How to Make Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

How to make homemade teriyaki sauce to marinate beef, pork, or make a ton of different teriyaki chicken recipes. Make mild or spicy, so much better than bottled store bought.

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

When I think of this flavor I think of Hawaiian food. I was born on the big island so my memories with this are long. When many people think of sauce for meats they might immediately go to barbecue, not me. I don’t think I’ve ever made anything with teriyaki that I haven’t loved.

Yes you can buy it at the store and there are a few brands I keep on hand, I’ll share which ones in a minute. BUT it really is easy to make this in a small or large batch so it’s exactly the heat level you want. Here are a few ingredients you probably have already at home.

Sticky Teriyaki Sauce

Can we talk about fresh garlic for a minute? I’m obsessed, it goes in literally everything. I don’t know why I even bought this itty bitty jar in the photo because mine is typically huge. It saves a lot of time to already have it chopped and jarred.

Minced ginger is something you may need to order or pick up at the store. I promise you that there are other recipes to use this in, so it won’t be wasted. Not like just for baking during Christmas time, you’ll use for our teriyaki chicken drumsticks and spicy Instant Pot chicken thighs. I’ve got you covered.

On to something else I ate A LOT when I was younger in Hawaii, soy sauce. Let’s be honest, I don’t buy the low sodium type, I want the real thing. I do buy half a gallon though so I can refill this container often. Drizzled over rice for a quick snack or side dish is just something we all love.

Teriyaki Marinade

If you do have someone at home watching their blood pressure though you can certainly use the 30% less sodium soy sauce version. And then there is hoisin sauce. Let’s talk about that for a minute. You may never have heard of it but if you’ve ever had Asian chicken at a restaurant before it was surely in that sauce.

It’s thicker and sweeter than soy and almost always mixed with something else. Once again you won’t use just a bit to make this, our Instant Pot hoisin chicken uses it as well. Chicken broth and brown sugar I know you already have. If you want to add heat just squeeze in some Sriracha.

Many times I do not even cook this. I just whisk it together and use it to marinate chicken. If I want to make and serve this as a sauce to serve over meat that is already cooked, I will continue on with the cooking directions below. That will dissolve the sugar and add a bit of corn starch slurry to get to the desired thickness.

Simple Teriyaki Sauce

There is gluten free soy sauce available sometimes as well if that’s needed. For the liquid you have a choice beyond chicken broth. Others could be pineapple juice, orange juice, or just add 1/4 cup of those and broth or water for the rest.

• Whisk all of the listed ingredients together. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil on the stovetop long enough for the brown sugar to dissolve.
  • If you would like it thicker whisk together 1 tbsp cornstarch with 2 tbsp water in a dish and add that in.
• Stir, once sauce thickens to your liking remove from the heat. Should be maple syrup consistency. Remove from heat and pour on top of dish immediately or cool completely and then store in a bottle in your fridge. Can in jars to store for longer.

It’s super easy to make this homemade teriyaki sauce recipe. Garnish food with sesame seeds or a splash of sesame oil on top with this and enjoy. It’s a great stir fry sauce, marinade, topping for teriyaki chicken and more. You can get a peek at that dish right here below. One of our favorites made in the air fryer or pressure cooker.

You can cool and pour into mason jars with lids. Keep in the fridge for a week or if you want to use it longer then I suggest you follow the link below on how to can sauce. Using a hot water bath you could make a really large amount, bottle it, and have it on hand for literally years on end.

We do this when we have a lot of time. If not I am guilty of making a close second which is teriyaki chicken recipe using bottled sauce with veri veri brand.