This easy spicy miso sauce comes together in minutes, with eight ingredients, and is perfect as a dip or as a sauce for noodles. It’s also dairy and egg-free!
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⭐Why you’ll love it
- It’s spicy, sweet, and garlicky with a big umami hit from the miso.
- It’s nearly vegan, just swap the honey for maple syrup.
- It’s perfect for dipping fries or dumplings.
- Thin it out with some water and use it as a noodle sauce, or a stir-fry sauce!
- It comes together in minutes.
And if you like miso, then you might want to try my creamy spicy miso pasta, or this delicious 15-minute vegan creamy miso ramen recipe.
🛒Ingredients and substitutions
Red miso paste: If you don’t have any red miso paste, you can substitute it with Doenjang (Korean Soybean Paste) or white miso paste. Doenjang is a direct 1:1 swap; white miso paste is milder and less salty, so you may need to add a teaspoon of soy sauce.
Sriracha: If you don’t have any Sriracha, you can substitute it with chili garlic sauce or sambal oelek. If you substitute it, then I suggest not adding the red pepper flakes, as these sauces are slightly hotter than Sriracha.
Honey: Any honey will do. If you don’t have honey, you can substitute maple syrup.
Tahini: Use high-quality tahini; it should only contain sesame seeds and maybe some oil and/or salt. If you don’t have tahini, you can substitute it with cashew butter or sunflower seed butter with no changes to the recipe. You can also use peanut butter, although I’d suggest omitting the water until you see what the consistency is like, as it doesn’t absorb as much liquid, and it will taste slightly different.
Rice vinegar: is a pretty mild vinegar. If you need to substitute it, you can use apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, or champagne vinegar, but use slightly less, e.g., 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of vinegar, instead of the 1.5 tablespoons of rice vinegar used in the recipe.
Garlic: Fresh garlic is essential to this recipe, as it amps up the heat as well as brings a lot of flavor. If you don’t have a garlic press to crush it, then mince finely and use the back of a spoon or a mortar and pestle to break it down further before adding.
Crushed red pepper: If you’re sensitive to spice, you can omit these or add to taste. You can substitute half the amount of ground cayenne pepper, but I find that unless your cayenne pepper is freshly ground, your sauce will need at least an hour for the cayenne to properly rehydrate and not give a grainy consistency to the sauce.
See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact quantities.
👩🍳How to make it
- Add all the ingredients to a medium-sized bowl.
- Whisk together with a fork or a small whisk until the ingredients have blended well.
- If you’d like it thicker, chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. For a thinner consistency (e.g., to use as a sauce for noodles or stir-fry), whisk in more water.
You can use this spicy miso sauce straight away.
💡Expert tips or top tip
- Keep in mind that the heat level of the sauce will increase the longer it sits. If you’re making the sauce ahead, and you’re sensitive to spice, it might be better to add the red pepper flakes at the last minute.
- Your sauce will also thicken when chilled. If it’s too thick, simply loosen with a splash or two of water and whisk until it’s at your desired consistency.
🍽️Serving suggestions
As I mentioned before, this sauce is amazing as a dip. We like to use it as a dip for:
- Sweet potato fries.
- Potato wedges.
- Regular fries.
- Dumplings.
- Spring rolls.
- Onion bhajis.
- Onion rings.
When loosened, we use it as a sauce for udon noodles and stir-fries. When using with noodles, we cook the noodles, stir the sauce into the drained noodles, and add some chopped spring onions. For stir-fries, there is no need to heat it, just thin it slightly and add to the cooked vegetables.
❄️Storage
Your sauce, if tightly covered, will last in the fridge for up to five days in the fridge, and can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
❓Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Check that the red pepper flakes you used are actually spicy. Oftentimes, old ground flakes are not spicy at all.
Thin it out with more water, and if it’s too loose even after chilling, add more tahini.
Don’t panic. If you have time, add an extra tablespoon of tahini, whisk in well, and store the sauce in the freezer for 30 minutes (not the fridge). It should thicken up nicely. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
🌶️More spicy sauces…
Did you make this dish? Let me know how much you loved it with a star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐and a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Spicy Miso Sauce
Equipment
- 1 medium mixing bowl
- 1 set measuring spoons
- 1 garlic press
Ingredients
- 1-2 cloves garlic, pressed I used 2, use 1 for a milder garlic flavor.
- 1.5 tablespoon red miso
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
- 1.5 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- 2 tablespoon water
- 0.5 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Press the garlic and add to the bowl. If you don't have a garlic press, finely mince the garlic and then whack it with the back of a spoon or grind in a mortar and pestle until a little pasty.
- Add all the remaining ingredients.
- Whisk with a fork or a small whisk until the ingredients are well combined.
- Serve, or optionally chill for 30 minutes to make it even thicker. For noodle or stir-fry sauce instead of using as a dip, thin with more water until at your desired consistency.
Notes
- Red miso – if you don’t have any red miso paste, you can substitute it with Doenjang (Korean bean paste) or white miso plus a teaspoon of soy sauce.
- Honey – if you don’t have honey, you can use maple syrup or simple syrup instead, particularly if you’d like to veganize this sauce.
- Sriracha – if you don’t have Sriracha sauce, use chilli garlic sauce or sambal oelek and omit the red pepper flakes until you have tested how spicy the sauce is.
- Rice vinegar – ACV, white vine, or champagne vinegar can be used instead, but use slightly less, 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon.
- Tahini – instead of tahini, you can use cashew butter or sunflower seed butter. Peanut butter can also be used, but it will change the recipe’s taste.
- Red pepper flakes – can be substituted with half the amount of cayenne pepper.
- Remember that one or two substitutions should be fine, but making many will completely change the outcome of the recipe.
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