4 Best Honey Substitutes

When you go to add honey to your tea or drizzle it over oatmeal, have you ever wondered how many bees it took to make that delicious golden sweetener? The answer? Over 9,000 bees make a gallon of honey!

If you want to give the bees a bit of a rest and opt for another, but similar, sweetener, which ones are the best honey substitutes? We’re glad you asked!

The best honey substitutes (in our opinion!) are:

• Maple syrup
• Agave nectar
• Date syrup
• Corn syrup

Why did each of these sweeteners make the list, and when might you use them as a honey swap? We have the answers to those questions and a side-by-side comparison of honey vs. the best honey substitutes next!

4 best honey substitutes 

1. Maple syrup

Like honey, maple syrup is considered a natural, unrefined sweetener. While maple syrup is slightly less sweet than honey, it’s a great honey substitute since it’s a liquid. Maple syrup is less viscous and more free-flowing in consistency, so it’s a bit easier to work with when measuring for cooking or baking.

Also like honey, maple syrup is paleo-friendly. It’s a great vegan-friendly sweetener since honey is considered an animal product. You can typically substitute it in a 1:1 ratio for honey, but the overall flavor might be altered since honey and maple syrup have unique flavors. 

(The 1:1 ratio is generally true among all honey substitutes, but you might want to play with the amounts since different types of sweeteners have unique profiles and slight differences in sweetness.)

Good for: 

-Vegans

-Paleo dieters

-Those wanting another natural sweetener to replace honey

2. Agave nectar

Agave nectar is made from agave plants – one of which is the same plant tequila is made from! 

Agave nectar and honey are both sweeter than regular sugar (aka sucrose or table sugar.)  Many people think of agave nectar as a natural, unrefined sweetener, and it CAN be – but there are many processed versions out there, too. For the most natural option, choose raw agave nectar instead of processed versions since raw agave typically contains better nutrient profiles.

Because it’s usually processed, agave nectar typically isn’t considered paleo-friendly, but it IS a vegan-friendly honey substitute! 

Good for:

-Vegans

–Lower glycemic index sweetener

3. Date syrup

If you’re bummed out that agave nectar isn’t usually paleo, never fear – date syrup is here! Date syrup is made by boiling and pureeing dates (a type of fruit) and removing the liquid to make a thick, honey-like consistency.

Because dates have nutritional benefits like vitamins and antioxidants, date syrup might also be considered a better option health-wise. However, the nutrients you’d get from a typical serving of date syrup don’t outweigh the amount of sugar it contains, so you can’t necessarily think of it as a healthy food that you should eat as much as you want to. (Sorry to burst your bubble – we don’t make the rules, though…)

Good for:

-Similar consistency to honey

-Vegans

-Paleo dieters

-Those wanting another natural sweetener to replace honey

4. Corn syrup

This is the most refined honey substitute on our list, but we had to include it because 1) it’s super easy to find; 2) it has a similar consistency as honey; and 3) it has a more neutral flavor profile compared to some of the other honey substitutes on our list.

When you’re perusing the baking aisle at the grocery store, you’ll likely notice that there are two types of corn syrup: light and dark. Light corn syrup has a more mild, neutral, and vanilla-like flavor while dark corn syrup has a more smoky, caramel-like flavor because of the molasses added to it. 

Corn syrup is different from high-fructose corn syrup, which is only used in larger-scale food manufacturing. In other words, you can’t find high-fructose corn syrup at your local grocery store, but you will find regular corn syrup as we just described.

Good for:

-Vegans

-Convenience

-Similar consistency to honey

-More neutral flavor (using light corn syrup)

Comparison of best honey substitutes

The glycemic index refers to a score on a scale of 1-100 that refers to how quickly a single food raises your blood sugar. The higher the glycemic index, the quicker it turns into blood sugar.

Sweetener	Calories	Total carbs (incl. sugars)	Vegan/Paleo	Unrefined	Glycemic index
Honey (1 tbsp.)	60	17 g (13 g)	P	Yes	58
Maple syrup (1 tbsp.)	55	13 g (13 g)	V, P	Yes	54
Agave nectar (1 tbsp.)	60	16 g (16 g)	V	Raw versions are; most are refined	17
Date syrup (1 tbsp.)	60	14.5 g (13 g)	V, P	Yes	Unknown; GI of dates=42
Corn syrup (1 tbsp.)	60	15 g (5 g)	V	No	100

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