Make my easy Takoyaki Sauce recipe from scratch for a taste that‘s close to Otafuku‘s famous takoyaki sauce. This sweet, tangy, and savory sauce is so delicious drizzled over Takoyaki, the crunchy Japanese grilled octopus balls!
Takoyaki Sauce is mostly used for seasoning Takoyaki (Japanese octopus balls/dumplings). One of Japan’s best-known street food snacks originated in Osaka, the delicious octopus ball is crunchy on the outside and flavorful on the inside. To enjoy, they are then brushed with takoyaki sauce and a squirt of Japanese mayo.
How To Make Takoyaki Sauce at Home
For this simple recipe, you need Worcestershire sauce, mentsuyu, sugar and ketchup. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk well together. Adjust the sauce to your liking. It’s really easy!
You can also purchase this sauce like below in a Japanese grocery store.
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Homemade Takoyaki Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (use vegan Worcestershire sauce for vegan/vegetarian)
- 1 tsp mentsuyu (concentrated noodle soup base) (or make my homemade Homemade Mentsuyu)
- ¾ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp ketchup
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp mentsuyu (concentrated noodle soup base), ¾ tsp sugar, and ½ tsp ketchup. Whisk it all together. Adjust the taste according to your liking. Tip: Some ketchup is sweeter than others, so please adjust the amount of sugar. Likewise, I use Japanese brand Bull-dog Worcestershire sauce (Usuta-so-su, ウスターソース), which is milder and less sour than Lea & Perrins brand, so adjust the seasoning depending on the brand you use.
To Serve
- Try this sauce drizzled over hot and delicious Takoyaki (Grilled Octopus Balls)!
this would seem to make a very small amount of the takoyaki sauce.
Hi Chris, Thank you very much for trying this recipe! The recipe shows servings size 3 tablespoons. You may increase the servings amount as you like by using the slider bar at the recipe card’s servings amount. We hope this helps!😊
Hi just one cook book.
I made too much Takoyaki sauce , can I use it for another recipe and if yes which ones do you recommend?
Hi Whitaker! Okonomiyaki, takoyaki, yakisoba have similar sauce. Hope you can use it all for these recipes. 🙂
Thank you for your reply Nami
🙂 I’ll try it out
Enjoy! xo
Hi Nami, will using Lea & Perrins worcestershire taste different compared to Japanese w sauce?
Hi Maine! I compared with the Lea & Perrins Worcestershire vs Japanese Usuta-sauce. L&P one has more tangy, strong taste while Japanese one has more milder tone to it. Basic taste is similar, but when you taste, that zing! kick is in the L&P. 🙂
Hey Nami, I think u should show with we all how to make takoyaki sauce with another ingredients the meaning is easy to find the ingredients. 🙂
Hi Pazila! Which ingredient is hard for you to find? Maybe Mentsuyu bottle (store bought) or homemade Mentsuyu ingredients like Katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and kombu? They are pretty essential ingredients for a lot of Japanese recipes (because we need to use them to make dashi).
I understand Takoyaki sauce can be hard to find, but I believe bonito flakes or kombu are still easier to find…? I’m not sure where you’re located, but they are on Amazon US, Japan Centre (EU), or other online shops. Let me know how I can help! 🙂
Perhaps you could specify which Worcestershire sauce you used because using the British Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce with the stated proportions does not produce anything close to Otafuku’s Takoyaki sauce.
The Worcestershire sauce is so strong it completely overpowers the other ingredients to the point it’s difficult to even notice them.
After some experimentation I found 5 Tbs Mentsuyu, 2 Tbs Ketchup, 2 Tbs Sugar, 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce produced something a lot closer, but even then the Worcestershire sauce flavour felt too strong.
Hi Konrad! I think I used that same brand though I am not 100% if we were using a different brand when I made this recipe. This British brand is our favorite for some time.. I’m glad you could figure out what works for your Takoyaki! 🙂
How bitter is this supposed to taste?
Hi Amy! Hmmm I wouldn’t say this is a bitter taste though????
Hello Nami,
When you put the mentsuyu in it, is it the concentrated kind or do I have to dilute the mentsuyu first? We have a Mitsuwa and Nijiya market in my city, so I have easy to Japanese cooking ingredients. Would it be cheaper to just buy takoyaki sauce or buy the concentrated mentsuyu and make it at home? My sisters and I used your okonomiyaki + okonomiyaki sauce recipe yesterday. It was delicious! We’re going to try your takoyaki recipe this weekend and even bought the special pan for it. Thanks for the great recipes!
Hi Vanessa! It’s concentrated kind. It’s 1 tsp, but dashi and soy sauce in the mentsuyu gives a really nice kick. Honestly, since you live so close to Mitsuwa and Nijiya, you can buy Takoyaki sauce…. I made it for readers who can’t get it but I actually love homemade version too and it’s pretty close to store bought Takoyaki Sauce! For convenience, I’d say buy one… LOL.
I’m so happy to hear you liked Okonomiyaki and Okonomiyaki Sauce! Thanks for trying these recipes, and hope Takoyaki will come out well!
hi can I have the ingredients how to make takoyaki sauce also can I know if here in philippines have japanese store or supermart where I can buy all product of japanese items thank you
I’m sorry but I don’t live in the Philippines so I am not sure where you can find Japanese ingredients. Try Japanese or Chinese or Korean grocery stores. 🙂
hello
what kind of taste if i make takoyaki sauce without Mentsuyu?
is it any difference taste with the original?
i’ve already read the mentsuyu recipe. it contains sake. sake is forbidden to become ingredients at our food.
thank’s 😀
Hi Alifa! Well, definitely missing dashi and soy sauce flavor which is kind of like umami flavor… Sake and mirin can’t replace perfectly with something else but you can use sugar and water as mirin has sugar in it. I tried to make this recipe comparing with the takoyaki sauce I use…and this is the best I could reach by using other condiments (instead of making it all from scratch – which is kind of not easy to do…). Hope this helps. 🙂
Basic ingridient for takoyaki sauce is rather difficult to find in indonesia,what is an alternatif ingridient for mentsuyu and worcestershire sauce?
Hi Santi! It’s actually a little too complicated to make this sauce from scratch… 🙁 Wish it was easy. Most Japanese household buy Takoyaki sauce instead of making it from scratch. If you can get Tonkatsu Sauce which should be easier to find in Indonesia, you can use it instead. 🙂
Hi Nami! The taste was delicious, great alternative to buying takoyaki sauce! How long does the sauce last in the fridge? 🙂
Hi Maureen! Probably a week or a bit longer. 🙂
Hi
Any substitute for mentsuyu?
tq
Hi Raja! You can just omit it, if you like. It’s too little to make homemade Mentsuyu. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to/mentsuyu-noodle-soup-base/