Did you know that many brands of Worcestershire sauce that you can buy at the store are not vegan? In fact, the brand I see most often at the store, Lea & Perrins, is made with anchovy paste. It’s not even vegetarian. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news! There are a handful of vegan Worcestershire sauce brands out there. Annie’s, Edward & Sons, and Whole Foods brands are all vegan…but they’re not available everywhere. In fact, a decent fraction of the grocery stores in my area don’t carry any of these brands. Since I have quite a few recipes that call for vegan Worcestershire sauce, I thought it might be appropriate to share a recipe so that you can make your own. It’s really easy, and actually cheaper than buying it!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Apple cider vinegar. You could probably substitute another type of vinegar, such as white vinegar or red wine vinegar, but I haven’t tested either. Unsulfured molasses. Make sure the label says unsulfured. Don’t use blackstrap molasses — it’s not the same thing. Grandma’s brand in unsulfured.Soy sauce. Gluten-free tamari or liquid aminos can be substituted for a gluten-free version of this recipe.Prepared mustard. Just use a plain old yellow mustard, such as French’s.Sugar. Make sure to use organic sugar to keep the recipe vegan.Spices. We’re using onion powder, garlic powder, and cloves.Salt.Water.Cornstarch.
How It’s Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make vegan Worcestershire sauce. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
Stir your vinegar, molasses, soy sauce, mustard, sugar, spices, and salt together in a small saucepan.Place the pot over medium heat and bring it to a boil, then lower the heat until it’s just at a simmer. Stir it as it heats up to dissolve the sugar. Feel free to taste-test the sauce as it cooks and adjust any seasonings to get the flavor just right for your taste.Stir cold water and a bit of cornstarch together in a small container, and add it to the pot after the sauce has simmered for about four minutes. Let the sauce come back up to a simmer and it will thicken up ever so slightly (Worcestershire sauce isn’t very thick).
Take your homemade Worcestershire sauce off of the burner and let it cool. Again, feel free to make any seasoning adjustments to suit your taste.Once the sauce is cool, bottle it up and store it for future use.
Shelf-Life & Storage
Your homemade vegan Worcestershire sauce will have a long shelf-life, since all of the ingredients do! I’ve had a bottle for about 3 months, and it shows no sign of going bad. Just be sure to store yours in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Dishes to Make with Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
Vegan Crab CakesVegan MeatloafVegan GravyVegan Sloppy JoesVegan BBQ SauceVegetable Stew
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
