Grublin treats soy as a hard rule. When you set it, every recipe request states it as a critical safety constraint, and the finished recipe is re-checked by Grublin's own code against a list of soya foods and ingredients, under both the soy and soya spellings, including tamari, the wheat-free soy sauce. Ingredients labelled soy-free or soya-free are recognised and allowed. Grublin is a free recipe app for iPhone and Android.
Soy is the seasoning, the protein and the packet
Soya turns up in a home recipe three ways. As seasoning: soy sauce, tamari and miso, the backbone of a lot of East Asian cooking. As protein: tofu, tempeh and edamame, the backbone of a lot of plant-based cooking. And inside products, where it doesn't announce itself at all. The first two are easy to spot once you know the names. The trouble is that recipes reach for them by reflex, so a dish you'd never think of as "soy" gets a splash of soy sauce for depth.
Grublin starts from your rule rather than the reflex. Set soy once and every recipe is written without it and checked for it.
What the check catches
Soy and soya, by name. Both spellings, so soy sauce, dark soy, soy milk, soya mince, soya yoghurt, soybeans and soy lecithin are all caught.
The soya foods. Tofu, tempeh, edamame, miso, natto and yuba, and textured vegetable protein (TVP).
Tamari. The soy sauce made without wheat. It is the right swap for gluten, and the wrong one for soy, so it is on the list.
Sauces and pastes made from soy. Hoisin, teriyaki, ponzu, shoyu, kecap manis, black bean sauce and fermented black beans, gochujang and doenjang, none of which says "soy" on its own. Plain black beans, the kind in chilli and burritos, are a different bean and are allowed.
Allowed through. Ingredients labelled soy-free or soya-free, so a recipe using them is not falsely rejected. Coconut aminos, the usual soy-free stand-in for soy sauce, contains no soy and is not on the list.
If any soy term appears anywhere in the finished recipe, Grub writes another, and you only see the one that passed.
What the check does not catch
- Sauces the list doesn't name. Soy turns up in plenty of other bottled sauces, such as some barbecue and steak sauces, tonkatsu sauce and ready-made stir-fry sauces. A recipe that names only the sauce is not caught.
- Soy in products. Many meat substitutes, stock cubes, some breads, chocolate and vegetable oils can contain soya without the recipe needing to say so. The check reads ingredient names, not product labels.
- Cross-contamination. Shared woks, fryers and factory lines.
The check lowers the chance of soy reaching your plate. Read the label on anything from a packet, a jar or a bottle.
Soy-free and something else
- Soy-free and gluten-free. The tricky pair. Gluten-free normally swaps soy sauce for tamari, and tamari is soya. Set both and ordinary soy sauce and tamari are both out, so the savoury depth has to come from elsewhere.
- Soy-free and vegan. One of the hardest combinations in plant-based cooking, because tofu, tempeh, soy milk and soya mince are all out. Set both and the protein has to come from elsewhere: beans, lentils, chickpeas and the like.
- Soy-free and dairy-free. Soy milk is the classic dairy swap, and it is caught. With both set, the milk in a recipe that passes is a non-soy one, such as oat, rice or coconut.
- Soy-free with a fish allergy. Most East Asian seasonings are soy or fish. Set both and the flavour comes from ginger, garlic, chilli, citrus and toasted spices.
What you'll actually cook
Grub writes from your fridge or your craving, so there is no fixed list, and for most dinners soy-free changes only the seasoning: roasts, pies, curries, pasta, stews and traybakes barely notice. Stir-fries and noodle dishes are where it shows. Ask for a stir-fry and the version you see has no soy sauce, tamari, tofu, hoisin or teriyaki in its list. If a recipe uses a shop-bought stir-fry or barbecue sauce, check the bottle.
Set your kit too, so a soy-free stir-fry is written for the wok or pan you actually own.
No. Tamari is soy sauce made without wheat, so it suits a gluten-free diet but is still soya. It is on the soy list. Yes. Ingredients labelled soy-free or soya-free are recognised and allowed through, and coconut aminos is not on the list. Yes. Hoisin, teriyaki, ponzu, shoyu, kecap manis, black bean sauce, gochujang and doenjang are all on the soy list, unless the recipe uses a version labelled soy-free. Other bottled sauces, such as barbecue sauce, are not, so check the label. Grublin states soy as a critical constraint in every request and re-checks each recipe, but it is AI-generated, works on ingredient names rather than brands, and cannot see product labels. Always read every label yourself. For a serious allergy, do not rely on Grublin alone. Yes. Photograph your shelf or a dish you fancy and the recipe Grub writes follows the soy rule like any other. See photo to recipe.Questions people ask
Is tamari allowed if I avoid soy?
Are soy-free products allowed?
Will Grublin catch soy in hoisin or teriyaki sauce?
Is Grublin safe for someone with a soy allergy?
Does it work from a photo?
