soy sauce

noun

variants or less commonly soy or chiefly British soya sauce

: a brown, salty liquid that is made by subjecting soybeans and roasted grain (such as wheat) to long fermentation in brine and is used especially in Asian cooking and as a condiment

At its most basic, soy sauce is a fermented liquid made from soybeans and wheat. Soybeans contribute a strong, pungent taste, while wheat lends sweetness.

—Lisa McManus

My most recent kick has been Chinese. For more than a year now I've been stir-frying everything in ginger and garlic and adding soy sauce.

—Andrew A. Rooney

see shoyu

Examples of soy sauce in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

My favorite course was the savory uni cream served with crispy ribbons of Japanese sweet potatoes, threads of salty-sweet rishiri-kombu seaweed, an earthy mushroom gelée and drizzle of white soy sauce. —Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Dec. 2025

Filled with chicken, cilantro, green onions, cabbage, soy sauce, and garlic, they can be cooked in the microwave, steamed, or pan-fried. —Heather Riske, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Dec. 2025

Carrot salad The viral carrot ribbon salad trend, popularized by chef and content creator Cassie Yeung, turns shaved carrots into a flavorful, easy-to-eat dish tossed with sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and chili crisp, Fox News Digital previously reported. —Deirdre Bardolf, FOXNews.com, 29 Dec. 2025

Thai seasoning sauce or soy sauce ½ tsp. —Sabrina Weiss, PEOPLE, 25 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1775, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for soy sauce

• across
• backcross
• crisscross
• lacrosse
• recross
• tomas
• albatross
• applesauce
• barabbas
• helios
• kshatriyas
• blas

Kids Definition

soy sauce

noun

: a brown sauce made from soybeans and used especially in Chinese and Japanese cooking