What can I use Instead of Ezy Sauce?

In this brief article, we will answer the question, “what can I use instead of Ezy Sauce?” and provide you with insights on how you can enhance your cooking with things other than ezy sauce.

Ezy sauce has been produced by the Kraft Heinz Company and used in Australia as a condiment due to its spicy and sour taste. However, its production was discontinued due to operational issues, as stated by the Company. 

What can I use instead of ezy sauce?

You can use homemade sauce and other condiments instead of ezy sauce in your dishes. Because ezy sauce contains acetic acid and chili, its taste is sour and pungent. The options will be discussed in the following sections of this article.

Why do you need a substitute for ezy sauce?

You need a substitute for ezy sauce because it is no longer produced by The Kraft Heinz Company since April 2022. The Food Company states operational issues as the reason for the discontinuation of the product (8). 

How to make homemade ezy sauce?

To make a homemade ezy sauce, you will need:

Basic ingredients	Optional ingredients	How to make
185 ml white vinegar,  2 tsp whole cloves, 2 tsp black peppercorns, 1 chopped chili, 185 ml water, salt	Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Lemon, juice, Sugar	Bring the ingredients to a boil in a cooking pan. After it starts boiling, turn the heat to a minimum and simmer the sauce for 30 minutes

Sauces from fermented vegetables

To substitute Ezy sauce, you can prepare a sauce from fermented vegetables. Lactic acid fermentation using lactic acid bacteria culture is normally employed to prepare fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, kimchi, which are known to have improved health benefits. 

How to make:

To prepare a sauce from fermented vegetables, you will need to have fermented vegetables such as fermented cucumber, carrot and radish, beets or squash. First, these vegetables are converted into a paste by blending them with the adding water in a 1:1 ratio in a mixer. 

Then, spices such as cardamom, black pepper, cumin, powdered red chilies, cloves and finely chopped onion, and garlic are added to the vegetable paste. Acetic acid, vinegar or lemon juice should also be added, as well as sugar. The mixture is boiled till the desired consistency is achieved (6).

This homemade sauce will have the acidity and the pungency of ezy sauce, due to its ingredients, which are rich in acids and due to the use of chili. The flavor of cloves will also be present, as in the ezy sauce.

Other Condiments

You can use a mixture of other condiments to substitute ezy sauce. Other condiments include sauces like chipotle sauce, dressings, balsamic vinegar and other spices like chilies, cloves, soy sauce, fennel, cumin etc. all these things can constitute for the enhanced flavour that you might be searching for.

Basil

Basil and thyme are also great flavor enhancers when it comes to adding to sauces. If you use tomato in a sauce, herbs like basil, parsley and thyme go very well with that. 

Basils (Ocimum spp) are a source of flavouring and of antioxidants. The species contain essential oils, mainly 1,8-cineole, estrageole and eugenol, flavonoids and anthocyanins (4).

Garam masala

Other than that, one thing that is not very often used is garam masala. It is a flavor powerhouse and is filled with roasted black peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves etc. and then crushed into a powder. 

Garam masala adds a great taste as well as aroma to a sauce as well as to a dish. It is primarily an Indian recipe but is not used all over the world.

Pepper

Pepper has antioxidant and antibacterial effects and helps with digestion and weight loss because it stimulates the breakdown of fat cells. In studies, the administration of cardamom reduced atherogenic lipids without significant alteration in HDL-cholesterol. 

Cinnamon

Cinnamon may be used for loss of appetite, dyspeptic complaints such as mild spastic conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, bloating and flatulence. 

Ginger

Ginger is used for dyspepsia and prevention of motion sickness; vomiting of pregnancy, anorexia, bronchitis and rheumatic complaints; as a postoperative antiemetic and has anti-inflammatory,  hypotensive and hepatoprotective activities. 

Cloves

Cloves contain Eugenin, triterpene acids, and sterol glucosides, providing anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties to the buds. Eugenol, a major component of the oil, is antibacterial. 

Acetone extract of clove, eugenol and acetyleugenol possess cholagogue activity. The eugenol and acetyl eugenol components of the clove oil inhibit arachidonate, adrenalin and collagen induced platelet aggregation

What about Monosodium glutamate?

Monosodium glutamate or MSG is also a flavour enhancer but it is not used very often. This flavour enhancer is commonly used in many industrialized food products. There are concerns regarding the use of MSG and its health effects.

Studies indicated that MSG administration increased cardiac tissue oxidative stress and also determined biochemical changes, namely increasing some heart disease biomarkers. 

Doses between 0.5 g/kg and 1.5 g/kg induced changes of cardiac rhythm, as well as lethal tachyarrhythmia in myocardial infarcted rats. However this equals an ingestion of over 30 g, which is overestimated. 

There is insufficient evidence provided by studies that show whether diet-added MSG could induce behavioral, biochemical, and morphological changes in structures such as cerebrum, hippocampus, and cerebellum of adult mammals (3).

However, when used in small doses, it is a good food flavour enhancer.

What are the advantages and drawbacks of substituting Ezy sauce?

The advantages of substituting ezy sauce are making your own homemade sauce and developing your own recipe. By preparing your own homemade sauce, you can use fresh ingredients, include a greater variety of ingredients and dose them according to your own preferences. 

Homemade food is generally considered to be healthier, fresher and cheaper (7).

The drawbacks of substituting ezy sauce is the lack of convenience, the labour of making food at home and the difficulty to reproduce the same flavour of the commercial ezy sauce.

Preparing food at home requires the knowledge of food handling and good hygiene practices to ensure the safe preparation and consumption in order to prevent foodborne illnesses. 

What are the commercial options to ezy sauce?

Commercial options to ezy sauce are barbecue sauce, chili sauce and Sriracha sauce. Although these sauces do not have the same flavor of ezy sauce, they are practical to use and contain chili, which makes the food spicy.

What are the ingredients in Ezy sauce?

According to the manufacturer, Ezy Sauce contains Water, Food Acid (260), Ground Black Pepper, Clove Oil and Chili. Food acid E260 is acetic acid and is used as a food preservative. Preservatives are food additives that protect against the action of microorganisms (fungi and/or bacteria) and thereby extend the shelf life of foodstuff (1).

The sauce is high in acetic, which functions as a food preservative. It is the same acid present in vinegar. Acetic acid has no negative effects on health.

It has a large spectrum of applications, namely in most food products, including mustard, vinaigrette sauce, fruit and vegetable preserves, canned fish, bread, mozzarella cheese and cream cheese, instant puddings and baby food. Acetic acid or acetates show no side effects (1). 

Conclusion 

In this brief article, we answered the question, “what can I use instead of Ezy Sauce?” and provided you with insights on how you can enhance your cooking with things other than ezy sauce.

References 

1. Silva, Maria Manuela, and Fernando Lidon. Food preservatives–An overview on applications and side effects. Emir J Food Agric, 2016, 366-373.
2. Dini, Irene, and Sonia Laneri. Spices, Condiments, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Aromas as Not Only Flavorings, but Precious Allies for Our Wellbeing. Antioxidants, 2021, 10, 2021.  
3. Zanfirescu, Anca, et al. A review of the alleged health hazards of monosodium glutamate. Comprehen rev food sci food safe, 2019, 18, 1111-1134.
4. Peter, Kuruppacharil V., ed. Handbook of herbs and spices: volume 3. Woodhead publishing, 2006.  
5. Dattatray, Sarvade, Bhingardive Kamini, and Jaiswal Mohanlal Manjula. Garam masala (mixture of spices) for cardiac health: An overview. J Ind Syst Med, 2016, 4, 211.
6. Joshi, V. K., and Sharma Somesh. Preparation and evaluation of sauces from lactic acid fermented vegetables. J food sci technol, 2010, 47, 214-218.
7. Maslin, Kate, and Carina Venter. Nutritional aspects of commercially prepared infant foods in developed countries: a narrative review. Nutr res rev, 2017, 30, 138-148.

Lowe R, Findlay J, Verley A, Bysouth) J. Kraft Heinz’s Ezy-Sauce production halt leaves country cooks without key ingredient. ABC News [Internet]. 2022 Apr 8 [cited 2023 Nov 2]; Available from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-09/ezy-sauce-stop-production-dismays-country-home-cooks/100954334