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 gives 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.
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.
🌟 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 and stir-fried veggies. It's also incredible poured over fried cauliflower to make a teriyaki cauliflower (recipe coming soon).
🥢 More Asian inspired recipes
📌 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 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 tablespoon corn starch or potato starch
- 1 teaspoon garlic chili paste aka Sambal Oelek or Sriracha (optional for a spicy sauce)
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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.
Variations of teriyaki:
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.
I’ve made this a few times and love it! Wanting to make it while on vacation but don’t want to bother with bringing all the ingredients and wondering how long it would last if I made it a few days ahead of time?
Hi Emily, I'm so happy that you like it! It will keep for about 5 days in the fridge if you want to make it ahead. Enjoy! 🙂
Very easy and tasty! I'm going to toss it with some oven "fried" cauliflower and broccoli and serve over rice tonight. Thanks for a very nice recipe.
You're welcome! Glad that you liked it! 🙂
You're welcome, Meg! 🙂
Loved it! How long can it keep in the fridge for?
I'm so happy that you liked it! It will keep well for about 5 days in the fridge. 🙂
One of the EASIEST recipe's I've ever made!! I just used powdered ginger because I didn't have fresh on hand.....Thank you for making my life easy!! 😉
I'm so happy that you liked it and it made your life easier! 🙂
This is the first sauce I've ever made from scratch and our dinner guests and I adored it! Amazing! Definitely will be making this weekly!
Thanks Natasha! I'm so happy to hear that you liked it! 🙂
My family enjoyed this teriyaki sauce. You don’t need to spice anything if using it... the flavour is very authentic and delicious. Definitely making sure to keep this one.
I'm so happy that you liked it, Rachelle! 🙂
This recipe is so easy to make! i love that it has so many options to be inclusive! i marinated tofu and put with rice and veggies and topped with a second, thicker batch, a new go to favorite!!!
I'm so happy that you liked it, Mayia. 🙂
This is the first recipe I’ve tried for teriyaki sauce so I can’t compare much, but this is absolutely delicious! I did not have any ginger and still came out out tasty as ever. So easy! Thanks!!!
I'm happy that you liked it, Emily! 🙂
Love the recipe, but I'm out of sesame oil and I'm avoiding the grocery store. Are there any alternatives to sesame oil I should use, or should I just leave it out entirely?
Thanks, Sam, I'm so happy that you like it! I would just leave the sesame oil out completely. There is nothing that has that same flavor and it's still good without the oil. 🙂
If measured how many tablespoon is 1-2 fresh grated ginger roots?
I'm not sure. It would depend on how big the ginger roots are. There seems to be about 1 tbsp in about an inch of the root once you grate it.
Can I use maple syrup or stevia
instead of brown sugar?
Yes, it will give you a slightly different flavor, but it will still taste good. Enjoy! 🙂
Made this teriyaki sauce last night and it was SUCH a HIT! Put it over our stir fry and it was amazing! I couldn't wait for the leftovers today for lunch! Hubby loved it too! Thanks so much for this recipe! It is my new go-to!
I'm so happy that you and your husband liked it, Brittany! Enjoy! 🙂
I'm all about making such simple things myself and not giving in and buying from the store! Totally saved this one!
Me too Jules! Hope you like it! 🙂