This homemade teriyaki sauce is easy to make with only few simple ingredients! It’s sweet and savory flavor is perfect to use as a sauce or marinade in all your favorite dishes.
Easy Teriyaki Sauce Recipe
This homemade teriyaki sauce can be used as a glaze, sauce, marinade or drizzle for everything from chicken meatballs, to slow cooker teriyaki chicken and baked chicken wings!
This Asian-inspired easy teriyaki sauce recipe is made with sweet and sour, tart and tangy flavors all thanks to the pairings of garlic and ginger, honey and brown sugar, and of course the saltiness from the soy sauce.
It’s become my go-to sauce recipe and it’s so easy to make with pantry staples!
Ingredient Notes
- Water: Used to thin out the sauce, which can get quite thick thanks to the honey and cornstarch. It’s also used along with the cornstarch as a thickening agent.
- Soy sauce: Aim for low sodium, as part of making homemade sauces is to use fresh ingredients but also avoid the extra high sodium content and other additives. You can also use gluten-free tamari.
- Brown sugar: Packed light brown sugar. Will sweeten the sauce and give the saltiness and tang a nice contrast.
- Honey: It will add a little signature stickiness to the sauce.
- Garlic & ginger: A special duo that creates a tasty combination and provides a flavor base for the entire recipe. I used fresh garlic cloves and ground ginger. Fresh ginger can be used if you have it on hand.
- Cornstarch: This is used to make a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.
How to Make Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Heat all of the ingredients (with the exception of the cornstarch) and just a portion of the water in a small saucepan on the stovetop.
In a separate small bowl, whisk remaining water with the cornstarch until blended and whisk it into the pan while stirring.
Bring to a light simmer until the sauce begins to thicken. Then, remove it from the heat. Best served warm with all of your favorite meats, rice, and veggies.
Tips for the Best Teriyaki Sauce
- If you find the sauce too thick, add a little water to thin it out. If you’d like it thicker, add some more cornstarch.
- Depending on its consistency, you can use it as a glaze, a sauce, or a dressing! If I am using it as a marinade I will omit adding the cornstarch.
- I love this sauce with brown sugar plus honey, but you can use all honey if you would like.
- Add-ins to try include a splash of sesame oil, mirin or rice vinegar. You can even add pineapple juice for a tropical vibe.
- Some favorite ways to use homemade teriyaki sauce include as a dipping sauce with teriyaki meatballs, in stir fries, in teriyaki chicken casserole or as the part of the dressing for mandarin spinach pasta salad!
Storage Tips
Once cooled, you can store it in a mason jar or covered airtight container for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. Because of its versatility, you can it multiple nights of the week!
More delicious ways to use teriyaki sauce include baked teriyaki chicken bowl, teriyaki burger and teriyaki steak marinade.
More Asian-Inspired Recipes
Browse all
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all the newest recipes!
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup water (divided)
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 3-4 Tablespoons light brown sugar , packed
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Combine 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3-4 Tablespoons brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon honey, 2 cloves garlic and 1/2 teaspoon ginger in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup water and cornstarch. Whisk into the pan and then bring to a light simmer. Simmer until it begins to thicken and then remove from heat. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a Tablespoon of water to thin out. If you'd like it thicker, whisk in another teaspoon of cornstarch.
- Serve warm with your favorite meats, rice and vegetables or store for later. Place leftovers in a covered container and refrigerate for up to one week.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: Asian, Condiments, Sauces
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
This simple teriyaki sauce is delicious. Very simple. I used fresh garlic. I roasted my chicken in all of the sauce and it just came out thick and very yummy. I also served it with a stir fried broccoli carrots and onions and had it with jasmine rice as I am half Thai. Thank you for the recipe. 100 stars!!! I am making it for the second time tonight!!
Thank you Maryann! That sounds like an amazing meal to accompany the teriyaki sauce.
This was soooo good. Easy to follow recipe. All ingredients in my pantry. I will use this over and over again
So glad you loved the teriyaki sauce!
Absolutely love this recipe so much! I have made it several times at this point, I use it on stir fries and my cabbage slaw. It’s delicious!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it!
This sauce is absolutely delicious. I will never and I mean never buy it again. Tonight, is my 3rd time making it in less than a month. It’s going on fresh green beans that I pulled from the garden that I’m going to sauté in my cast iron. Thank you for this recipe!!!
So glad you enjoy it! Sounds like a great combo with the fresh green beans!
This is our favorite and I always go to this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoy the sauce Trudy :)
Very easy and taste great.
Could I use this as a sauce like if I made your marinated teriyaki steaks & then tossed this with veggies & noodles?
That sounds delicious! I love those ideas. Let me know how it turns out!
I have been trying different Asian sauce recipes and this is one l will definitely make again and again….delicious and so easy to make. The only thing l changed was using two tablespoons of brown sugar instead of 3 or 4. Thank you for the recipe
That is great to hear! I am so glad that you love this teriyaki sauce so much! Thanks for sharing and trying my recipe.
This is soo good. Can it be frozen?
Thank you! I am glad that you like it. Yes, you can freeze this sauce in an airtight bag that has the air squeezed out of. This will avoid any frost on the sauce. When ready to heat up, warm the bag in hot water until the sauce has thawed.
Sooo good!!!! Taste just like what I was looking for. Thanks a bunch!
The sauce looks delicious and I have to try it on some steaks too night for supper 🍽
It’s so yummy! Enjoy :)
This looks so delicious I got to try it
I am going to make this very soon.
I hope you enjoy! :)
1. Can I make this in bulk and can it?
2. Can I substitute the sugar for a substitute such as Swerve or Splenda?
Thank you for this recipe. 😊
Yes, you can. It should last a couple weeks in the fridge. I have never tried with splenda. I would test with half the batch to make sure you like it first. Let me know how it goes.
Thank you!
This is EXACTLY what I needed for my dipping sauce and a bath for my pork and chicken.
Yay! So glad you found what you needed :)
This is so good, I’m never buy from the store again.
I’m so glad you loved it!
This teriyaki sauce was delicious and so easy to make! Going to put it on everything!
So many recipes to use this with or just grab a straw and drink it all up! Yum!