as one of the least sweet, most sour sauces. It’s salty on the front of the tongue and has a distinctly mushroom funk, but hey, that’s to be expected from this mushroom-based product. If you’re looking for something that’s indistinguishable from a true oyster sauce, you might be disappointed by the fungus of it all. But for the open-minded, it does a great job of delivering general umami and salt. And, although it’s not marketed as a low sodium oyster sauce, it has considerably less sodium than most others we tried, clocking in at about 38mg of sodium per gram of sauce. For reference, our “best of the best” oyster sauce has 44mg per gram. When a serving size averages about 15 grams (and who sticks to serving sizes?), that difference in sodium adds up. As a bonus, it’s also some of the best gluten free oyster sauce and the best vegan oyster sauce, plus the brand is women-owned and minority-owned! — Hebba Gouda
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Mama Sita’s Garlic Oyster Sauce
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This oyster sauce’s garlic flavor is a revelation. It has a roasted flavor that’s not harsh. It works with the inherently savory quality of the oyster sauce. Mama Sita’s oyster sauce is thick, meaty, and pungent. Moreover, that garlic flavor cuts the edge of the fishiness of the oyster sauce itself. If you love garlic, Mama Sita’s is the best oyster sauce for you—it’s a triple threat of flavor (salty, garlicky, fishy) that will enhance any stir fry or noodle dish. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Asamurasaki Oyster Sauce
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This small lil’ jar of oyster sauce lists seaweed, oyster soy sauce, sugar, and high fructose corn syrup in the ingredients. And man, this oyster sauce is meaty. It’s so rich that it almost reads like a jelly. There are little shreds of fine seaweed in it that add this wonderfully coarse texture. The seaweed flavor is prominent and adds this extra wallop of umami you don’t get with other oyster sauces. It’s expensive, but it’s so damn interesting that if you fancy yourself an oyster sauce lover, this is the best oyster sauce brand to buy as a special treat. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Dynasty Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce
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Dynasty is dark, brown, and has distinctly sugary notes. It’s rather fishy and sweet, and has three grams more added sugar per serving than Lee Kum Kee. The ingredients also list fish powder, pollock, haddock, and ocean perch, so you are really getting a potent fish flavor. You’re either going to hate it or love it. Personally, I think Dynasty rocks—it’s fishy but that fishiness is full of savoriness that’s tempered by sugar and salt. It also has much less sodium per serving, too. Dynasty is the best oyster sauce for fish lovers. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Megachef Premium Oyster Sauce
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Megachef is dark, salty, sweet, and rich with pure oyster flavor. The bottle also touts that this sauce won the gold medal at the 2011 Fine Food Awards, so you know it’s a high quality product. Anyway, Megachef tastes purely of oysters without being too fishy. The oyster flavor is just tamed by an underlying sweetness, so it’s not overbearing. Megachef is pricey, and only available online, but if you search it on Google (or Bing! Hi, Microsoft!) you’ll find all kinds of ways to buy it. It’s the best oyster sauce to add some meatiness to tofu and vegetables, which desperately need umami. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Dek Som Boon Oyster Sauce Gluten Free
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This gluten free oyster sauce is pretty darn true to the platonic ideal of oyster sauce. It is on the sweeter side without being cloying. I’ll admit it smells a little like dog food, but that comes with the whole “concentrated oyster juice” thing. Don’t let it deter you, because this tasty, gluten free oyster sauce is strong enough to add a punch to your dishes without being overly aggressive or overpowering. The combination of fishiness, slight nuttiness, lip-smacking saltiness, and balanced sweetness reminds me a lot of furikake, which is the highest praise I could give. My Valentines are never smitten by my compliments, but who needs love when you have stir fry? — Hebba Gouda
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce
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Lee Kum Kee’s premium oyster sauce is so umami rich it practically smacks you upside the head with flavor. It’s expectedly sweet, salty, and sludge-like, but the savoriness is off the charts when compared to other oyster sauces. Also, it should be said, there’s only a few ingredients listed on the label (a sign that this product is well-made), and the first one is oyster extractives. That means that the primary ingredient in this oyster sauce is oyster, which is why the prominent flavor is a lovely, oceanic meatiness. Lee Kum Kee also uses MSG, which explains the added punch of salty umami. Don’t get this twisted with Lee Kum Kee’s Panda brand oyster sauce, which lists oyster extract as the 4th overall ingredient. This is a much more potent product, and quite frankly lives up to the premium label. The best oyster sauce for our money. — Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
Best No MSG Oyster Sauce
Best Vegan Oyster Sauce
Best Smoky Oyster Sauce
Best Lower Sodium Oyster Sauce
Best Garlicky Oyster Sauce
Best Splurge
Best Fishy
Best Oyster Sauce with Tofu
Best Gluten Free Oyster Sauce
Best of the Best
Other oyster sauce brands we tried:
Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand, Wok Mei, Dragon Fly, Healthy Boy, Ka Me, Kikkoman Red Label, Panda Green Label, Kikkoman Green Label
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