How To Make Okonomiyaki Sauce Without Worcestershire: The Recipe

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Okonomiyaki sauce is great! It’s sweet and salty, has a deep flavor of smokiness, and pairs perfectly with the pancakes and cabbage, along so many other things.

But, it can be hard to make if you don’t have Worcestershire sauce.

To make okonomiyaki sauce without Worcestershire, you need to add some acidity and smokiness back into the dish. Add a little balsamic vinegar and barbecue sauce instead to get the same flavor profile.

In this recipe, I’ll show you exactly how to get that smokiness into the sauce without it.

Okonomiyaki sauce without worcestershire recipe

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Okonomiyaki Sauce Without Worcestershire Recipe

Joost Nusselder
Let's make this simple and easy okonomiyaki sauce for when you don't have any Worcestershire handy and still get the smokiness that makes the pancakes so delicious.
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Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 1 minute
Total Time 2 minutes
Course Sauce
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • tbsp sugar
  • 4 tbsp ketchup
  • ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp barbecue sauce

Instructions
 

  • Pour all of the ingredients into a small bowl
  • Whisk them together for around 1 to 2 minutes to get all of the sauces to blend together
  • Adjust the balsamic vinegar and barbecue sauce to taste
Keyword Okonomiyaki
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

It really is that simple, you don’t need to cook, just blend the sauces together well.

Normally, Worcestershire sauce would be in place of the balsamic vinegar and barbecue sauce so you could still make it without cooking.

The balsamic vinegar is perfect to add a little acidity back into the sauce. Some people like a little bit more than 1/2 tablespoon, but I find that’s a perfect balance.

The same goes for the barbecue sauce. It adds smokiness back into the dish that it misses with the lack of Worcestershire sauce. It depends on the type of BBQ sauce you use though, because some are a little sweeter than others.

You might want to reduce the amount of sugar if you add a very sweet BBQ sauce into the mix or add a little less of the sauce.

Conclusion

You see, it’s very possible to make okonomiyaki sauce without Worcestershire, you just need a little creativity and the knowledge of what the sauce actually brings in terms of flavor so you know what to substitute for.

Check out our new cookbook

Bitemybun's family recipes with complete meal planner and recipe guide.

Try it out for free with Kindle Unlimited:

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Joost Nusselder, the founder of Bite My Bun is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with Japanese food at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.