Sodium in Soy Sauce

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13 Jul 2025

Soy sauce has a LOT of sodium! Even "Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce" has a surprising amount of sodium!

I found a "Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce" at Trader Joe's. A mere 1 Tbsp of this soy sauce has 530 mg sodium!

Salt-Free Soy Sauce Recipe

Soy Sauce 𝐸𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓷 Recipe (Soyless and SOS Free) developed in a FaceBook group that follows Dr Esselstyn's guidelines diligently:

INGREDIENTS
• ¼ cup sodium free homemade vegetable broth
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 ½ cups fluoride free water
• 1 tbsp finely chopped dates
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• garlic to taste
• fresh ground pepper
optionally, add finely chopped bits of celery for a saltier taste

INSTRUCTIONS
* Bring all ingredients to a boil.
* Turn the heat to medium high and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until the liquid is reduced to one cup.
* Store in the fridge in a glass jar.
* Shake well before using.

Enjoy both flavor AND health! 😋🤩

Recipe originally from "Be Green With Amy". Adapted by Dinçer Okan Osmanoğulları and Bill Blais.

Soy Sauce Substitutes

No Added Sodium Soy Sauce Alternative (YouTube, 3 mins). Excerpts from the video:

"Roast 1/4 cup of black rice. We may also use any type of white rice, just make sure we roast them like coffee black. I roasted the rice for about 5 mins. Be careful with your heat. Make sure it's not too high, so that the rice won't turn into a rice pops. Set aside."

"In a small pot, I added 1.5 cups of water, then add in the roasted rice. As you can see, the water started turning dark already like burgundy color. If you prefer using white rice, that is ok."

"I let it boil and then added the remaining ingredients: 1 tTsp molasses, 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp malt vinegar, and a pinch of ginger and garlic powder. Let it boil once more and it's done. Let it cool for 10 mins before transferring into a clean jar to let it cool completely before refrigerating it with a tight lid."

In the recipe above, perhaps we can use blackstrap molasses, which are approved by Dr Greger.

Dr Greger's Umami Sauce Redux: with Light Vegetable Broth, minced garlic, grated ginger, blackstrap molasses, salt-free tomato paste, ground black pepper, misto paste, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.

Soy Sauce Substitute with vinegar, garlic cloves, dark molasses, onion powder. Perhaps we can use blackstrap molasses, which are approved by Dr Greger.

Vegan Soy Sauce Substitute with vegetable bouillon powder, blackstrap molasses, rice vinegar, gingered powder, fenugreek seeds, ground black pepper, and water.

Low Sodium Soy Sauce with white miso paste, blackstrap molasses, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, ginger powder, ground black pepper.

Coconut Aminos (available at many stores, including Azure Standard).

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