Salsa Lizano could be considered the national condiment of Costa Rica and is beloved in that country. You probably should make an effort to find the real thing if you want an authentic flavor profile. If you can’t, you may be able to get a reasonable approximation of the flavor with the Salsa Lizano substitutes below.
Your best bet: HP Sauce
One of the most British condiments in existence, HP Sauce has a lot in common with Salsa Lizano in terms of flavor and consistency. The HP Sauce list of ingredients includes tomatoes, molasses and tamarind. It has the same fruity, tart flavor and thick consistency that you can get from Salsa Lizano. As a result, they are both equally effective at complementing the same kinds of savory dishes.
HP sauce has a long history in the UK and while it does not rank as highly as Worcestershire Sauce in terms of historical importance, it is still one of the key flavors in traditional British cuisine.
The drawback to HP Sauce is that it is not always easy to find outside of the UK where it is ubiquitous; however, it should still be easier to find than Salsa Lizano. In US grocery stores with well-stocked International sections, it can sometimes be found alongside other staple UK food items.
A decent second choice: Worcestershire Sauce
Arguably the seasoning most commonly associated with British cuisine, Worcestershire Sauce is believed to be the inspiration for Salsa Lizano. The inventor of Salsa Lizano was a man named Prospero Jimenez who came up with the idea for his sauce only after encountering Worcestershire Sauce. The two sauces do share a similar fruity and tangy quality.
Worcestershire Sauce is a fermented sauce with a reputation that centers on the fact that its constituent flavors are difficult to discern. Most people cannot tell what its ingredients are just by taste. While their proportions are a trade secret, the ingredients are known to include anchovies and molasses.
Worcestershire Sauce has the benefit of being almost universally used, which means it is far easier to find compared to Salsa Lizano in most places outside of Costa Rica. Worcestershire Sauce is popular even in Latin America, where it is known as Salsa Inglesa.
The areas in which Worcestershire Sauce differs from Salsa Lizano are relatively minor and have to do with the fact that it is not quite as sweet as Salsa Lizano and has a noticeably thinner consistency.
In a pinch: Pickapeppa Sauce
A Jamaican condiment, Pickapeppa Sauce is not quite as old as Worcestershire Sauce or HP Sauce, and it is a year younger than Salsa Lizano having been developed in 1921. It is a little more flavorful than the other Salsa Lizano substitutes, but it has the same tanginess and fruitiness that they all share to varying extents. Its list of ingredients includes tomatoes, onions and thyme. Along with a similar flavor profile to Salsa Lizano, Pickapeppa Sauce shares the thick consistency.
Pickapeppa Sauce does have one major difference from Salsa Lizano in that it is spicy. While it’s not quite peppery enough to be considered a hot sauce, it is certainly spicier than the other sauces on this list.
Other alternatives
A1 Sauce is sometimes referred to as a variation of Worcestershire Sauce. It is another British sauce similar to HP Sauce that was developed in the 19th century. It has a similar sweet and tart flavor profile like Salsa Lizano, and it is thick, making it a workable Salsa Lizano substitute.