21+ Vegan Sweeteners & Alternatives to Honey That Taste Great

Looking for vegan sweeteners or just simple alternatives to honey?

You’re in the right place!

In this guide, we’re going to cover…

• Vegan brands that make honey-specific substitutes.
• Other vegan liquid sweeteners you can use.
• Granulated vegan sweeteners you can use for baking or dissolving in sauces.
• Guilt-free sweeteners made from 100% whole foods.

Let’s begin!

Full List of Vegan Sweeteners

Click any of the sweeteners below to learn more about them.

1. Bee Free Honee
2. Blenditup Vegan Honey
3. Nature’s Hollow Honey Substitute
4. Vegan Liquid Sweeteners
5. Maple Syrup
6. Agave Nectar
7. Molasses / Black Strap Molasses
8. Golden Syrup
9. Yacon Syrup
10. Brown Rice Syrup
11. Stevia Drops
12. Coconut Sugar
13. Beet Sugar
14. Cane Sugar
15. Brown Sugar
16. Powdered or Granulated Stevia
17. Monk Fruit Extract
18. Xylitol
19. Dates
20. Prunes
21. Date Sugar
22. Date Syrup
23. Lucuma Powder

Don’t have time to read? Here’s a quick summary of the products we recommend.

Vegan Alternatives to Honey

There are several products that have been created specifically for the purpose of replacing honey. While we think the other liquid sweeteners listed above can work just as well, if you really want to match the flavor of honey, these are definitely worth checking out.

1. Bee Free Honee

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Designed to work without having to modify any recipes, Bee Free Honee works as a 1 to 1 replacement for regular honey. It’s made with three simple ingredients: apple juice, cane sugar, and lemon juice.

Flavor-wise, it tastes quite similar to real honey, but has some mild notes of apple. 

2. Blenditup Vegan Honey

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Being that it is apple juice based, Blenditup Vegan Honey has a similar ingredient list as Bee Free Honee. It can also be used as a 1 to 1 replacement in any recipe. The ingredients read: Apple Juice Concentrate, Water, Vegan Cane Sugar, Lemon Juice.

As you might imagine, it has a similar flavor profile to the first option. Whichever you like better will come down to your personal preference, but we don’t think you’ll be dissatisfied with either one!

3. Nature’s Hollow Honey Substitute

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Nature’s Hollow Honey Substitute is a bit different than the other two products. Firstly, it is sugar-free. It’s sweetened with xylitol (we cover this later) and “natural honey flavor”. We’ve personally reached out to the manufacturer and confirmed that is is 100% vegan. It’s great for diabetics and does a pretty good job matching the flavor of honey, although the texture is slightly different.

Here’s a screenshot of our chat with them:

Vegan Liquid Sweeteners

Below is a list of vegan liquid sweeteners.

Any of these products can technically be used to replace honey, if you didn’t want to use any of honey specific substitutes. We’ve also made specific application recommendations for these sweeteners, but cooking is as much an art as it is a science.

There’s no hard and fast rules!

4. Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is a vegan liquid sweetener that is extracted from maple trees. It’s commonly eaten on breakfast foods such as waffles and pancakes, but actually makes a delicious sweetener for almost anything!

It has a deep, rich, and complex flavor that’s completely unique. It doesn’t dissolve as well as some other liquid sweeteners, but a quick pulse in a blender and/or some heat should get the job done if you’re having trouble.

Maple Syrup Applications: Baking, Tea, Coffee, Marinades, Cereals, Pancakes, Waffles

Read Also: Beautiful Cast Iron Teapot Options

5. Agave Nectar

Agave syrup or nectar is a relatively thin vegan sweetener that’s produced from the agave plant. It comes in several different varieties which have slightly different uses. The varieties range from light to dark, with the lighter syrups being more mild and neutral. With the darker varieties, you’ll notice more complex caramel-type notes. It tends to be easy to dissolve, which means it works well in coffee, tea, or other beverages.

Agave Nectar Applications: Baking, Tea, Coffee, Marinades, Cereals, Pancakes, Waffles, Mixed Drinks

6. Molasses / Black Strap Molasses

Both Molasses and Black Strap Molasses are fantastic vegan options to use as sweeteners. You may also see it referred to as “black treacle”. It’s made by boiling sugar cane down to a syrup and then extracting the sugar crystals. After the sugar crystals have been removed, the dark liquid that’s remaining is known as molasses. The Black Strap variety is derived from the third round of this process and thus is the most concentrated form of molasses.

Besides from using sugarcane, it can also be made from other plants including dates, sorghum, and beet juice. However, these practices are much less common and most varieties you’ll buy will be made from sugarcane.

With the exception of the whole-fruit sweeteners below, molasses actually has some antioxidant power making it a healthier sweetener.

Molasses Applications: Baking, Cereals, Pancakes, Waffles

7. Golden Syrup

Golden Syrup, synonymous with the Lyle’s brand, is another vegan liquid sweetener that is made from inverted sugar. Inverted sugar is made by heating sugar, water, and typically some form of acid such as lemon juice. By doing this, the sucrose molecule is split into its two more basic components: glucose and fructose. The result is a viscous and pourable liquid that you may notice on labels as “invert syrup”. This is done enzymatically sometimes for commercial production, but the end result is the same.

Golden Syrup Applications: Baking, Tea, Coffee, Marinades, Cereals, Pancakes, Waffles, Mixed Drinks

8. Yacon Syrup

Yacon syrup is yet another vegan-friendly sweetener that’s made from the yacon root vegetable. It’s a darker-colored syrup and some people liken the flavor to that of a super dark, or even slightly burnt, molasses.

It tends to be marketed (falsely) as a weight loss supplement, but realistically it’s just a low calorie sweetener.

It’s supposed to have some fiber in it (we couldn’t find any on the label), but if you’re going for health or weight loss, you should be relying on whole plant foods and not syrups or supplements.

Yacon Syrup Applications: Baking, Tea, Coffee, Marinades, Cereals, Pancakes, Waffles, Mixed Drinks

9. Brown Rice Syrup

Brown rice syrup dark vegan liquid sweetener that you may have seen on some snack foods. It is made by enzymatically breaking down cooked rice starch and then evaporating excess liquid to create a viscous consistency. The enzymes used in the process typically come from barley, fungus, or bacteria. You may also see this product labeled as maltose syrup, but don’t worry – it’s still vegan!

Brown Rice Syrup Applications: Commercial Snacks, Baking, Cereals, Pancakes, Waffles

10. Stevia Drops

Stevia Drops or Sweet Drops is concentrated liquid stevia which is sold flavored or unflavored in small little bottles. Some of the products out there are so concentrated that the bottles even come with droppers to ensure that you don’t over-sweeten anything.

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They are typically zero calories. We think that they taste the best when they are used in addition to sugar. Using them synergistically creates optimal sweetness while allowing you to drastically cut down on the amount of calories.

Applications: Smoothies, Coffee, Tea, and as a Complimentary Sweetener to Cut Sugar Use

Vegan Granulated Sweeteners and Powders

Sometimes liquid sweeteners just don’t cut it. If a recipe calls for one cup of sugar, it might be difficult to figure out the ratio of how much of a liquid sweetener you’d have to use. Additionally, sometimes you don’t want to add extra moisture to a recipe which is why granulated and powdered sweeteners come in handy.

11. Coconut Sugar

Coconut sugar is a granulated and minimally processed vegan sweetener which is produced from the coconut palm.

It’s not overly sweet and contains some complex and darker flavor notes. It has the look  and feel of brown sugar and if you were to put them side by side it would be hard to tell the difference. When it comes to taste, coconut sugar is darker and more complex than white sugar with hints of caramel and molasses.

Applications: Any application where a sweetener is called for.

12. Beet Sugar

There’s very little difference between beet sugar and cane sugar when it comes to their applications and nutritional properties. They both act as the table sugar that we’re used to in most recipes and that many people put into coffee and tea. The key thing about beet sugar is that it is always 100% vegan

and not processed with animal products. If you’re buying a bag of plain sugar at the grocery store, getting beet sugar is the more ethical option.