Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
This Homemade Teriyaki Sauce is sweet and sticky with a salty umami flavor. Teriyaki goes great with chicken, pork, fish, and even Brussels sprouts. Make up a batch and keep it in handy in the refrigerator for all the things!
Making your own homemade sauces is a commitment, but worth it. Try my Pizza Sauce from Scratch, some delicious Homemade Barbecue Sauce, and the best Homemade Enchilada Sauce!
What is Teriyaki Sauce?
While Teriyaki Sauce is traditionally a Japanese cooking method, it’s a sweet and salty sauce here in the United States. This sauce is often used as a marinade, glaze, or dipping sauce in modern cooking. The sugar content in teriyaki makes it more susceptible to burning, so keep this in consideration when using it in high-heat cooking.
While you can easily buy teriyaki sauce, making it yourself allows you to know exactly what ingredients you are consuming. It can be made in just 15 minutes!
Ways to use Teriyaki Sauce:
- MARINADE – For marinating a variety of proteins – like chicken, beef, pork, and fish. Marinate for an hour to overnight to infuse the meat with flavor.
- GRILLING – Brush teriyaki sauce on meats while grilling. This creates a caramelized glaze that forms a crust on grilled meat.
- STIR-FRYING – Add the delicious sauce to proteins and veggies toward the end of stir-frying.
- ROASTING – This homemade sauce is a delicious glaze for an extra layer of flavor on roasted veggies.
- DIPPING SAUCE – Teriyaki is an excellent dipping sauce for sushi, spring rolls, or dumplings.
- SALAD DRESSING – You can turn the teriyaki into a salad dressing by adding olive oil, additional sesame oil, and rice vinegar.
Ingredients Used for The Best Teriyaki Recipe:
Most of these ingredients are pantry staples that can easily be found in your grocery store, so it’s easy to make this sauce on a whim! Basic ingredients that result in a savory-salty-sweet flavor.
- Soy Sauce – I prefer to use a low-sodium soy sauce.
- Water – Use either filtered water or tap water. You can also use orange juice or pineapple juice instead of water.
- Vinegar – Rice wine vinegar adds some acidity to this sauce.
- Sesame Oil – A cooking oil made from sesame seeds that’s popular in Asian cooking.
- Brown Sugar – Sugar is needed to balance the acidity and helps to thicken the sauce. Brown sugar or white sugar both work here.
- Garlic & Ginger – Use fresh garlic and fresh ginger for maximum flavor. In a pinch, use garlic powder and ground ginger.
- Corn Starch Mixture – Combine a couple tablespoons of cornstarch and water, stir, and then add to the mixture as it cooks. This thickening agent will thicken the sauce as desired.
How to make Homemade Teriyaki Sauce:
Step 1
Measure out ingredients. Combine soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger in a small saucepan.
Step 2
Cook. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Step 3
Add cornstarch mixture. Combine cold water and cornstarch in a separate bowl. Mix well. Add cornstarch slurry to the pan and cook at low heat until the sauce thickens slightly.
Step 4
Cool. Remove from heat, and pour into a mason jar. Cool.
Step 5
Store. Store sauce in a jar (or an airtight container) in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Reasons to Make Your Own Sauce:
- It’s fresh. Ditch that store-bought teriyaki sauce that’s been sitting in your refrigerator forever (have you checked the expiration date lately?) and make your own FRESH sauce!
- You can make a small batch. This recipe makes about a cup or just slightly more. So you’ll definitely waste less when you practice making only what you need.
- The taste is amazing. This simple sauce is a little bit sweet, salty, spicy, and full of umami flavor. The best teriyaki sauce recipe to SO many things.
Recipe FAQs:
No, this is not authentic sauce. It’s Japanese-inspired with great flavor. Authentic Teriyaki Sauce includes miren or sake while our version includes rice vinegar and sesame oil.
We’ve found that adding fresh garlic and ginger are a great way to up the flavor of your own teriyaki sauce. Brown sugar is also an important ingredient in this store sauce.
Try our recipes that utilize this delicious teriyaki sauce.
Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)
xoxo ~Sue
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup lower sodium soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons water – or you can substitute part with orange juice
- 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- ¼ cup brown sugar – packed
- 2 cloves garlic – minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger – minced
- 1-2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1-2 Tablespoons cold water
Instructions
- Measure out ingredients. Combine soy sauce, water, rice wine vinegar, hoisin sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger in a small saucepan.
- Cook. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add cornstarch mixture. Combine cold water and cornstarch in a separate bowl. Mix well. Add cornstarch slurry to the pan and cook at low heat until the sauce thickens slightly.
- Cool. Remove from heat, and pour into a jar. Cool.
- Store. Store sauce in a mason jar (or an airtight container) in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Notes
- MARINADE – For marinating a variety of proteins – like chicken, beef, pork, and fish. Marinate for an hour to overnight to infuse the meat with flavor.
- GRILLING – Brush teriyaki sauce on meats while grilling. This creates a caramelized glaze that forms a crust on grilled meat.
- STIR-FRYING – Add the delicious sauce to proteins and veggies toward the end of stir-frying.
- ROASTING – This homemade sauce is a delicious glaze for an extra layer of flavor on roasted veggies.
- DIPPING SAUCE – Teriyaki is an excellent dipping sauce for sushi, spring rolls, or dumplings.
- SALAD DRESSING – You can turn the teriyaki into a salad dressing by adding olive oil, additional sesame oil, and rice vinegar.
I made this sauce for chicken teriyaki bowls for my grandkids, and it was delicious! My granddaughter said the chicken cooked in the teriyaki sauce “was to die for.!” Thanks!
So happy to hear this!
I like that this sauce can be used on several different meats… and Brussel Sprouts!