An easy homemade teriyaki sauce recipe made from pantry staples. This sauce is bold and thick and is great as a marinade or as a sauce served with your favorite meats or vegetables.
In the mood for teriyaki? Make up a batch of this sauce and then use it to make Teriyaki Chicken Pizza or Bacon Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers!
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce Recipe
There are lots of things I used to never considered making before, turning instead to the conveniently bottled versions. Salad dressings, mayonnaise, etc. Some of them I still buy bottled – mayonnaise – and some I make from scratch at home – salad dressings. One of these condiments that I love to make from scratch is homemade Teriyaki sauce. It is so super easy and good, it made me wonder why I ever bought the store bought kind!
This homemade teriyaki sauce recipe only takes minutes to make, and tastes a lot better than the jarred sauce. This sauce is great just served as a sauce alongside your favorite meats as well as a marinade. I love that it is so versatile!
Ingredients
- Brown Sugar: I use light brown sugar. You could also up the amount of honey, but I think they both bring in different flavors, so I like to use both.
- Soy Sauce: I always use low sodium soy sauce. You could also use tamari.
- Honey: If you like the sauce sweeter, use 2 tablespoons, otherwise just use one.
- Garlic: I always have fresh garlic on hand, so I like to use fresh. You could sub in garlic powder. If you do, you’ll need about 1/4 teaspoon.
- Ginger: I don’t always have fresh ginger on hand, so that is why I use ground ginger. Feel free to use fresh if you do have it, though. You’ll need 1-2 tablespoons of fresh ginger if you do sub.
- Cornstarch: This is what will thicken up your sauce. The sauce will get decently thick, so if you prefer a thinner sauce, feel free to cut this amount in half.
How to Make Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
It really doesn’t get much easier than this recipe!
1: Start by combining all of your ingredients except the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water. Whisk to combine, and set over medium heat.
2: In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and the 1/4 cup water.
3: Pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan.
4: Cook, whisking, until the sauce thickens.
How to Use This Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
This homemade teriyaki sauce makes a thicker sauce that the bottled sauce, so it would be good served on top of something, but I have also used it as a marinade. If you don’t want it thick as a marinade you can skip adding the cornstarch and extra water.
Here are some of my favorite ways to use this sauce:
- As sauce with grilled chicken
- Add it to chicken pieces and broccoli and serve over rice
- As a glaze for salmon
- Mixed into noodles
- In any stir fry
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce Video
If you want to watch how this teriyaki sauce is made, watch the video above.
Storage
I usually make this teriyaki sauce when I need it, but it’s also great to just have on hand for an easy dinner.
I store it in a mason jar in the refrigerator. I will usually try to go through it in a week or less, but really, it should be good for 2-3 weeks if stored properly.
I have not tried to freeze this, although I’m assuming it would freeze well.
More Asian Inspired Recipes
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Mongolian Beef
General Tso Chicken
Orange Chicken
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Kung Pao Chicken
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Homemade Teriyaki Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8 oz) water
- 5 tablespoons (67 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (2 oz) low sodium soy sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons honey
- 1 large clove garlic ,minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup (2 oz) cold water
Instructions
- Combine the 1 cup water, brown sugar, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and ginger in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat.
- In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch with the 1/4 cup water and whisk until dissolved. Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan.
- Heat the sauce until it thickens to your desired thickness. If the sauce becomes too thick, add more water to thin it out.
Susan says
I’ve bought & made many versions of Teriyaki sauce & this one is by far the BEST!!!
It reminds me of the Teriyaki sauce from The Inn on the Cliffs in Kauai HI at their high end japanese restaurant that hurricane Iniki wiped out some years back. Thank you!!!!
Dana O says
This is the BEST!!!!!! Teriyaki sauce I’ve ever had. I will be following this recipe over buying bottled stuff in the future. Thank you so much!!!
Deborah says
Thanks, Dana – so glad you loved it!
Ahmad says
This sauce completely amazed me! I always thought I had to buy premade teriyaki sauce—I had no idea I could make it at home! I used 5 tablespoons of light brown sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons of honey, and 1/4 cup of Bragg liquid aminos. It turned out so good! We love our teriyaki sauce on the sweeter side, but I might try reducing the sweetness next time just to see how it changes. Thanks for this fantastic recipe!
morgan says
This was delicious. It was easy, and both of my kids even ate it.
Nanajee Travels says
This homemade teriyaki sauce is a game-changer! 🍯🍶 It’s bold, thick, and packed with flavor, perfect for marinating or drizzling over your favorite meats and veggies. 🍗🥦 Quick to make with pantry staples—so easy and delicious! 🙌
Lorenzo says
It was mid. It was a sweet sauce and not teriyaki. I would look try a different recipe if I was you.
Deborah says
I’m sorry it wasn’t what you were looking for.
Annika Hugoson says
Love it! I have a freezer and it is easy to keep fresh asian spices at hand. I always have lemongrass, kaffir limeleaves, galanga at hand. Use so much ginger, I usually haveit freshinfridge. IfI findreally good and big ones I peal it, sliceit and freeze it. AndI always have fresh ginger at home. So many things you can freeze that I have learn. I often need grated lemon, lime or orangepeel. I freeze the fruits whole. I buy when I find organic ones. Then easy to take them out and grind what I need for lemon curd etc. I also use the juice, once thawed. Egg whites are perfect to freeze an pour in more and more until I need them. I m a bit of a food nurd whit my read 400+ cookbooks I m now sorting out and keep ca 50.
First time I made homemade teriaky sauce. Wonderful!
hayes says
very delicious
THOMAS HARP says
My wife loves this, and it is very easy to make, much cheaper than store bought
CJ says
This was so delicious! not too sweet, not too garlicky, I even added about 1T sesame oil and let it all simmer until it was nice and thick! Definitely gonna be a go-to staple in my house!
Ann says
This sauce blew me away! All this time I thought I had to buy premade teriyaki sauce, I didn’t know I could make it at home! I used 5 tbsp of light brown sugar, 1 1/2 tbsp of honey, and 1/4 c of Bragg liquid aminos. So good!!!! We like our teriyaki sauce on the sweeter side, but I might try it with less sweetness in the future just to see the difference. Thanks for this recipe!
Deborah says
I’m glad you loved it!