One of the staple sauces I always have in my fridge is a bottle of homemade teriyaki sauce.
It’s so delicious and versatile–with that perfect balance of sweet and savoury.
Authentic teriyaki sauce actually only requires 4 basic ingredients but I love to add some garlic and even ginger in mine for extra flavour.
On the top left is sake, or Japanese rice wine. I purchase a cooking sake that’s much more affordable since sake for drinking is really expensive!
The other (almost) clear liquid on the top right is mirin and contains alcohol as well. It’s a sweet cooking rice wine that has less alcohol than sake. It’s sweet and somewhat syrupy (but not as thick as actual syrup).
There are other types of mirin such as hon mirin, which is basically the real deal, and mirin condiment that contains no alcohol and is really sweet, and often contains corn syrup.
I love to use wither hon mirin or mirin for cooking sauces since the alcohol with evaporate during the cooking process and yields a deeper flavour profile.
Some mirin do contain high fructose corn syrup to get their sweetness from, but I found this one from Eden Foods that don’t contain any corn syrup!
The rest of the ingredients are pretty basic–there’s sugar and soy sauce.
Garlic and ginger aren’t traditionally put in teriyaki sauce in Japanese cuisine, and they’re better to be added when cooking a dish the teriyaki way. But I do love my garlic and ginger in my teriyaki sauce. You can also opt to use garlic or even ginger powder if you don’t like bits in your sauce.
I basically cooked down the sauce until it slightly thickened and added in a cornstarch slurry to really make it into a thick glaze. But you can opt to keep it in its sauce consistency, especially if you’re using it as a glaze!
I then transferred my sauce into a jar to cool before storing in the fridge.
What you can cook with some teriyaki sauce:
- Teriyaki Fried Rice
- Drizzled over Katsu Sushi Sandwiches and Rolls
- Tofu “Chicken” Teriyaki
- Baked Teriyaki Cauliflower Balls
- Eggplant and Tofu Teriyaki
You can also make some Tofu Katsu and enjoy it with a generous amount of teriyaki sauce on top!
If you make this recipe, please tag me on my Facebook or Instagram and use the hashtag #thefoodietakesflight 🙂
Looking for more Vegan Asian recipes?
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If you crave vegan-friendly versions of classic Asian dishes, this cookbook is packed with Southeast and East Asian dishes inspired by those I grew up enjoying at home and those I’ve tried from my travels. From iconic Thai dishes to piping-hot Japanese fare and everything in between, the recipes in this will take your palate on a delicious food trip across Asia, and hopefully keep you coming back for more!
Easy Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients
TERIYAKI SAUCE (Just choose 1 option depending on your preference!)
Teriyaki Sauce (Option 1) – the more authentic version
Slurry, For the Glaze (For Option 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch
- 3 tbsp room temp water
Teriyaki Sauce (Option 2) – no mirin and sake
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup soy sauce see notes
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup sugar or adjust according to desired sweetness
- Optional: 1/2 tsp minced ginger and/or 1/4 tsp minced garlic
Instructions
Teriyaki Sauce (Option 1)
- Heat a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat.
- Add in the sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar.
- Leave to simmer over medium high heat until it starts to boil.
- Add in the garlic and ginger, if using. Keep mixing until the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Leave to boil over medium high heat until the sauce starts to thicken a little. Note that the sauce will not thicken like a glaze but will slightly thicken from the sugars. If using as a marinade or sauce to cook other dishes, you can opt not to thicken it like a glaze.
- If you’d like to thicken this sauce into a glaze, prepare the cornstarch slurry by mixing the cornstarch and water together.
- While mixing, pour in the slurry into the teriyaki sauce and leave to boil until it thickens.
- Mix well and then when it boils, lower the heat. Continue stirring to ensure the starch doesn't stick at the bottom of the pan.
- Once it thickens, taste the sauce, and adjust the seasonings accordingly. Turn off the heat. It’ll continue to thicken as it cools.
- Transfer the sauce/glaze into a jar and leave it to cool completely before storing. See storage tips below.
- Enjoy your teriyaki sauce/glaze by cooking it with your favourite protein, as a sauce for noodles, fried rice, or as a delicious marinade—it’s totally up to you! Teriyaki sauce is really so versatile.
Teriyaki Sauce (Option 2)
- Heat a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat. Add in soy sauce, water, and sugar. Start with 1/4 cup soy sauce and adjust as you go along (see notes). Leave to simmer over medium high heat until it starts to boil. Add in the garlic and ginger, if using. Keep mixing until the sugar has dissolved.
- Taste the sauce and add more of the soy sauce, if needed. You can also add more sugar and adjust depending on your desired sweetness.
- if you’d like to use this sauce as a glaze, prepare the cornstarch slurry by mixing the cornstarch and water. While mixing, pour in the slurry into the teriyaki sauce and mix until it thickens. Once it thickens, taste the sauce, and adjust the seasonings accordingly. Turn off the heat. It’ll continue to thicken as it cools.
- Enjoy your teriyaki sauce/glaze sauce by cooking it with your favourite protein, as a sauce for noodles, fried rice, or as a delicious marinade—it’s totally up to you! Teriyaki sauce is really so versatile.
Teriyaki Sauce Storage Tips
- Transfer the teriyaki sauce in a jar. Leave the sauce/glaze to cool completely before covering. Refrigerate until ready to use. It can be stored for up to 1 month (or even longer!)
- You can also refrigerate the teriyaki glaze the same way but note that the cornstarch can clump together so you’ll need to shake or mix the sauce well before using. You can also heat it to completely dissolve the clumps.
WATCH Video
Notes
- Start with 1/4 cup soy sauce and adjust according to desired taste since some soy sauce can be really salty.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
This Post Has 24 Comments
This is my favorite sauce ever and your recipe is the best! Thank you for all of your recipes they are consistently delicious!
Thank you so much Mags! One of my faves too. 🙂
This is real Terriyaki sauce! Takara is a bottler that sells both Sake and Mirin. Most Kroger stores will order it for you.
Hi Dale! Hope you enjoyed your sauce!! 🙂
Hi Jeeca,
If one just has sake and honey how would you make those portions out? Thanks.
Oops. I meant sake, soy, and honey. Do I just double the sake to replace the mirin?
Oops. I meant sake, soy, and honey.
Would I just double the sake to replace the mirin?
Hi Ken, I would recommend to, yes, double the sake. Sake is less sweet than mirin so you may most likely need to add more sugar (honey in this case) and adjust to your taste.
Nice post. I used to be checking constantly this weblog and I am inspired!
Very useful info specifically the remaining part 🙂 I maintain such information a lot.
I was looking for this certain information for a very lengthy time.
Thanks and best of luck.
If you don’t have sake, what and how much of something else should I add?
You can replace it with more mirin and lessen the sugar since mirin has higher sugar content that sake. Hope this helps! ◡̈
My endless search for a great teriyaki sauce is over this one is the best. Thank you, Jecca.
Glad you liked it, thanks so much! 🙂
Option 1, with brown sugar will be my go to from now on. No more store bought! This is so much better
yay!!!
Fantastic recipe. Turned out great on barbecued chicken.
Hey Frank! Happy to hear this turned out good 🙂
For once, a real teriyaki recipe! I am an Asian cook and I abhor all the substitutes passed off as real Teriyaki sauce. For the sake’ I like GekkeiKan Sake’ it has a nice bite to it. Kikkoman makes a real Mirin rice wine but you won’t find it at the local grocery stores. You’ll have to go to an Asian store and ask for Hon Mirin. Do not buy the Anji Mirin (Anji in Japanese means “tastes like”). I find Kikkoman Soy a good and reliable Soy sauce with a nice balance. For sugar, my feeling is that the original was probably cane sugar, but all the great Asian chefs say to use white table sugar.
My recipe is :
1/3 Kikkoman soy sauce
1/3 Kikkoman Hon Mirin
1/3GekkeiKan Sake’
2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
*bring to a slow boil and then reduce to a slow simmer. When it reaches the consistency you prefer take it off the heat, and let it cool, and then pour it into a bottle
** Hack-It you want garlic and ginger in your teriyaki sauce; I would start with a teaspoon of Garden Gourmet brand garlic and ginger paste (sold separately).
I made sauce no. 2. Êxcellent 😊 Thank you for a super tasty and simple recipe
Thank you too, Raana! 🙂
Beautifully adaptable! I used mirin, soy sauce, rice vinegar (half of the amount of sake called for) brown sugar, ginger paste and garlic powder. Thank you so much for a great recipe.
You’re most welcome Cheryl Ann!
Hi, how to store and how long is the shelf life? I can’t seem to find the storage tips 😅
Hi Alynna, it can be stored for up to 1 month 🙂