This website may contain affiliate links and advertising so that we can provide recipes to you. Read my disclosure policy.
Homemade teriyaki sauce is sweet, savory, and ready in just 10 minutes! It has the perfect thick, glossy texture and tastes incredible on chicken teriyaki, salmon, vegetables, rice bowls, stir-fries, and more.
Your New Go-To Teriyaki Sauce
- Easy to Customize: Make it sweeter with honey, add red pepper flakes for heat, or adjust the thickness to fit your recipe.
- Simple Pantry Staples: Everything is easy to find, and you may already have most of it on hand. It’s so much better than store-bought!
- Great for Meal Prep: Make a jar ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for quick dinners throughout the week.
A Reader’s Review
Delicious and so easy to make, no “fillers”. This will practically be a staple in our refrigerator.
Thank you
Ingredients Needed
- Brown Sugar: Use light or dark brown sugar, depending on how deep you want the flavor. Honey also works as a substitute.
- Garlic and Ginger: Fresh garlic and fresh ginger give the sauce the best flavor, but dried versions work too. Use ½ teaspoon each of garlic powder and ground ginger.
- Soy Sauce: Stick with low sodium soy sauce so the finished sauce isn’t too salty.
- Gluten Free or Soy Free Teriyaki Sauce: Use tamari for a gluten free option or coconut aminos for a soy free alternative.
- Add Some Heat: Stir in a pinch of red pepper flakes for a little kick.
How to Make Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
This homemade teriyaki sauce recipe comes together in just 10 minutes. Simply simmer the ingredients, whisk, and cook until the sauce is thick, glossy, and ready to use.
- Simmer the Sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, whisk together the low-sodium soy sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, and ginger, then bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Thicken: In a small bowl, whisk together the water and cornstarch. Slowly pour the cornstarch slurry into the pan while whisking constantly. Continue cooking until the sauce thickens.
- Cool and Use: Remove the teriyaki sauce from the heat and let it cool slightly before using.
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- In a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together 1 cup low-sodium soy sauce, ½ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 3 minced garlic cloves, minced, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger. Heat over medium-high heat and bring it to a simmer.
- In a small bowl, whisk together ¼ cup water and 3 tablespoons cornstarch, then add it to the saucepan. Whisk the sauce constantly until it starts to thicken.
- Remove from heat and cool. Use the homemade sauce immediately or store it in a tightly sealed jar for up to two weeks.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Homemade Sauces to Try
Making your own sauces is way easier and cheaper than you think. Try these other homemade sauces that you are going to love, like this Fry Sauce, this classic Cheese Sauce, and this easy Yum Yum Sauce!
Delicious and so easy to make, no “fillers”. This will practically be a staple in our refrigerator.
Thank you
My question is do you store it in refrigerator for 2 weeks? Did I miss that part. ? thank you.
Yes, in the fridge!
I double it, skip the cornstarch and water to thicken it and use it as my go to teriyaki Marinade. Keeps well in the fridge. Tastes great with chicken or pork nice to marinate wing pieces in and then do a thickened version to dowse them in after cooking.
How long can you keep the teriyaki sauce.
For up to 2 weeks in the fridge as long as it’s in an airtight container.
Is the nutritional info correct? So many carbs! But looks yummy anyway
How long does it keep in the frig?
Two weeks!
I made a batch of this last night and am blown away by the wonderful flavor. I normally use recipes just to get an ingredients list, but this looked so good and complete, I mostly followed it.
The two modifications I made were with the soy sauce and the vinegar. I don’t like salty food, so cut the amount of soy sauce in half. I didn’t have apple cider vinegar, so I used white vinegar. Not wanting to risk tasting vinegar, I just used one tablespoon, but I don’t know if this reduction really mattered. Since I wanted a sauce for marinating and not a glaze type sauce, I skipped the corn starch and didn’t heat it.
I do suggest that if one is marinating with such an awesome sauce as this, such as marinating meat for a kebab, let it marinate for at least two days for it to really soak into the meat. And if you also marinate your veggies, you’ll be in for an extra special treat.
Thanks for this recipe Alyssa!
-Jim
Thanks for trying it! Those are great ideas to change it up!
I am going to be making this recipe. Thanks so much for this recipe. I have celiac disease and haven’t been able to find any gluten free sauce.
I will experiment with this, to get the flavor of the garlic and ginger, but no chunks, since I like my teriyaki sauce smooth, without chunks.
Hi Brady, I’m not sure where you live but our International Asian market (Northen California) sells crushed ginger and garlic in a pack of 1 tsp. portions in the freezer area. (20 portions per pack) The brand is Dorrot Gardens. They’re great in so many things.
This sounds really good. The nutrition information says 14 g protein. Where does the protein come from? And what size is a serving?
I use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, to make this because a family member is allergic to soy. I also have added pineapple juice, on occasion for a bit of tropical brightness.
Like your son, I can eat Teriyaki Chicken any day of the week. 🙂
I was a bit surprised you spray the crockpot rather than use a liner. The liner saves a lot of water, time, and effort.
And how do you make the new ingredient symbol before each ingredient? I get rid of the symbol before I print out a recipe to use and it makes getting rid of so much easier as I use columns when I print out a recipe.
I am looking forward to trying other of your recipes.
Thank you.
How do you store it and for how long before it goes bad? I want to make a big batch because I used store bought sauce a lot.
Hi! You can store it in a tightly sealed jar for up to two weeks.
Can this sauce be canned for later use?
I’m sure with proper canning techniques, this can be canned but I haven’t tried it before with this recipe.
I use this for a meal prep and it’s good. Yes, it will gel if refrigerated, but chicken that has marinated for at least 6 hours has a solid flavor. Save some of the sauce to put on the chicken after cooking.
Also, pay attention to the low-sodium part. The sauce is TOO SALTY if you use regular soy sauce.
The flavor was pretty good, but when it thickened, it turned into a gel. I tried adding water to thin it out with no luck. I think 3 tbsp cornstarch is too much. I might try again with only 1 tbsp cornstarch. I’ve always used arrowroot powder for cornstarch in anything that calls for cornstarch with no problems, so I don’t think that was the issue.
Can you water-bath can this for shelf life?
I have not tried it yet. Let me know how it turns out!
Sounds like a great, and simple, recipe!
Recipe hack for you – you don’t have to use a knife to peel ginger, you can use a spoon! A totally safe option that’s just as effective 🙂
That is great to know! Thanks for the tip!