Teriyaki Sauce

Teriyaki sauce is a simple Japanese sauce made from just four ingredients – soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar. It’s got a sticky sweet and salty taste, making it the perfect glaze over cooked chicken or salmon. And once you make it, I guarantee you won’t touch store-bought bottles again.

If you’ve had teriyaki chicken at a Japanese restaurant, you know what I’m talking about. That irresistibly sweet and sticky chicken with a spoonful of rice is a match made in heaven. But what it really comes down to is the teriyaki sauce itself.

And there’s no chance that restaurants are using store-bought stuff. Why? Because it’s so easy to make. So if you’re looking to make this at home, you’re in luck. All you need to do is put a few ingredients through a simple reduction process.

Authentic Japanese Teriyaki Sauce

When teriyaki sauce was adapted by Americans, we certainly put our twist on it. Crushed garlic and ginger was added for flavor and cornstarch was added to thicken it up. But for this recipe, I want to keep it more authentic.

So if you love restaurant-style teriyaki sauce, then stick to this version of four basic ingredients. Use equal parts of the first three ingredients, then adjust the sugar amount to your liking.

• Soy Sauce: I’m using Tamari for gluten-free soy sauce (as I’m celiac). But, you can also use coconut aminos for a soy-free version.
• Sake: A Japanese alcohol made from fermented rice. The alcohol is burned off during cooking, but it imparts depth of flavor.
• Mirin: It’s similar to sake but has a lower alcohol content and more sugar. It also gives our sauce that lovely glaze.
• Sweetener: Traditional teriyaki sauce uses granulated sugar, but I’m using honey in this version.

Teriyaki Sauce Variations

• If you don’t have sake: you could use more mirin and reduce the honey. You could also substitute dry sherry or white wine.
• If you don’t have mirin: you could use more sake and add a more honey. You could also substitute a 3:1 ratio of water to honey.

But whatever you do, don’t use rice vinegar (or rice wine vinegar). It will add a sour flavor to the sauce. Just imagine adding vinegar in place of wine in an American dish, it would completely alter it. When you see vinegar used in American teriyaki sauce recipes they usually add much more sugar to compensate for the sour, but it’s not ideal.

What about thickening the sauce? Traditional Japanese teriyaki sauce is much thinner than American store-bought versions. And the sauce will naturally thicken when it’s reduced on the stove.

But if you want to make your sauce even thicker, you can add arrowroot powder or cornstarch. Just mix 1 tablespoon of either powder with 1 tablespoon of water. Then stir it into the sauce when it’s nearly done simmering.

Can You Add Flavors?

I love garlic and ginger but I don’t add them to the sauce, because I want to keep the sauce more shelf stable. So I add crushed garlic and ginger directly to whatever recipe I’m making, like I do in my teriyaki chicken recipe.

How To Make Teriyaki Sauce

1. Add the soy sauce, sake, mirin and honey into a saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Bring it to a boil and continuously stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and use it immediately or store in the fridge. It will continue to thicken as it cools.

Teriyaki Sauce Recipe Video

While this recipe is easy to make, you can see how quickly I make it in this recipe video. Give it a watch below!

Storing Instructions

Once the sauce has cooked and is slightly cooled, pour it into a glass container. You can store it in the fridge for up to a month.

How To Use Teriyaki Sauce

One thing to note is that teriyaki sauce should be used as a glaze, not a marinade. Because we’ve already reduced it, if you apply this to chicken or veggies early in the cooking process, the sugar will burn while cooking. Always add this sauce towards the end of your cooking:

So here are two ways to use it:

• Brush it on: If you’re cooking a piece of salmon, brush the sauce onto it a few minutes before it’s done cooking.
• Mix this into a stir-fry: Right before you finish stir-frying chicken, drizzle on the sauce and mix it in until the chicken is well coated.

More Sauces To Use As a Glaze

• Coat this balsamic reduction over a sheet pan of chicken thighs and Brussels sprouts.
• Use hollandaise sauce as the final touch on top of healthy eggs Benedict.
• Mix this vegan alfredo sauce into your spiralized pasta or a chicken casserole.

Easy Teriyaki Sauce (So Flavorful!)

4.94 from 16 votes

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 10 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Lisa Bryan

Print Pin Review

Teriyaki sauce is a simple Japanese sauce made from just four ingredients - soy sauce, sake, mirin and honey - but you can use it on so many different recipes!

Recipe Video

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1/4 cup soy sauce
• ▢ 1/4 cup sake
• ▢ 1/4 cup mirin
• ▢ 2 tablespoons honey

Instructions 

• Add the soy sauce, sake, mirin and honey into a saucepan over medium-high heat.
• Bring it to a boil and continuously stir the mixture until the honey dissolves. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it's slightly thickened.
• Remove the pan from the heat and use it immediately or store away. If you plan to store it away, make sure to let the sauce cool a little before refrigerating.

Lisa's Tips

• 1 serving is about 2 tablespoons and this recipe makes about 1/2 cup of sauce after it's reduced.
• You can usually find sake and mirin in most big supermarkets, but if you have trouble finding them look for a local Asian supermarket.

Nutrition

Calories: 82kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 924mg, Potassium: 31mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 12g, Calcium: 3mg, Iron: 1mg

Course: sauce

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: How To Make Teriyaki Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce

©Downshiftology. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Leave a comment below and share a photo on Instagram. Tag @downshiftology and hashtag it #downshiftology.