ingredients
Tamari: What’s the Deal with this Soy Sauce Substitute?
- By Carolina Schneider, MS RD
- Updated: January 2025
Tamari is a type of Japanese soy sauce. It’s often labeled as “gluten free soy sauce” and guess what? Like regular soy sauce, tamari is made from fermented soy beans.
What is Tamari?
Tamari is a type of Japanese soy sauce. It’s often labeled as “gluten free soy sauce” and guess what? That's essentially what it is.
Like OG soy sauce, tamari is made from fermented soy beans. The ingredients needed to make tamari are simple: water, soybeans, salt and often a touch of alcohol or vinegar to preserve freshness. Also like soy sauce, you can find tamari with varying amounts of sodium. Optionality is nice.
The Difference Between Tamari and Soy Sauce
The biggest difference between tamari and soy sauce is that soy sauce is made with wheat, while tamari is made using solely soybeans, which gives it a richer, smoother flavor compared with the sharper taste of soy sauce. This means that unlike soy sauce, tamari is gluten-free, making it a great soy sauce substitute for people who need to avoid gluten.While the presence of gluten is the most notable difference between tamari and soy sauce, there are other differences too. Soy sauce tends to be a little more salt-forward. Tamari also has a slightly darker color compared with regular soy sauce.
Worth noting: there is such a thing as gluten-free soy sauce that isn’t tamari. For the folks who can’t jive with gluten, this type of soy sauce is made with rice instead of wheat (remember, tamari is just soybeans and no grains) and the taste is pretty similar to regular soy sauce.
So…Should I Use Tamari or Soy Sauce?
If you need to avoid gluten, the answer is clear: Tamari all day. Choose a bottle specifically labeled “gluten free” to ensure there are no trace amounts of gluten hanging around.
If you don’t have any issues with gluten, you might want to keep both stocked at home and play around in your cooking and dipping (hello, sushi). The two ingredients are more or less interchangeable, though soy sauce is a little saltier so you can get away with using less. Tamari does have a more complex flavor, so chefs often recommend using tamari in cold dishes (like salad dressings) and soy sauce on hot food (think stir-frys), but really there are no rules. Unless you can’t eat gluten. Then there are rules— lots of rules).
When shopping for either tamari or regular soy sauce, choose organic to ensure you’re getting a sauce made from organically grown, non-GMO soybeans.
We take care of food so food can take care of you. Stock up on our deliciously nourishing best sellers with tamari at daily-harvest.com.
Sources
Carolina Schneider, MS RD
Nutritionist
Carolina Schneider, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian and founder of Hungry for Plants. She specializes in plant-based nutrition and has followed a whole-food, vegan diet for nearly a decade. With a background in journalism, marketing and public relations, Carolina is adept in creating nutrition content for health and wellness companies that prioritizes the brand’s positioning to consumers. Her experience, combined with her passion and knowledge, equip her to help companies successfully communicate the nutritional benefits of their products to consumers. Originally from Brazil, Carolina is fluent in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Carolina received two degrees in Journalism and Public Relations, which have given her the tools to become a writer and excellent communicator. Additionally, Carolina has years of professional experience in marketing, specifically in the food industry, giving her the knowledge to help brands best position their products to reach new customers and improve brand loyalty. Carolina obtained her Master of Science degree in Nutrition & Dietetics, and is passionate about nutrition science and helping individuals improve health and wellbeing through food.
