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.
Paula says
This was just super yum! I was planning Korean beef for dinner and opened a jar of store bought sauce which smelled and tastes awful. Your recipe totally saved the day and my other half loved it too. Tonight I’m using it for teriyaki salmon with noodles. Thank you! 🙂
Deborah says
Yay – I’m so glad it saved your dinner!
Christi B. says
This recipe took me less than five minutes to make. I used it as a sauce with ground turkey and water chestnuts in a lettuce wrap. I did add a bit of chili powder for a slight zing.
Marissa says
This is so amazing!!! Thank you
Liz says
Wanted to try making my own teriyaki sauce and this recipe had 4.5 stars so I went for it! It is so delicious. I halved the sugar and honey content and increased the ginger and garlic by a tad, and I find it perfect. So thankful for such a simple and customizable recipe!! Any idea how long this will keep in the fridge in a sealed container (I assume it should be kept refrigerated)?
Susan says
This is delicious. I had a small 6 oz can of pineapple juice that I added 2 oz water to it, to have the 8 oz liquid. I only used 2 tbsp honey since I had the sweetness of pineapple. Added some red pepper flakes to spice it up some and had a wonderful steak strips with onion, broccoli & thin carrots served over rice.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
Betsy Monheim says
I have just made your recipe for teriyaki sauce to use as a sauce over shredded pork to be served over rice. I have about 5 pounds of pork and I made 3 times the sauce recipe or 4 1/2 cups. I know it depends on personal preference but do you think that’s enough sauce? I don’t want the meat swimming in sauce but just need to moisten and flavor the somewhat dry pork. That you for a great tasting recipe and for your advice.
Susan says
I have made this Teriyaki sauce a couple of times now. I use gluten free soy sauce due to dietary restrictions and it has a fantastic taste, my husband who has no restrictions likes it as well. I recommend it for anyone.
Deborah says
I’m so glad you have been enjoying it!
Ristie says
This is very good and easy to make. I made it and kept it in fridge so I just needed to saute the beef and mix with this Teriyaki sauce for a very quick cook… even my husband can do it !! Thank you very much for sharing…
Heather says
This is the best teriyaki sauce I have every had.Will never EVER buy bottled sauce again.Only change I made was fresh ginger.
Thank you for such a great recipe !
Deborah says
I’m so glad you loved it!
Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook says
Hi, Deborah. I have made this sauce few days ago and it was amazing! I used it for ground beef and noodles. But seriously, I could just drink the whole bottle. 😀
Jess says
Hi, thanks for your recipe. It looks so easy and delicious. I wonder can I make it ahead and store it in a mason jar for further use? And if i can, how long can it be stored?
Sarah says
Deborah, you saved my dinner the other night! I will never buy teriyaki from the store again:)
My family and I have started a new adventure called the Real Food Adventure. Basically, getting away from processed food and eating only real foods! I’m blogging about it and shared your recipe when I ran into a hurdle with my store bought sauce.
Again, thanks so much for this great recipe!
Virginia says
I’ve been looking everywhere for a teriyaki sauce made without vinegar…. Can’t wait to try this!! Thanks!
Maggie says
I made it. It was easy to make . It was real good and I added some chili paste to kick it up a notch. . I would of made my own sauce long time ago if I knew how easy it was to make
Deborah says
Love the idea of adding the chili paste! So glad you liked it!
Marco tee says
Hi. Need to use ginger powder?
Connie J says
My husband was skeptical and wanted me to use the store bought jar. I went ahead and made this and he raved! So this is now my go to teriyaki sauce. Excellent flavour! I added a bit to my rice cooker while cooking my rice. Delicious!
Vave says
I found this recipe on food.com ( as you noted) – I follow it which just has powdered garlic vs fresh, and it is delicious !! I’ve been making my own for about a year, this is a serious keeper recipe and an awesome staple to have on hand to use in a quick stir fry ( whatever veg you happen to have on hand) stir fried with rice, add chicken or steak …I’ve used up left over BBQ steak, finely sliced it the next day, did a quick pan fry with this teriyaki, added some chopped mushrooms, over rice, or broccoli…I also really love doing a quick stir fry of cabbage, a little broccoli , few shaved carrots, then sitfry chicken and add a ton of white mushrooms …to serve I layer it ( like the fast food places in the mall) white rice on the bottom of the bowl, topped with the cabbage mix, then the chicken mushroom mix and then top with the teriyaki…soooo good! Well. There are a few of my personal favs for using this truly awesome sauce/merinade!
Amy says
Can I use raw honey for this recipe ?
Deborah says
I’m guessing you should be able to.