Homemade Japanese Teriyaki Sauce
Learn how to make Japanese teriyaki sauce at home with just four pantry staples: soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar! Super easy to make with just 10 minutes of prep time.
Why Make Your Own Teriyaki Sauce?
- Simple Ingredients: Authentic Japanese teriyaki sauce is made with just four ingredients – soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar! If you do any amount of Japanese home cooking, you should already have these ingredients in your pantry.
- Quick & Easy: Just add all the ingredients to a saucepan and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Customizable: You can adjust the amount of sugar to suit your tastes, or add garlic, ginger, or even some chilis for extra flavor and heat.
Key Ingredients
- Soy Sauce ⟶ Use a Japanese soy sauce like Kikkoman. Sub tamari for a gluten-free option.
- Low sodium soy sauce works too – use the same amount.
- Sake ⟶ I highly recommend using regular sake and not cooking sake.
- Cooking sake contains salt and other additives that make it unsuitable for drinking, exempting it from alcohol taxes.
- Mirin ⟶ Use mirin or hon-mirin, not aji-mirin which is a mirin-like condiment.
- Sugar ⟶ Use granulated sugar for the cleanest flavor, but brown sugar or coconut sugar can also work depending on how you will use the teriyaki sauce. You can also omit the sugar if you don’t want a very sweet sauce – the mirin will still add some sweetness.
Many Westernized versions of teriyaki sauce contain other flavorings like rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil along with cornstarch to thicken. Some don’t even contain sake or mirin. This kind of teriyaki sauce was popularized by Japanese immigrants in Hawaii during the mid-20th century, when they had to adapt traditional Japanese teriyaki sauce using local ingredients.
Serving Suggestions
Teriyaki sauce has a myriad of uses and is delicious on all kinds of proteins, vegetables, and rice! My favorite simple way to use teriyaki sauce is just tossing it with some pan fried tofu. You can also drizzle it over steamed or roasted vegetables like broccoli or Brussels sprouts, use it in stir fries, toss with noodles, or make roasted teriyaki chickpeas (recipe coming soon!).
How to Store Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
This homemade teriyaki sauce can be stored in the fridge or freezer.
- Fridge: Up to 3 weeks in an airtight container. Be sure to use a clean spoon each time you remove some sauce.
- Freezer: Up to 3 months. I recommend freezing the sauce in ice cube trays for easy use.
Japanese Teriyaki Sauce FAQ
More Homemade Sauces
If you try out this recipe, don’t forget to leave a comment/rating down below and tag me in your photos on instagram @ellielikes.cooking. I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Instructions
- Add soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and whisk until the sugar dissolves.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 8-10 minutes until reduced by about half. It should thicken slightly to a thin syrup consistency.
- Remove from heat and transfer the sauce to a clean jar. Leave uncovered to cool to room temperature (it will thicken more as it cools).
- Once cooled, secure the lid and store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
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