In the study, we evaluated the effects of dietary taurine supplementation on growth, tissue taurine concentrations, and nutrient digestibility in the giant grouper, Epinephelus lanceolatus, fed a diet containing soybean meal. The basal diet containing soybean meal (replacing 40 % of fish meal protein) was supplemented with taurine at 0 (control), 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 1 g/kg of the diet. An all-fish-meal diet was also included for comparison. In total, six experimental diets were each fed to triplicate groups of grouper (with an initial weight of 14.42 ± 0.07 g) in a recirculating rearing system for 8 wks. Weight gain was the highest in fish fed the all-fish-meal diet, followed by fish fed the diet with 1 g/kg taurine, and the lowest was in fish fed the diets with 0 and 0.1 g/kg taurine. Fish fed the all-fish-meal diet and the diet with 1 g/kg taurine had the highest muscle taurine concentrations, followed by the 0.5 g/kg taurine group, with the lowest in the ≤0.3 g/kg taurine groups. All of the taurine-supplemented groups (0.1–1 g/kg taurine) had higher apparent dry matter and lipid digestibility than fish fed the control diet. Results indicated that 1 g/kg of taurine supplementation in the diet improved growth and nutrient digestibility in giant grouper when the diet contained a high level of soybean meal.