This homemade teriyaki sauce recipe is easy and uses common ingredients, giving you the restaurant-style sauce you love!
Serve it with chicken fried rice, your favorite oven steak recipe, and grilled shrimp, or even toss air fryer chicken wings with it! I make this teriyaki chicken and rice for dinner at least once a week!
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For years I would buy store-bought teriyaki sauce but it never tasted as good as what we’d get when we’d go to our favorite Japanese steakhouse.
So, I was on a mission to create a homemade teriyaki sauce that didn’t have such a strong ginger taste and just the right amount of sweetness.
Now, this is the recipe we try to make and keep on hand in the refrigerator in case we need a dipping sauce or want to cook it with something like air fryer salmon, or even these Asian sloppy joes.
Why You’ll Love This
- Homemade vs. Store-Bought: If you’re like me and have always wanted to make your own teriyaki sauce because store-bought just doesn’t taste near as good, then you’ll love how easy this recipe is and the flavor!
- Not a fan of ginger? Perfect. This recipe doesn’t use ginger. HOWEVER, I know almost all teriyaki sauce recipes include ginger so most people want it included. So instead of totally leaving it out, I’m also offering the option of how much ginger to add if you prefer it.
Ingredients:
If you’ve never made your own before, you may be surprised at the little amount it takes. Here’s all you need:
- soy sauce
- water
- brown sugar
- garlic powder (or minced garlic)
- honey
- cornstarch
How to Make This Teriyaki Sauce:
- In a saucepan, over medium heat, mix together the soy sauce, 1 cup of water, garlic, brown sugar, and honey.
If you prefer ginger in your teriyaki sauce, add ½ teaspoon of ginger puree (or fresh ginger if you prefer) in at this time as well.
How to Thicken Sauce
Mix 2 tbsp. of cornstarch and ¼ cup of cold water together in a small dish, and whisk in to heated teriyaki sauce on the stove top once it has heated through. Cook over medium-low heat, until sauce has thickened.
Once thickened, it’s ready to serve!
Spicy Teriyaki Sauce Recipe
We LOVE spicy foods and adding a little kick to teriyaki sauce is one of our favorite things to do sometimes. Simply keep this recipe the same and just add a bit of your favorite spice.
Suggested: To add some spice, add a little bit at a time (maybe ¼ tsp.) of chili paste or red pepper flakes in to the sauce while heating, and increase the amounts to reach desired spice level.
How to Store
Store in an air-tight container (my favorite is to store it in small mason jars), in the refrigerator.
How long is homemade teriyaki sauce good for?
Stored in the refrigerator, homemade teriyaki sauce is good for up to 3-5 days.
How to Use Teriyaki Sauce
This sauce is delicious used as a dipping sauce or even to cover your favorite meat or vegetables in. Sauce recipes like this teriyaki and one of my favorites, Chipotle aioli, are staples for dipping.
- as a dipping sauce
- great for a marinade
- on this burger recipe
- drizzle on salmon (fish)
- on smoked chicken
- in a stir-fry (or noodle bowl)
- on vegetables
- on grilled shrimp
- meatballs
Tips for Making This
- Sometimes we will double/triple this batch to have a lot on hand for dipping or to make teriyaki chicken wings, salmon, or to drizzle on restaurant style fried rice!
- Too sweet? – If it’s too sweet, simply reduce the amount of brown sugar.
- Want more of an acidic teriyaki sauce? Add a splash of rice wine.
- Prefer a hint of pineapple that some sauces have? Add a splash of pineapple juice (watch sweetness level).
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Recipe
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 ¼ cup water divided (1 cup + ¼ cup)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder or minced garlic
- 5 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ginger puree optional
- ¼ teaspoon chili paste optional for spicy teriyaki sauce
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
Instructions
- In a sauce pan, over medium heat,cook the soy sauce, 1 cup of water, honey, garlic, brown sugar. (If desired, also add in ginger and/or chili paste at this time.)
- In a separate small dish or bowl, mix together the corn starch and ¼ cup cold water. (This will be for thickening the sauce.)
- When mixture in sauce pan is heated through, whisk in the cornstarch mixture and continue cooking until teriyaki sauce has thickened.
- Serve right away or once cooled, store in refrigerator.
Notes
- Sometimes we will double/triple this batch to have a lot on hand for dipping or to make teriyaki chicken wings, salmon, or to drizzle on this fried rice recipe!
- Too sweet? – If it’s too sweet, simply reduce the amount of brown sugar.
- Want more of an acidic teriyaki sauce? Add a splash of rice wine.
- Prefer a hint of pineapple that some sauces have? Add a splash of pineapple juice (watch sweetness level).
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Judy says
Hi, thanks so much for providing a recipe =without= ginger (though i assume one can add 1/8 tsp. ginger which even someone like me can tolerate…
…while i didn’t make it yet, i’m assuming that when you mentioned “splash” of pineapple juice, that would mean a tablespoon? Problem is – when too much acid is mixed with starches (such as cornstarch) then some people get indigestion or a soapy-aftertaste. That’s why i wonder if even a full tablespoon pineapple-juice would be too risky to add. I think a teaspoon would be less risky.
…only an experienced chef who is aware of the aftertastes some people get – would be able to answer these issues. In either case, I’d never use ginger+pineapple simultaneously. Rather one or the other (or neither). And ONLY sparingly.
Jessica says
Hi Judy! Oh, yes, the pineapple juice is just an option that someone can add to it to make the recipe a little different. I make it without the ginger and without pineapple juice all of the time, and it’s delicious!
Judy says
Hi, I just made a Double recipe (without pineapple) though i did use a =sparing= 1/8 tsp ginger-powder in the Double recipe. It’s delish – thanks!
My Crucial next question is – i’ll first be needing it months from now. Not quite yet. So can I freeze it in a 32 oz. container, and then when i need to use it, let it thaw in fridge a few days? Thanks.
Jessica says
Hi Judy! You know, I’ve never frozen this but I have heard that you can freeze homemade teriyaki sauce for up to 3 months, so it may be worth a try!
Chichi says
Didn’t expect it but even without ginger it did taste like teriyaki sauce. Thanks!
Jessica says
Oh good, so glad you liked it, and you’re welcome!!
Donna says
Can I use maple syrup?
Jessica says
Hi Donna! You know, I haven’t tried that but I’d love to hear if you try it!
April Arizmendi says
I love this recipe!
It was easy,
and didn’t need ginger (I was out)
The texture was wonderfully smooth and the recipe made a decent amount.
I added 1/2 tsp of chili garlic sauce for a bit of kick
Jessica says
Oh I love the idea of adding chili garlic sauce! Thank you so much for sharing April!
Lynn Kenyon says
Good recipe. We follow Keto so I substituted the brown sugar with a monk fruit stevia brown sugar and instead of honey I used a xyitol syrup that I make. Rather than corn starch I used about a 1/2 tsp of xanthum gum to thicken (mix it with the sugar so that it doesn’t clump. Great for wings and a noodle dish of spiral zucchini, broccoli combo. Yum. Thanks
Jessica says
Hi Lynn! Thank you for letting us know what you changed in this recipe, in case anyone else has a need for keto substitutes! If you ever make it as stated, I’d love for you to come back and review to see if it can be a 5-star rating! 🙂
Jennifer says
This is by far our favorite teriyaki sauce we’ve made!
Stephanie says
Wow! I had no idea how easy it is to make teriyaki sauce. Thanks1
Lisalia says
Well that was easy to make. And tasted delicious. We don’t need to get store-bought anymore. I loved that I could control how salty it tasted. And YES I added pineapple because that’s our favorite way to have teriyaki sauce. Thanks for this great recipe!