As someone who comes from an Asian household, I can count the number of times I’ve been without soy sauce in my pantry on one hand. Not only that, but there’s also a whole variety of soy sauces to be found in there, since each one is intended for a different, unique purpose. But you don’t need to be a master of soy sauce knowledge to have a preferred, go-to brand, right? Well, if your go-to brand isn’t already Kikkoman, I’ve got some news for you. According to our ranking list of 21 grocery store soy sauce brands, it should be.
Kikkoman is an everyman kind of soy sauce that tops our ratings. In our taste tests, we looked at the flavor profile of each soy sauce brand along with the aroma, color, and packaging. With one of the longest standing histories and best quality product, Kikkoman hands down showed its stuff and earned its spot as the best soy sauce brand on our list.
Why should you go for Kikkoman every time?
When zeroing in on where Kikkoman really shone, let’s look first at the flavor profile. A good soy sauce has a balanced flavor, with enough salt to make it a good ingredient in cooking but nothing so overwhelming that it basically becomes inedible. Sure, you can add other ingredients to your soy sauce to make it more tailored to your palate, but Kikkoman’s soy sauce is great straight from the bottle. It’s savory and salty with just a hint of acidic tang thanks to the fermentation of the soy beans, and the tiniest hint of sweetness. The well-rounded umami taste suits almost anything you can think of, making it perfect for dipping, cooking, or sauce-making.
It’s no surprise that Kikkoman knocks it out of the park when you look at its storied history, too. Kikkoman was first formed in 1917 after multiple family-owned businesses consolidated; some of these companies had been around since the 17th century! That’s a whole wealth of knowledge and practice going into each and every bottle. Since then, Kikkoman has come out with around a dozen different varieties of soy sauces for different occasions, and each one is high quality and delicious. If you want to try our vote for the best soy sauce brand, go snag a bottle of Kikkoman from your local Kroger-owned grocery store or local Asian market. We promise you won’t regret it.
