Out of Marmite, or cooking for someone who cannot face it? The right substitute depends entirely on what you wanted the Marmite for. If you were going to spread it on toast, your options are narrow. If you wanted it for the savoury depth it gives a stew or a gravy, you have several good ones. Let us take the two jobs separately, because that is where most advice on this goes wrong.
First, the trap to avoid
Do not reach for Bovril as a like-for-like swap if the dish needs to stay vegetarian. Bovril is a beef extract, not a yeast extract, so it is not vegetarian or vegan. It is a fine savoury booster in a meat dish, but it is the wrong answer if the whole point was a meat-free umami hit. See Marmite versus Bovril for why they are chemically opposite.
For cooking (the savoury depth)
If you wanted Marmite for the background savoury richness it adds to stews, gravies, sauces and soups, you are really after umami, and several things deliver it. Best first.
- Vegemite. The closest swap there is. Another yeast extract, near enough one for one. Slightly saltier and more bitter, a little less sweet, so taste as you go. More on the differences in Marmite versus Vegemite.
- Any other yeast extract. Supermarket own-brand yeast extracts do the same job as Marmite for a fraction of the price in cooking, where nobody can tell. Use the same small amount.
- Miso paste. Brilliant for depth in soups, broths, glazes and marinades. It is fermented soya rather than yeast, so the flavour is different, more rounded and a touch sweet, but the umami hit is there. Use roughly the same amount and hold back on other salt.
- Soy sauce or tamari. Liquid, very salty, very savoury. Good in anything saucy or Asian-leaning. Start with a teaspoon, it is easy to oversalt. Tamari if you need it gluten free.
- Stock or bouillon (a concentrated cube or paste). A crumbled stock cube or a teaspoon of bouillon paste gives a savoury base note. Choose a vegetable one to keep it meat-free.
- Nutritional yeast. Milder, slightly cheesy, not salty. Good for a gentler savoury lift, especially in vegan cooking, though it will not punch like Marmite. Use a little more.
The underlying trick in all of these is the same one Marmite is doing: adding glutamates that multiply the savoury taste of whatever they meet. There is more on why that works in why a teaspoon of Marmite makes everything taste better.
For spreading on toast
Here the list collapses, because you are not after a flavour note now, you are after the specific experience of dark, salty, sticky yeast extract on hot buttered toast. Only another yeast extract gives you that: Vegemite, or a supermarket own-brand. Miso, soy sauce and stock are cooking ingredients, not spreads, and will not stand in. If toast is the goal and there is no yeast extract in the house, you are better off changing breakfast than faking it.
If it is the B12 you want
Plenty of people eat Marmite specifically for the vitamin B12, especially vegans and vegetarians. Note that not every substitute carries it. Marmite is fortified with B12; original Vegemite is not, although the reduced-salt Vegemite is, and many fortified nutritional yeasts are an excellent B12 source. If B12 is the reason for the jar, check the label of whatever you swap in.
Quick answers
What is the closest substitute for Marmite? Vegemite, or any other yeast extract, near enough one for one. It will be a little saltier and less sweet.
Can I use soy sauce instead of Marmite? In cooking, yes, for the savoury depth. Start with a teaspoon and go easy on other salt. Not on toast.
What is a vegetarian Marmite substitute? All yeast extracts, miso, soy sauce, vegetable stock and nutritional yeast are vegetarian. Bovril is not.
Is there a Marmite substitute for toast? Only another yeast extract really works. The toast experience is specific to the texture and flavour of yeast extract.
