Homemade Worcestershire Sauce Recipe from Scratch

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.

Need some Worcestershire Sauce to add to a recipe but want to skip having to go to the store or having to purchase a product that has ingredients you’d rather not have? Here’s a wonderful Worcestershire Sauce recipe substitute so that you can make your own!

Need some Worcestershire sauce for a recipe but don't have any on hand? Here's how to make your own! #makeyourown #homemadesauces #worcestershiresauce #diyworcestershire #worcestershiresaucesubstitute

Worcestershire Sauce Recipe Substitute

Although Worcestershire sauce is probably one of the most difficult ingredients to spell, it is a versatile sauce that has many uses. A good Worcestershire Sauce recipe is a perfect blend of salty, sweet, spicy and sour, which lends great flavor to bland dishes.

It is incredibly simple and quick to whip up a batch of this homemade Worcestershire sauce recipe at home. It requires some staple ingredients that you most likely already have and 10 minutes of your time, that’s it!

Worcestershire Sauce Recipe Variations

The great thing about making your own Worcestershire sauce recipe is that you can turn up the salty, spicy, sour or sweet to cater to your tastes.

  • If you like a saltier sauce, add more soy sauce. If you need a low-sodium alternative, use a low-sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos.
  • If you want to make it sweeter, you increase the amounts of molasses or honey.
  • If you’re wanting spicier, you can add more chili powder, or even pour in a teaspoon of sriracha.
  • To attain a stronger sour note, simply increase the vinegar.

The recipe below is well-balanced, and gluten-free alternative and tastes similar to what you can find at your local grocery store, but much fresher and with no corn syrup or “natural flavorings”, as with many homemade substitutes! One of the best parts is that it doesn’t contain any odd spices that are hard to find such as anchovies or tamarind paste. You probably already have all this on hand!

Worcestershire Sauce Recipe

What You Need for Your Worcestershire Sauce Recipe:

(Makes about 1 cup of sauce)

  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/8 cup molasses
  • 1/8 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon or ground clove
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • Juice from 1/2 lime

How to Make Worcestershire Sauce

In a small saucepan, mix ingredients together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a blender. Blend until smooth. Store in a medium-sized dressing bottle, or covered bowl in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

If you aren’t going to be able to use this much Worcestershire Sauce in a month, freeze the sauce in an ice cube tray, pop the “ice cubes” out when frozen solid and store in a freezer bag. Grab one “ice cube” out of the freezer each time you need a bit of sauce!

bottle

If you plan on making any homemade sauces you NEED to have some of these glass bottles. They fit perfectly in your fridge doors and they work great for pouring the sauces. They even come with the little “dropper” top (that is removable) so you don’t pour out way too much at once! I love having these jars for sauces just like this Worcestershire Sauce substitute and for my homemade salad dressings like Homemade Catalina Dressing.

How Long Will Homemade Worchestershire Sauce Last?

Like all homemade sauces, the shelf life won’t be tremendously long. Try and use this use within a month. If you aren’t able to do that, you can freeze the extras like I mentioned above.

worcestershire

Worcestershire Sauce Uses

There are many ways to use Worcestershire sauce to enhance your everyday meals.

  • It makes a great marinade for steaks: just pour this Worcestershire sauce recipe over thawed steaks with salt and pepper, and allow to marinate at least 1 hour.
  • Add a couple of tablespoons to a quick chicken or vegetable stir-fry for a well-balanced flavor.
  • Use it to make a delicious homemade barbecue sauce.
  • Add a splash to boost your spaghetti sauces or other red pasta dishes.
  • Add to flavor a beef stroganoff.
  • Kick up the flavor in your homemade Sloppy Joes.
  • Put a bit in your slow cooker when making pulled pork.
  • Add a few dashes in homemade Mac and Cheese. Yes, seriously!
  • Mix a little of the sauce in with your burgers the next time you are making them on the grill.

We have so many other Make Your Own recipes listed on Little House Living. Make sure to check them all out!

Need to print this to add it to your Recipe Binder? Get the recipe for Worcestershire sauce below:

5 from 2 votes
Print

Worcestershire Sauce Recipe

The recipe below is well-balanced and tastes similar to what you can find at your local grocery store, but much fresher, as with many homemade substitutes!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/8 cup molasses
  • 1/8 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon or ground clove
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • Juice from 1/2 lime

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan, mix ingredients together and bring to a boil. 

  2. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. 

  3. Remove from heat and pour into a blender. Blend until smooth. 

  4. Store in a dressing bottle, or covered bowl in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Other Homemade Condiments to Try

Little House LivingLove simple recipes like this one? You may really enjoy my book, Little House Living: The Make Your Own Guide to a Frugal, Simple, and Self-Sufficient Life. It’s filled with over 130 mix and DIY recipes and projects that are easy to make.

What dishes will you add this Worcestershire sauce substitute recipe to? Do you already have any Worcestershire sauce recipes that’s you’ve tried What is your favorite sauce to make from scratch?

This Worcestershire Sauce recipe was originally published on Little House Living in November 2013. It has been updated as of July 2022.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Support Little House Living by Sharing This

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




90 Comments

  1. I am alergic to fish and sea food and I really miss the flavor of this stuff in my cooking. Any ideas on what I can substitute with for the fish sauce?

    1. Hi Virginia,

      Sorry to hear you’re allergic to fish. My daughter has food allergies, so I know how challenging it can be to find good substitutes. The fish sauce adds saltiness to the recipe, so I would just leave it out and substitute 1/2 tsp salt, or increase the amount of soy sauce by another tablespoon or two.

      1. I’m allergic to all seafood as well. I just found this recipe and wanted to thank you for sharing it here. I love to make chex party mix and have in the past bought vegan Worcestershire sauce online. You just saved me a few bucks! ( I’m just not putting the fish sauce in.) Looks and smells great! Thanks!

        1. I am almost vegan, eat egg. Was going to say same thing. I’m leaving fish out. Awesome thanks. So much cheaper then vegan type when bought

    2. If you can do soy you could try miso or Doenjang. I mix those with hoisin to replace oyster sauce since I developed a shellfish allergy. I just read the ingredients very carefully. I believe that they legally have to print the ingredients in English somewhere on the container.

  2. I was about to ask you where I could buy fish sauce and seen Virginia’s comment. With your reply I can make this without buying fish sauce!!! Thanks! Love reading your posts.

    1. Hi Lindsey. Yes, I think anchovy paste will work just fine! The fish sauce I used is made out of anchovies, so it will likely taste very similar.

  3. Thanks so much for the recipe! I love this sauce, but haven’t eaten it in many years because of the ingredients in the store bought version, so I look forward to trying it.

  4. My theory is this – If you can’t pronounce it, you don’t need to be eating it. – I love your website and it’s my go to for homemade. I make everything I can from scratch.

    1. Pretty silly theory Pamela. Certain that you’ve missed many wonderful foods in your life.

    2. Pamela, I agree with your theory and the person who said it was silly probably dines at fast food restautants and buys chemical laden convenience foods without thinking about what they are putting in their body, or their children’s bodies.

  5. Thanks for this recipe. I have fish allergies and most store bought sauces have anchovies in them. And subbing just soy sauce is not the same thing. I love your site.

  6. I am going to try this only using anchovies instead of fish sauce. I know real Worstershire sauce has anchovies. This looks easy and good!

  7. I see the possible substitution but I’ve never seen fish sauce. Where would I find it?

    Am really enjoying the homemade recipes. Thank you.

  8. I am so grateful that you have shared this recipe. I’m looking for recipes to make homemade condiments so I can avoid all the MSG and other fillers in most products. This looks great. Thanks! (P.S. Saw this at the All Things Thursday Blog Hop. Thanks for posting).

  9. Thankyou so much for posting this. I constantly start to make recipes that require this sauce and end up having to run to the store last second and buy a bottle. Now I can make it at home and that great! Thanks for the post!

  10. This is a great recipe! Thank you so much for taking the time during this busy season to share your wonderful post with Full Plate Thursday. Have a wonderful weekend and hope to see you again real soon!
    Miz Helen

  11. I love Worcestershire sauce, but have never made my own before. I was really interested to see your recipe! Thank you for sharing it with the Hearth and Soul hop.

  12. thank you for all of the make your own recipes. I am going to try this one but I do not eat anything with soy sauce in it. Any substitutions?

    1. Hi Marlies, do you not eat soy sauce or soy in general? If you’re not adverse to soy, you can try Liquid Aminos as an alternative. If you’re completely avoiding soy, you could try a chick-pea based miso, olive brine, or balsamic vinegar (with a bit more salt).

      1. I try not to eat anything with soy in it due to health reasons– if man made it, don’t eat it. Thanks for the tip on the balsamic vinegar though, I will have to try this for sure.

        1. I avoid soy also. I love asian flavours in cooking, missed soy sauce sooo much. I finally came up with a mixture that I can use instead. 1 1/4 c fish sauce, 1/4 c Maggi, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp molassas, pinch of citric acid or Vit C powder. The main flavour comes from the fish sauce & the molassas. The flavour of the fish sauce will affect how it tastes. For this you want one that is more salty than fish taste. You can skip the Maggi if you have trouble with wheat, it just adds a another layer to the flavour. Just taste, you may need to tweak the salty/ sweet ratio. I usually avoid wheat but find I can tolerate the small amount in this.

  13. You say after making the sauce you leave in fridge for a month why? What do you mean store in dressing bottle is that with cap on and left out of fridge? Can I bottled and cap this sauce while hot as I do with tomato sauce and plum sauces I make and they are best before for a year or until opened when opened they are refrigerated. I notice a lot of recipes say to allow to cool before capping which I believe is wrong as if the product is bottled or jarred while coming straight off cooking then lidded or capped as I do you will have no trouble with stuff going off as you can see when cooled the lid is drawn in. How soon can you use your sauce after bottling and capping does it have to mature first?

  14. My husband puts Worcestershire sauce on just about everything. I never even thought of making my own. I’ll have to give this a try!

  15. I use SOOO much Worcestershire sauce. I can’t wait to make up a batch! Pinned!!

  16. I saw this on Treasure Box Tuesday today and have to bookmark for future use as I love Wostershire Sauce and making my own sounds just perfect for me.Very excited to find this recipe, thanks.

    Rachel @ Craft, Art & Mess

  17. Mmm…this is a great idea too. Thanks! I’m curious about fish sauce, though. I’ve never seen that. I assume it’s just at Walmart, yes?

  18. I love the idea of making this yourself instead of buying it from the store! I’ve gotta try this! Thanks for linking up with us at Sweet & Savoury Sundays! This is one of my favorites this week! 🙂 Hope you’ll link up with us again!

  19. What a great idea to make it, I love to use it and by making it yourself you know what’s going into it. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!

  20. What a great recipe to DIY! I’m definitely going to have to try this recipe once we run out of Worcestershire. 🙂

  21. Congrats, you are being featured on Eazy Peazy Mealz Tips and Tricks Linky Party today. I would love if you wanted to stop by tonight and grab a featured button!

  22. Thank you for sharing at Tuesdays with a Twist! Hope to see you again this week!

  23. Interesting.. never thought about fish sauce being in it. It looks simple enough to make and it is a favorite for my crew.

  24. merissa, do you think this would freeze ok to make it’s shelf life longer? i don’t use much worcestershire sauce (whew! i had a heck of a time spelling that!!) but i’d love to have a version that’s clean.

  25. Thank you so much for this, I’m an Englishman (woman actually) in Portugal where they sell something called Molho Ingles (English sauce); I’m sure it’s supposed to be Worcestershire sauce but it’s very vinegary and doesn’t taste the least bit like Lea & Perrins!
    So now I can make my own.
    Sandra

  26. FIY I googled your recipe because I saw a Pinterest pin pinterest.com/pin/151503974941102504/
    that led to an adapted from you but the link didn’t go to you.

  27. Yum! I enjoy cooking out-of-the-ordinary condiments like this (the kind of thing that is nearly always commercially made) and it was a success! I added 2 T. of tamarind paste, a sprinkling of cayenne, and increased the honey by 1 T. Thank you for the recipe!

  28. I’ve never thought about making my own Worcestershire sauce, but now I want to! Thank you for sharing! 🙂

  29. Wow…what a neat recipe! Totally pinned it! 🙂

    I would love for you to share this with my Recipes, Crafts, Tips and Tricks Facebook group.

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

  30. I love this. I used Worcestershire sauce for everything, but never even thought of making it on my own. Totally sharing and pinning for later. Saying hello from Tuesday Talk

  31. This is really great! I love worcestershire sauce but i hate the store bought kinds that have unnecessary chemicals in them. Since I already have the ingredients that wont be a problem anymore. Thanks for sharing!

  32. We definitely like Worcerstershire around here, and I can never seem to spell it correctly. We’re running a bit low on it here, and I’m thinking I’ll have to make some. Good thing I have all the ingredients already. 🙂

  33. Thanks for the recipe! I knew there had to be a way to make it. Also, thanks for the link to the bottles. I added those to my Amazon wishlist; they look so versatile!

  34. How long can this be kept stored if not being used? For example, can it be made in bulk and kept for a certain period of time without it going to waste? I use this to season pretty much anything from fries to vegetables and if I could make it and have extra stored it would be great.

  35. We love using worcestershire sauce at home and never in a million years would have thought of making our own. I can’t wait to try this recipe, but I”l substitute the fish sauce for some salt. The hubby is allergic to seafood 🙁

  36. Will definately make this but was wondering if it only keeps for a month. I would like to double the mixture.Hi

    1. Since it’s fresh with no preservatives, I wouldn’t make more than you can use in a week or two. However, I’m pretty sure you could freeze the extra amount to use later if you do decide to make a double batch.

  37. Thank you.. This is really good and easy to make. It has come in so handy for the members in the family who are allergic to ingredients in the commercial version and we like making it to our taste.

  38. This looks really good—I hope to try it. One question: Do you really have to simmer all the ingredients? Can’t you just leave them uncooked? Thanks for any info.

  39. Hi, Thanks for the great recipe and I am going to whip up a batch. Just wondering if I could substitute lemon juice in place of the lime? Thank you. 🙂

  40. This might seem like a dumb question ,but isn”t 1/8 of a cup 2 Tablespoons .I see you have tablespoons for other things .Curious as i think there is 16 Tablespoons to a cup. This is not the first recipe using i have seen using 1/8 of a cup

  41. Is this recipe cannable? I think putting it into 1/2 canning jars, water bathing it for 15 minutes would do the trick. What do you think???

  42. 5 stars
    Thanks so much! So easy to make. This was for a person with severe allergies. Had to leave out the cinnamon too. Need to know what is in her foods, you made it so easy and side by side test for me was amazing. Only homemade will do from now on. Thanks again.

  43. 5 stars
    Thank you so much for this recipe. To keep it vegan, I swapped out the fish sauce for coconut aminos. And then I added a tsp of liquid smoke for depth. Delish!