Homemade Teriyaki Sauce Recipe

Skip the bottle and make your own teriyaki sauce at home in minutes. This homemade teriyaki sauce recipe delivers the perfect balance of savory, sweet, and umami flavors with soy sauce or tamari, real mirin, ginger, garlic, and a touch of sake. Use it as a teriyaki sauce, glaze, or marinade for chicken, salmon, shrimp, vegetables, and more. There's a gluten-free option and soy-free option as well.

Traditional Japanese teriyaki is surprisingly simple, often made with just soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Western-style teriyaki is typically thicker and more robust, with additions like garlic and ginger. After researching traditional and modern versions and testing many different ingredient combinations, I developed this recipe to bring together the best of both styles. The result is a rich, glossy teriyaki sauce that's better than bottled and works as a sauce, glaze, or marinade.

Teriyaki Sauce Recipe Snapshot

• Better than bottled - Rich, savory-sweet flavor with real pantry ingredients.
• Sauce, glaze, or marinade - One recipe with multiple uses.
• Easy to make - Ready in about 15 minutes.
• Gluten-free option - Use tamari (wheat-free soy) instead of soy sauce.
• Authentic flavor - Made with real mirin, ginger, garlic, and sake for depth and balance.
• Protein variable - Use teriyaki with steak, seafood, pork, chicken, and vegetables.

Love teriyaki chicken? Use this sauce and my recipe for Teriyaki Chicken Thighs, add veggies and rice and you have another fast and terrific dinner.

Ingredients You'll Need

• Soy sauce - Use low-sodium tamari for gluten-free teriyaki sauce, or regular low-sodium soy sauce. For a no-soy sauce, use San-J No-Soy Tamari.
• Mirin - A Japanese sweet rice wine that gives teriyaki sauce its signature flavor and glossy finish. See notes below.
• Dry sake - Optional, but adds depth. Buy a mini bottle unless you already drink sake. Find them in the wine section of your store.
• Brown sugar - Use brown sugar or a monk fruit blend for sweetness.
• Cornstarch - A small amount creates the glossy, thick texture that helps the sauce cling.
• Garlic - Fresh cloves, finely chopped or zest with a microplane.
• Ginger - Use finely grated fresh ginger or ginger puree from a jar.

Chef's Tip: Real mirin makes a much better teriyaki sauce. Many grocery-store bottles are labeled "aji-mirin," which means "tastes like mirin," but they're often made with glucose syrup or corn syrup instead of traditional ingredients. It's a bit like comparing real maple syrup to pancake syrup; they are not the same. Look for real mirin at better markets, Asian grocers, or online. If you can't find real mirin, see below.

Variations

• Honey teriyaki - Add 1 tablespoon mild honey, or use honey in place of the brown sugar.
• Sesame teriyaki - After the sauce thickens, remove from heat and stir in 1-2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil. Start with 1 teaspoon, taste, and add more if desired.
• Mirin substitute : For every quarter cup of mirin use the same amount of sake plus 1 tablespoon of sugar, monk fruit blend, or honey.

For another easy Asian-style sauce, make homemade Hoisin, use it on ribs, Hoisin chicken, and more.

How to Make Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

Instead of lemon, garlic, and Dijon, use this teriyaki sauce for grilled shrimp.

Serving Suggestions

Use teriyaki sauce as a glaze, marinade, dipping sauce, or finishing sauce. Brush it over grilled or baked chicken, salmon, shrimp, steak, or tofu, or spoon it over rice bowls and stir-fried vegetables. It's also terrific with chicken thighs, chicken skewers, salmon bowls, shrimp, broccoli, green beans, and roasted vegetables.

Chef's tip: For quick teriyaki shrimp: Marinate 1 ½ pounds peeled large shrimp in a 6 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce for 15-30 minutes at room temperature. Grill over a hot grill on sprayed bamboo skewers, turning as needed, about 6 minutes total depending on size. Brush with a little more sauce during the last minute so the glaze gets glossy without burning (because of the sugar). Finish with sesame seeds and sliced green onions and serve with extra teriyaki.

Storage

Store teriyaki sauce in a clean glass jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. Rewarm gently before using or let stand at room temperatures, as the sauce thickens when chilled, if needed. If it becomes too thick, stir in a splash of water, tamari, or sake to loosen it.

More Homemade Sauce Recipes

Check out the Sauce and Condiments recipe page for more ideas.

Did You Make This Recipe?

If you make this teriyaki sauce recipe, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know what you used it for. I love heating from you and your comments help others readers too.

📖 Recipe