Japanese Teriyaki Sauce Recipe | MasalaHerb.com (2024)

Japanese 3 ingredient Teriyaki Sauce made from scratch.

This is a quick and easy authentic healthier Japanese teriyaki recipe and your best choice if you want to prepare various teriyaki dishes from scratch.

This teriyaki sauce recipe is part of my Japanese food series. I have brought in native Japanese food specialized to the MasalaHerb.com team.

This is an authentic Japanese recipe. Our basic miso soup was the latest in the series.

I have more Asian stir-fry sauce recipes such as the simple stir-fry sauce with 3 ingredients and the Pad Thai stir-fry sauce.

📕 What is Teriyaki Sauce?

Teriyaki Sauce is a Japanese stir-fry sauce. Teri means shiny and yaki stir-fry/to cook.

The sauce is most notably known for teriyaki chicken, and it's mainly a newer, non-traditional, Japanese dish.

Teriyaki sauce and meals are very popular outside of Japan and the rest of the world has various uses for this wonderful flavorful sauce.

An authentic Japanese teriyaki sauce is not commonly prepared in advance, but rather just while a teriyaki chicken is made.

However, the sauce can be used as a dipping sauce too (i.e., with pot stickers) or it can be added to prepare a marinade or a glaze.

🔪 How to make it?

Making Teriyaki sauce from scratch is super simple and so much healthier too! You know what's in it and it will save you some bucks.

Here are 3 simple steps to make your own teriyaki condiment. The complete recipe, with ingredients and instructions, is located at the bottom of this post.

Step 1

Add ingredients to a pot and heat up.

Step 2

Bring to a boil and mix occasionally. Reduce the sauce to the desired consistency.

Step 3

Pour hot sauce into a jar to use at a later time or use it further in your cooking.

❔ 🔪 How to thicken your sauce?

This 3 ingredient Teriyaki condiment is on the thinner side so that you can add it to the food that you want to cook. That way it will thicken quickly!

A Japanese teriyaki sauce is usually only prepared when a dish is cooked, such as a teriyaki chicken.

So when the chicken cooks in the quickly prepared teriyaki sauce, the sauce thickens.

However, if you want the DIY sauce to turn out thicker, you can do that by cooking the sauce down further (in step 3) until you are satisfied with the thickness.

Keep in mind that the sauce will thicken even further once it has cooled down.

I do not recommend thickening your teriyaki sauce with cornstarch or xanthan gum because it will make it difficult to use it further in your cooking. Besides, I personally dislike the starchy effect.

🥣 Using

To use your sauce, just add some of it to your food during the cooking process.

For example, add a tablespoon or two, to your chicken, pork, squid, shrimp, salmon or tofu.

Use it at as a dipping sauce with sushi or even pot stickers.

Or marinate tofu, chicken and similar with the sauce so that the flavors get infused.

🍱 Storing

You can store the sauce in a glass jar or airtight container to use it another day.

The sauce should be kept away from direct sunlight and you can keep it out in your pantry if you live in a cold environment.

You don't need to store your homemade teriyaki sauce in your fridge. Store it the way you would keep your soy sauce.

However, if you are not sure and you want to be on the save side, then store in the fridge.

📜 Variations

You can enhance your homemade condiment by adding or using the following ingredients:

• Chili Pepper flakes or fresh chili pepper without seeds - to make it spicy
• Sesame seeds or a few drops sesame oil
• Honey or maple syrup instead of sugar
• Ginger - add a small quantity finely ground
• Garlic - add a small quantity finely ground
• Mirin or Vodka - instead of Sake

Just add the ingredients with the 3 primary teriyaki ingredients during the cooking process.

If you can't get sake, substitute with vodka. It does the trick too and my Japanese friends use vodka too when they can't get sake.

💡 Special Diets

This teriyaki sauce recipe is already vegan friendly and it doesn't include MSG.

To make it gluten-free use gluten-free soya sauce.

For a low sodium sauce, use a low sodium soy sauce.

A teriyaki sauce needs to be shiny (or else it's not a teriyaki sauce) and the sugar makes it all shiny.

That means you can't make it sugar-free or low carb or else it wouldn't be called a teriyaki sauce.

To make it without liquor, substitute with rice vinegar (to add at least some flavor).

👁️ More Asian Condiments

• Rayu Chili Oil
• Tamarind Paste
• Ginger Garlic Paste

📖 Recipe