Use my versatile All-Purpose Miso Sauce to make glazes, marinades, dressings, and dipping sauces. This sweet and savory sauce is the secret to many of your favorite Japanese dishes. Add it to any protein or vegetable for a boost of authentic umami flavor. This vegan-friendly sauce is super easy to put together with just four ingredients.
It’s always good to have homemade sauces around in your kitchen so you don’t end up with the store-bought stuff. Not only you have complete control over the ingredients, but a homemade sauce always tastes so much better. Today I’m sharing my secret magic sauce: the brilliant All-Purpose Miso Sauce.
Whether it is to add a little depth or complexity, this miso sauce never fails to jazz up a dish whenever something is amiss. Just like a reliable friend you can count on anytime!
The Best Miso Sauce
5 reasons to love this sauce:
- It’s full of authentic Japanese flavor. The sauce is the guarded secret to many of your favorite Japanese dishes.
- Super easy to put together & only 4 simple ingredients needed!
- Long shelf life. Make once and store well in the fridge for up to 2 months.
- Its ability to transform. You can get a whole variety of homemade sauce with varying flavors by using different miso. Mild, sweet or pungent – you decide.
- Unlike bottled seasoning sauces, this homemade sauce is free of processed ingredients and MSG (monosodium glutamate).
3 Things to Know When Making All-Purpose Miso Sauce
1. Saltiness varies based on the miso brand/type
If you’re using a different brand or type of miso, keep in mind that the saltiness level may differ from my recipe. So adjust accordingly.
2. Different types of miso yield different flavors
Miso can be made of rice, barley, soybean, or koji, and each one has different strengths and depth. Just like saltiness, if you’re using a different type of miso, your homemade miso sauce may not taste exactly like mine. It also means you can literally make a variety of this sauce by using different types of miso.
3. Miso burns easily
Miso itself burns easily while cooking, but it gets even more susceptible when you include mirin and/or sugar. Be sure to keep a close eye of the pot. Stay around to scrape the bottom of the pot and keep stirring.
Recipe Ideas with All-Purpose Miso Sauce
- Marinade: Use different proteins including fish, chicken, pork, beef, and tofu. Cook in the foil, oven or pan fry.
- Stir Fry: Add just a tablespoon or two of the miso sauce to the stir-fry dishes.
- Simmered Dishes (Nimono): Simmer root vegetables and protein with miso sauce.
- Dipping Sauce: for your steamed vegetables, hot pot, or simply, fresh cucumber.
- Dressing: Coat with all kinds of vegetables and add them to the salad dressing base.
Sweet, savory, versatile, and full of umami, that’s what makes this All-Purpose Miso Sauce so brilliant. I know you’d have fun integrating the sauce into more of your cooking.
Recipe Ideas:
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All-Purpose Miso Sauce
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Add 1 cup miso, 1 cup mirin, ½ cup sake, and 2 Tbsp sugar to a small saucepan.
- Whisk it all together. Set the pot on the stove and bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat.
- Once bubbling, reduce the heat to low. Keep stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot to prevent the sauce from burning. Simmer for 20–30 minutes until thickened. Your miso sauce is now ready to use.
To Serve
- Enjoy this All-Purpose Miso Sauce as a marinade for protein like chicken thighs in my Miso Chicken recipe. You can also use it to make my delicious Tahini Miso Dressing to serve with all kinds of vegetables and salads like my Roasted Cauliflower Kale Salad.
To Store
- Transfer the sauce to an airtight container and let it cool completely. Close the lid and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.
Oishi!
I had a sauce very much like this years ago when we were at a small “cafe/bar” way out in the country (gifu prefecture; we had been visiting Shirakawa-Go). There was very little selection on the menu but what we had was cooked and served on a large leaf and with this sauce. I dont speak Japanese so I couldnt ask for the recipe….but my husband is Japanese (but not a cook) the proprietor happily explained that it was a miso sauce and talked to my husband about how to cook it. Most of that was lost in translation to me……..so I never was able to satisfactorily replicate it.
This recipe is very much …very very much like it. His was more of a paste…mine is a bit more creamy liquid…not as thick. I was afraid of scorching it or burning it on the pan.
Thank You very much for this delicious recipe and for the wonderful memory.
Hi Bond! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! You got to try Hoba Miso! I have the separate recipe on my blog where I tried to replicate that delicious experience. 🙂
Try to reduce the sauce more as it gets thicken. Thank YOU for reminding me of the wonderful memory I had too! I love Hoba Miso!
I am cooking it in the top of a double boiler…..is that OK? It is bubbling but just barely.
Hi Bond! I’m so sorry for my late response. How did the double boiler work out for you? You have to stay around in the kitchen to stir frequently but no need to do a double boiler next time. 🙂
This is now my absolute FAVOURITE sauce! I’m living in Hokkaido for the winter, I’m trying to cook as many Japanese recipes as possible while I’m here and this sauce is a staple. I especially love it on grilled rice cakes, so tasty. Thanks for all your recipes, this website has been so helpful to me!
Hi Jo! I’m so happy to hear you like this sauce! Oh you put on mochi!!! That, I had never tried it and going to try it out! Thank you for sharing! I’m jealous you’re in Hokkaido! Food is great. Enjoy eating lots of seafood and all the delicious produce!
Hi Nami
Can I use rice wine to replace sake? Thanks.
Hi Annie! Yes, you can use rice wine. 🙂
Hi Nami
This looks great. I plan to make it soon. I’m interested to know if I can freeze the miso sauce and use “as needed”?
Love your work btw
Romaine x
Hi Romaine! Sure you can freeze the miso sauce. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
[…] the dressing, I same outdated my favorite All-Goal Miso Sauce as the inferior flavor and mix it with tahini sauce. That you just can perhaps […]
[…] the dressing, I used my favorite All-Purpose Miso Sauce as the base flavor and combine it with tahini sauce. You can use nerigoma (Japanese sesame […]
Hello nami! I’m so excited I just made this sauce last night and the Miso chicken recipe. However I left of the extra miso sauce on my counter on accident and didn’t refrigerate it overnight. Do you think it’s still ok?
Hi Megan! Yes I think it’ll be okay (hope it’s relatively cooler condition – if you’re in the northern hemisphere). Just to be safe, use it soon, but I believe it is okay as there is no water in this recipe (water can go bad). Hope you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
[…] From marinade to stir-fry to dressing, you’ll be surprised how this secret sauce can change how the food tastes. I shared the All-Purpose Miso Sauce recipe and tips in details on this post. […]
Hi Nami! Do you think white miso would work in this recipe?
Hi Max! Any type of miso can be used. In fact, I recommend trying out with different miso for fun. 🙂
Can you share which brand of sake and which brand of mirin did you use in making the miso? Also can I use light brown sugar or must it be white sugar?
Hi Jocelyn! I
Sake (3 brands I mentioend here): https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/sake/
Mirin (#1 or #2): https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/mirin/
Sugar: I use organic cane sugar (from Trader Joe’s) but you can use light brown sugar if you like. Please adjust the amount.
Hi Nami, if I only have access to Kikkoman aji mirin, would that still work for this recipe?
Hi Judy, Kikkoman Aji mirin contain salt, and it will make this sauce a little salter. But it will work. We hope this helps!
Hi Nami,
Can the sake be left out or substituted with something non-alcoholic?
Thank you
Hi Mandy! We can’t use water for this recipe because we need to preserve this sauce for a long time and water can go bad. Therefore we use alcohol and let the alcohol evaporate but use the liquid. If you don’t plan to keep it for a long time, you can use water instead. 🙂
What kind of sugar did you use?
Hi Theresa, that’s organic cane sugar from Trader Joe’s.
Thanks Nami.
Hi Nami,
I thought miso was not supposed to be boiled?
Hi Lisa! So in Japan we say not to boil miso because we lose miso’s flavor/taste (“Fuumi” 風味).
But maybe like the first commenter, you are also thinking about the probiotic part.
By boiling, probiotic will be dead. However, the dead probiotics become feed to the good bacteria in intestines (so it doesn’t go waste). We have a lot of miso dishes in Japan that require cooking/simmering in miso such as Miso Nikomi Udon (I’ll share this recipe one day).
So we do use and enjoy miso as probiotic for some dishes, but not all. So many dishes are cooked in miso and there is no way probiotics are alive. But miso is one of important seasonings in Japan.
Hope I answered to your question.
Hi! I would like to try this miso sauce.. But what if i can’t eat mirin and sake? Should i just mix miso paste and sugar only..? Would it taste the same..?
Hi SakuraHana! Hmmm…… really difficult to answer…. We avoid using water to preserve the sauce for a long time, which is why we use alcohol instead (and let the alcohol evaporate but keep the liquid). We can’t make the same sauce with sugar and miso (and avoid water) unfortunately… well I haven’t tried it, but I think it’s not liquid enough. Maybe try with small amount (not this huge amount) to see if it works well. Sweetness is necessary for this sauce.
Actually, I want to mention that you can use water, but don’t keep the sauce for a long time. 🙂
This looks really good, but I have a question. Doesn’t boiling or cooking this long kill the probiotics in miso? Or is the purpose of this sauce the flavor and not really the health benefit of miso? Either was I bet it is delicious! 🙂
Hi Samantha! It does, but the dead probiotics become feed to the good bacteria in intestines (so it doesn’t go waste). We have a lot of miso dishes in Japan that require cooking/simmering in miso too such as Miso Nikomi Udon (I’ll share this recipe one day).
In Japan, we often say not to boil miso, but it’s because we lose its flavor/taste (Fuumi 風味). I thought it’s interesting to hear about “killing probiotics” as a reason (even though it’s true). 🙂