You won't believe how easy it is to make your own homemade teriyaki sauce with just a few simple ingredients! No need to ever buy store-bought teriyaki again when you see how easy it is to make your own. Pour it over vegetables, tofu, stir fry, and more! Use it as a stir fry sauce or a marinade and even adjust the sweetness or add spice to suit your taste! It's vegan and with a few simple changes can easily be made gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and even soy-free too.
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- It's quick and easy to make in about 5 minutes.
- You can adjust the sugar and spice level to suit your taste.
- It works perfectly as a marinade or a sauce for a healthy teriyaki bowl.
- This can easily be made gluten-free or refined sugar-free.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
Ingredients
- Soy Sauce - you can use regular soy sauce or Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos to make it gluten-free.
- Water - to dilute the strong flavor of the soy sauce.
- Brown Sugar - to give it sweetness. You can use any sweetener that you choose, but brown sugar gives it the most authentic flavor.
- Vinegar - for the acidity. Either apple cider vinegar or regular white vinegar works well.
- Sesame Oil - for flavor and richness.
- Ginger - for the authentic teriyaki flavor. Freshly grated ginger will give the best flavor.
- Garlic - for flavor. One to two cloves of fresh minced give the best flavor.
- Corn Starch - to thicken the sauce. You can use potato starch or arrowroot if you choose.
- Garlic Chili Paste - aka Sambal Oelek. or Sriracha for optional spiciness. You can find this at any Asian market and most major grocery stores.
🔪 Helpful tools
- Saucepan - to cook the sauce in.
- Garlic Press - to press the garlic cloves.
- Microplane - to grate the ginger root. You can chop up the ginger very small with a knife too, but a Microplane makes it much easier.
🥄 Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients in a small saucepan.
- Stir well with a whisk, then turn on the heat to medium.
- Stirring frequently, heat the sauce until it begins to boil and thicken.
- Allow to slowly boil for about 30 seconds and then remove from heat.
👩🏻🍳 Pro tips
- Be sure to add the starch to the ingredients while they are still cold. The cornstarch will clump up if it heats up before it is fully dissolved.
- You can omit the starch from the recipe to have a thinner teriyaki marinade that will soak into tofu and seitan better. You can then add the starch mixed with a little water (a corn starch slurry) to the marinade and bring it to a boil to thicken it later.
🌟 Variations
Teriyaki marinade
- If you want a teriyaki sauce to use as a marinade for tofu, veggies, or anything else you chose, simply omit the corn starch from the recipe. This will make a sweet and savory sauce that is thin enough to soak in and not stick and burn when you cook it. You can make a second batch of teriyaki sauce with the starch for a thicker glaze to pour over your cooked items. You can also use the leftover marinade, add the cornstarch to it, and recook it to thicken the sauce.
Spicy Teriyaki
- For extra flavorful spicy teriyaki, add 1 tsp of Thai garlic chili paste or sriracha.
Gluten-Free Teriyaki
- To make it gluten-free teriyaki simply swap out the soy sauce for Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos. All other ingredients are naturally gluten-free.
Refined-Sugar Free
- Simply swap out the brown sugar for equal amounts of maple syrup for a refined sugar-free teriyaki sauce.
🍽️ Serving suggestions
This sauce is delicious over teriyaki tofu, seitan kababs, teriyaki noodles, and stir-fried veggies. It's also incredible poured over fried cauliflower to make a teriyaki cauliflower.
This makes a great dipping sauce for tofu fries, vegan chicken nuggets, fried tofu, vegan fried shrimp, fried oyster mushrooms, or seitan wings.
🥡 Storage
Store your leftover teriyaki sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it for up to 3 months.
🥢 More Asian-inspired recipes
- Vegetable Chop Suey
- Coconut Curry Soup
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Orange Sauce Recipe
- Easy Vegan Ramen
- Vegan Ramen Noodle Salad
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
An easy homemade teriyaki sauce that is vegan and can be made gluten-free and refined sugar-free too.
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1/3 cup brown sugar or any other sweetener of choice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos
- 2 tablespoons vinegar (either white or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1-2 cloves garlic minced
- 1-2 teaspoons fresh ginger root grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic chili paste aka Sambal Oelek or Sriracha (optional for a spicy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon corn starch or potato starch
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Place all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. (1/2 cup cold water, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp sesame oil, minced garlic, ginger root, garlic chili paste, and 1 tbsp corn starch)
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Stir well with a whisk, then turn on the heat to medium.
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Stirring frequently, heat the sauce until it begins to boil and thicken.
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Allow to slowly boil for about 30 seconds and then remove from heat.
Teriyaki marinade
If you want a teriyaki sauce to use as a marinade for tofu, veggies, or anything else you chose, simply omit the corn starch from the recipe. This will make a sweet and savory sauce that is thin enough to use as a marinade, and it won't stick when heated. You can make a second batch of teriyaki sauce with the starch for a thicker glaze to pour over your cooked items.
Spicy Teriyaki
For extra flavorful spicy teriyaki, add 1 tsp of Thai garlic chili paste or sriracha.
Gluten-Free Teriyaki
To make it gluten-free teriyaki simply swap out the soy sauce for Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos. All other ingredients are naturally gluten-free.
Refined-Sugar Free
Simply swap out the brown sugar for equal amounts of maple syrup for a refined sugar-free teriyaki sauce.
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