This homemade teriyaki sauce can be made easily in less than 10 minutes using pantry staples! This sauce perfectly balances the sweet and savoury flavours you would expect into a sticky sauce that can be used for a range of meals including teriyaki chicken bowls, and my favourite teriyaki salmon and avocado rice bowls.
While I am all for store bought short cuts, there are two sauces that I absolutely will always take the time to make from scratch. One is my creamy peanut sauce, and the other is this teriyaki sauce. The reason being that I just cannot find a store bought alternative that tastes as good.
This teriyaki sauce is perfectly balanced with just the right amount of sweetness and savoury flavour, with a little kick from the ginger and garlic. It’s simply delicious and you’re going to want to make a batch regularly.
So what is teriyaki sauce? It is a Japanese-style sauce known for its sweet, savoury, and slightly sticky consistency. It can be used as a marinade, glaze, or dipping sauce for meats, seafood, and vegetables. Basically you can use this sauce for anything!
This is the sauce I use to make my teriyaki and salmon avocado bowls, teriyaki chicken bowls, air fryer teriyaki salmon and I use a slight variation for this teriyaki chicken meal prep. Basically I love the flavour of teriyaki and it’s a go to in my weekly meal planning!
Key Ingredients
You’ll need a few key ingredients to get the best flavour from your teriyaki sauce that makes it better than anything store bought!
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Soy sauce – the base of the teriyaki sauce providing that rich, umami taste.
- Brown sugar – adds sweetness and helps the sauce caramelise as it cooks.
- Ginger and garlic – add so much depth of flavour to the sauce. You can use fresh or substitute with jarred if you prefer.
- Honey – for sweetness and flavour.
- Sesame oil – a little bit goes a long way in building flavour in this sauce without being overpowering.
- Mirin – a sweet rice wine that is low-alcohol so can be found at most supermarkets, and gives the main flavour to the teriyaki sauce. As a substitute, you can also use a dry sherry and a pinch of sugar.
- Cornflour – also known as corn starch in the US, this is used to thicken the teriyaki sauce and give it that thick and glossy finish.
Step-By-Step Instructions
This recipe is super simple and will only take 10 minutes to prepare making it achievable on a weeknight! I usually find the most time consuming bit is finding the ingredients in my pantry!
Add all of the sauce ingredients to a small saucepan, including the cornflour and water mixture that has been mixed together well.
👉Tip: If you want to use this sauce as a marinade, you can simply omit the cornflour for a thinner consistency.
On a medium/low heat, bring the sauce to a gentle boil, mixing it well to combine.
Turn down the heat and let it simmer for just a few minutes until it has thickened. This will happen quite quickly. Make sure to give it a good stir to prevent it from becoming lumpy. As soon as it’s thick and glossy, take it off the heat.
Allow it to cool slightly before using in your favourite recipe, or storing into a jar to use later.
Storage Instructions: Store in a jar or airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Simply swap the soy sauce for gluten free tamari or coconut aminos.
If you don’t have mirin, you can substitute it with dry sherry, or even rice wine vinegar. If using the vinegar, then also add an extra teaspoon of honey or sugar to balance the flavours.
If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with @eightforestlane as I would love to see.
More homemade sauce recipes:
Simple Marinara Sauce
Lemony Garlic Sauce
Easy Enchilada Sauce
Chimichurri
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Print
Pin
Rate
Equipment
-
small saucepan
Ingredients
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon fresh ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic approx. 2 cloves
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons mirin or dry sherry
- 3 teaspoons cornflour/cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup water
Instructions
-
In a small saucepan, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, honey, sesame oil, and mirin. Stir in the cornflour mixture until well combined.
-
Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring regularly.
-
Reduce the heat and simmer for 2–3 minutes, or until the sauce thickens to your desired consistency.
-
Remove from heat and let cool slightly before using.
Notes
Yield: This recipe makes approximately ¾ cup or 180 ml of sauce which is usually enough for a recipe for 4-6 servings.
Storage: Store in a jar or airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
Not from Australia? Check out my US Conversion Guide