Easy Teriyaki Sauce
A little sweet, a little salty and a lot perfect, homemade teriyaki sauce is one of my favorite recipes. Like so many of you, I started out using the bottled stuff, but making teriyaki sauce from scratch is actually easier and way more wallet-friendly than buying bottled dressing. Making it myself means I never run out, and that I can make it healthier (no scary preservatives), too.
Best of all, my easy teriyaki sauce recipe comes together fast. In seven minutes, you’ve got a whole batch of better-than-bottled sauce. Use it as a marinade, as a stir-fry sauce, or even just a bowlful of plain white rice! It’s the star of so many recipes, like Chicken Teriyaki Sushi Bowl, Teriyaki Chicken, and tender Teriyaki Meatballs. Kids love it, and it keeps a long time in the fridge, too. What’s not to love?
What Is Teriyaki Sauce?
Traditional Japanese “teriyaki” refers to a style of cooking, rather than a sauce. Teriyaki means meat that’s grilled over hot coals. As it cooks, it’s brushed with a “tare” which is a sweet and salty glaze. Our teriyaki sauce recipe is probably more appropriately referred to a classic American-style teriyaki sauce. Our teriyaki sauce recipe is the opposite of austere! It’s loaded with lots of ginger and garlic, and flavored with chili paste and a squeeze of lime, and if you grew up in the U.S., it will taste like the teriyaki you probably grew up eating.
Key Teriyaki Sauce Ingredients
If you’ve experimented even a little bit with making Asian cuisine at home, you’ll be familiar with all of these easy-to-find ingredients. See the recipe card below for exact measurements.
- Soy sauce. Low-sodium is usually what I have on hand. If you want to make this a gluten-free teriyaki sauce, use a gluten-free tamari instead of soy sauce.
- Honey. White sugar is the classic teriyaki sweetener, but I like honey better. You’ll still have a sweet teriyaki sauce, just without the processed sugar! Win-win.
- Cornstarch. The magical secret to making thick teriyaki sauce.
- Spices. Ground ginger and garlic powder are my picks, rather than fresh, because they blend so smoothly into the teriyaki sauce.
- Chili paste. Sambal oelek or sriracha.
How to Make Teriyaki Sauce in 3 Steps
- Bring everything to a simmer, except for the cornstarch and water.
- Make a slurry with the cornstarch and water, this will be the magical ingredient that thickens the teriyaki sauce.
- Add the slurry to the simmering teriyaki sauce, and stir for a couple of minutes more, just until the sauce has thickened a bit.
How To Store Teriyaki Sauce
Homemade teriyaki sauce keeps in the fridge for a week, easily! Store it in an airtight container (we often use mason jars) and you’ll have teriyaki sauce at the ready for a quick weeknight dinner. You could even double or triple this batch to make the next few weeks of meals even easier.
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