Learn how to make delicious and easy homemade Teriyaki Sauce the authentic Japanese way. You only need four ingredients! Sweet, savory, and versatile, it will be your go-to sauce for chicken, salmon, tofu, pork, and even meatballs.
Savory and versatile, Teriyaki Sauce (照り焼きのたれ) is now the mainstay seasoning outside of Japan. Many of you have asked me if you could make your own homemade teriyaki sauce without having to get the store-bought stuff. I am happy that you asked because most Japanese home cooks actually make our own sauce at home.
The best part about homemade teriyaki sauce? It takes only 4 simple ingredients, and you’ll get the most delicious sauce that goes well with everything! It’s so easy that you want to keep it on hand at all times.
Table of Contents
What Exactly is Teriyaki?
First of all, if you aren’t aware, teriyaki (照り焼き) in Japanese actually describes a cooking method. “Teri” (照り) means luster and “yaki” (焼き) means grilled, broiled or pan-fried. It’s not the sauce we refer to, but rather how the food is prepared. So teriyaki essentially refers to any grilled/broiled/pan-fried food with shining glaze.
When the food is prepared in “teriyaki” style, we season the food with soy sauce, sake, and mirin (and sometimes sugar). Since the meaning of ‘teriyaki’ has been deviated by simply referring to a Japanese sauce outside of Japan, I’d just refer to it as a sauce in this post.
As mentioned briefly, we actually don’t use bottled teriyaki sauces in Japan as we make our own sauce. Sometimes I get asked which brand of teriyaki is the best and I can only say the best teriyaki sauce is homemade and it’s as easy as 1-2-3 steps shown in this recipe.
How to Make Authentic Teriyaki Sauce – The Japanese Method
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make the teriyaki sauce, you’ll need only 4 most basic ingredients from the Japanese pantry:
- Soy sauce – Please use only Japanese soy sauce as it has a different flavor profile from Chinese, Thai, or Korean soy sauce. You could use low-sodium, tamari, or gluten-free versions.
- Sake – This is Japanese rice wine. It imparts a hint of fruitiness and complexity to the sauce. You can find sake at Asian grocery stores with an alcohol license, or at any major liquor stores. I recommend Gekkeikan, Sho Chiku Bai, or Ozeki.
- Mirin – This is Japanese sweet rice wine. It adds a delicate sweetness and fragrance and gives the sauce a nice luster.
- Sugar – Sugar adds sweetness and balances the savory taste of the teriyaki sauce. It is also crucial to give the sauce its sticky texture. We don’t use honey or maple syrup because they have a strong flavor. But, if that’s your preference, go ahead but take care as it burns easily.
Both sake & mirin are important ingredients for teriyaki-style cooking. If you can’t consume alcohol, please read the substitution options in my sake and mirin pantry pages. I also included specific substitutions in the recipe card below.
The basic formula is to use equal parts of the first three ingredients, then adjust the amount of sugar to your liking. The easiest way? Have this formula memorized:
Ratio For Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce:2 Tbsp sake:2 Tbsp mirin:1 Tbsp sugar
Overview: 3 Easy Cooking Steps to Make The Best Teriyaki Sauce
- Heat: In a medium-sized saucepan, combine sake and mirin, and add the soy sauce and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and continuously stir the sauce until the sugar is dissolved.
- Thicken: Once boiling, lower the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce is thickened.
- Enjoy: Remove from heat and cool. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
Notes on Non-Japanese Style Teriyaki Recipes
I’ve seen many non-Japanese recipes include ingredients such as rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, or fresh garlic in the teriyaki sauce. Some also use ground ginger or garlic powder. I would not recommend them if you wish to follow the authentic Japanese cooking method.
The addition of these ingredients produces a slightly different flavor and potentially overpowers a dish. Japanese cuisine is all about delicate taste.
That said, you have the freedom to do what you like and adapt a recipe to your liking. Depending on the protein or vegetable, I sometimes add grated ginger, minced garlic, and butter in my teriyaki sauce for extra flavors.
How to Thicken Teriyaki Sauce
Americanized teriyaki sauce is very thick and syrupy compared to the teriyaki sauce in Japan. Japanese teriyaki sauce is reduced in the pan until it reaches a thicker consistency. We do not use cornstarch slurry or honey, like other non-Japanese versions.
Of course, there is no strict rule on the recipe, you can still make a thick sauce by adding a mixture of 2 Tbsp water and 1 Tbsp cornstarch or potato starch if that’s your preference.
Adjust the ratio of ingredients each time you make a teriyaki recipe. Homemade teriyaki sauce is healthier than store-bought ones since it does not contain any additives.
How to Store Your Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
You can use the homemade sauce immediately as needed or store it in an airtight, sterilized jar like mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 weeks.
Teriyaki sauce is great to make ahead so you can always reach for the sauce when you need to cook up something quick for a weeknight meal.
How to Use This Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
The wonderful thing about teriyaki sauce is its versatility. Here are some of my favorite ways to use this sauce:
- As a marinade for meat or seafood
- As a glaze over your grilled or pan-fried dishes
- In stir-fries
Once you start to experiment with your own teriyaki sauce, you will have fun dishing out different delicious recipes with this all-purpose seasoning.
Delicious Recipes with Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
- Chicken Teriyaki
- Pan-Fried Teriyaki Tofu Bowl
- Teriyaki Burger
- Teriyaki Salmon
- Beef Teriyaki
- Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs
- Teriyaki Chicken Quesadilla
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Teriyaki Sauce
Video
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. See Notes for half-portion ingredients and substitutions for sake and mirin.
- In a saucepan, add ½ cup sake and ½ cup mirin.
- Add ½ cup soy sauce and ¼ cup sugar.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and continuously stir the sauce until the sugar is dissolved. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium low. Simmer for 10–15 minutes or until the sauce is thickened.
- As you mix the sauce or tilt the saucepan, small bubbles will start to rise and appear on the surface. When this happens, the sauce is ready to use. Pour the sauce into a sterilized jar and leave uncovered to cool. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
To Store
- Once cooled, close the lid and store in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 weeks.
To Use the Teriyaki Sauce
- Teriyaki Salmon: Season salmon fillets with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Lightly coat the salmon with all-purpose flour. Heat a frying pan over medium heat, then add cooking oil or butter. Add the salmon to the pan and cook it on one side for 3 minutes. Once nicely browned, flip the salmon. Add 1 Tbsp sake and cover to cook for another 3 minutes. Remove the lid and spoon the Teriyaki Sauce over the salmon to coat well.
- Teriyaki Chicken: Season boneless, skin-on chicken thighs (or chicken breast, if you prefer) with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Lightly coat the chicken with all-purpose flour. Heat a frying pan over medium heat, then add cooking oil or butter. Add the chicken to the pan, skin side down, and cook until browned. Flip the chicken and cover the pan until the chicken is cooked through. Wipe off the oil from the frying pan with a paper towel. Spoon the Teriyaki Sauce over the chicken to coat well.
- Teriyaki Tofu: Drain well a block of firm tofu (pressing it or microwaving it for 1 minute). Cut the tofu into steaks (slabs) and lightly coat them with all-purpose flour. Heat a frying pan over medium heat, then add cooking oil. Add the tofu steaks and cook on both sides until golden brown. Spoon the Teriyaki Sauce over the tofu steaks to coat well.
- You can also pour additional Teriyaki Sauce onto the finished dish.
Notes
- with alcohol: ½ cup dry sherry or Chinese rice wine
- without alcohol: ½ cup water
- with sake: ¼ cup sake + ¼ cup water + 3 Tbsp sugar
- without sake: ½ cup water + 3 Tbsp sugar
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Jun 12, 2013. It’s been updated with a new video and images in January 2018 and with updated content in August 2022.
Are there regional differences? My great grandma’s recipe used homemade chicken stock instead of sake/mirin, and added ginger slices and granular garlic. Fresh garlic makes the sauce bitter. Perhaps her recipe was adapted during prohibition?
Note: I keep seeing addictive when you mean additive.
Hi Dannielle! Hmm I don’t think it’s regional difference (except for southern Japan use sweet soy sauce instead of regular soy sauce – so the flavor is sweeter), but more like personal preference.
Some prefer to add garlic, ginger, vinegar to make variations. We don’t really have “chicken stock” in Japan except for granule kind (no liquid chicken stock) so we rarely use “chicken stock” unless it’s chinese dish (in fact, we call chicken stock Chuka Dashi / Chinese dashi).
Thanks for noticing my typo. I only found one “addictive”… and fixed it. Thank you!
Hi Nami, I’m curious of what kind of soy souce you are using for teriyaki sauce. Is it the dark or light soy sauce or could be a soy sauce from Japan, which have a distinct flavor?
Japanese don’t have dark or light soy sauce like Chinese soy sauce. I use organic soy sauce from Kikkoman: https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/soy-sauce/
This is a great recipe thanks! Just wondering, if I make this and store in the fridge will it keep for a few months?
Hi Dain! I’m happy to hear you liked this recipe! Since it has water, it’s not meant to last that long. Usually water is the one that goes bad. Without it, it can last longer.:)
Hi Nami, what kind of sake do you recommend? My grocery store has a few types of sake, I didn’t buy any yet because I’m not sure which sake is suitable for cooking.
Hi Bernie! I usually use one of these 3 brands: https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/sake/
I tried the mirin version last week and it was a Favourite. I couldn’t find the 3 types so sake in your web page, but I managed to find ryorishu in my supermarket so this week I’m trying the recipe with ryorishu.
Hi Bernie! 3 kinds of sake are mentioned right under the 2nd picture.
Cooking sake (ryorishu) is fine, but it includes other condiments like salt so it’s not pure sake (you can’t drink cooking sake). 🙂
Hey when i try to make teriyaki with equal parts Sake (Gekkeikan), Mirin, Soy Sauce and sugar to liking it comes out bitter every time!!! I am so confused.. the first time i made it the turn out was perfect. But every time now it turns out bitter do you know the reason for this?
first I add equal parts sake and mirin in pot with sugar to simmer for 5 minutes approx. then i add the soy sauce and simmer until the consistency starts to thicken. Taste it once cooled down and it seems to be bitter every time im so lost 🙁
Hi Darcy! Bitter, not salty? What kind of soy sauce do you use? Try to understand why it’s “bitter”. I understand if it was salty but bitter…? One part that can become bitter is that when you cook the sauce, maybe the burnt soy sauce gives bitterness?
Thanks Nami!
I think making our own is much better than store-bought ones! I have a huge bottle of mirin and don’t know how to use it.
I will also try it with honey instead of sugar.
Love your recipes! 🙂
Hi Samantha! I believe so too! Yes, honey is great! Thanks so much for reading my blog! 🙂
Can you subsitute katakuriko (potato starch) for the corn starch? Would you have to use less of it, or can you use the same amount?
Thanks! Love your recipes!
Hi Gina! You can use corn starch (same amount). I’ll update the recipe with both ingredients. 🙂
Hi Nami!
Thanks for your recipes, love them!:)
Would it be possible to use sugar substitute to those who are watching their weight….. instead of sugar?
Thank you!
Hi Shelly! I’m so happy to hear you like my recipes! You can use honey or any sweetener you normally use. 🙂 And of course decrease the amount too. This recipe is more like “typical” Japanese taste. 🙂
Sorry to sound a bit thick but tried making the sauce with equal parts and it doesnt taste right so not sure what im doing wrong. Used 4 tablespoons soy sauce, Mirrin and Sake and then 2 tablespoons of castor sugar. Is this right? Just find the alcohol takes over a bit.
Hi Katy! Assuming you use the right ingredients (Japanese soy sauce, right kind of sake – not like “nigori sake” etc, mirin, and maybe sugar), how did you make the sauce? Did you cook in the frying pan with the food still inside or you just mix in the mixing bowl and taste it? Alcohol smell should be completely removed after cooking. It should not smell it by smelling the sauce. Most alcohol is evaporated after leaving some umami from sake (made of rice so it gives sweetness). Whether you cook the sauce in a pan alone or over the chicken, you need to cook the sauce. The sugar needs to be melted and saicr will be thicken as a sign. Hope this makes sense. If you cook with food, the oil and flavors from food (like chicken) will mix with the sauce. It’s very common equation for what we consider teriyaki style cooking so it should work. But I also want to mention this is not like American teriyaki sauce flavors which is completely different from authentic sauce (just have to make sure you are not aiming for the same flavors…) Hope this helps, and let me know how I can help you.
Thanks very much for ur reply. I used Doragon Sake, Mirrin and Amoy Soy Sauce. I boiled the ingredients together in a saucepan then once boiling added the Sake. I tried to burn the alcohol off but could not get it to light. I will try again though using a Japenese Soy sauce and boiling all ingredients together instead of adding Sake later.
Hi Katy! I looked up, and dragon sake (I never heard of it before) seems okay. However, I’ve never tasted Amoy soy sauce before. Try adding sake first. Traddtionally, sake and mirin is added first so it can be evaporated. Then add sugar or sweetner before soy sauce. Once soy sauce is added, no matter how much sugar you add, it will not become sweeter. So follow that order, even the interval is only a few seconds difference. 🙂
Sorry, i’m confused! Does the recipe mean that if i do not have mirin (or sake to substitute), then the mirin ingredient becomes ‘4 Tbs water and 1.5 Tbsp sugar’?
This would mean a total of 3.5 Tbsp sugar for the whole recipe, right?
But according to 2 questions posed by your readers, they keep mentioning 5 Tbsp of sugar?? Please advise as my son adores teriyaki and has been bugging me to cook it for him!
Thanks so much!
Hi Jasmine! I’m so sorry for the confusion. The recipe was originally suggesting 3 Tbsp. sugar for replacement. However, I have updated my substitute for Mirin page (https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/mirin/) and the new rule has been “1 Tbsp. mirin = 1 Tbsp. water or sake + 1 tsp. sugar”. So I changed this recipe’s substitution as well following to my rule.
Some people don’t have both mirin and sake, some have sake, and some don’t take any alcohol due to religion. Therefore I wrote both version with sake and water for mirin’s substitute…
If you have sake: 4 Tbsp. mirin –> 2 Tbsp. sake + 2 Tbsp. water + 1 1/2 tsp. sugar.
If you don’t have sake or can’t drink sake: 4 Tbsp. mirin –> 4 Tbsp. water + 1 1/2 tsp. sugar.
I hope this makes sense. And you’re correct, don’t miss the sugar for the teriyaki sauce. Total of sugar will be 3.5 Tbsp. 🙂
Thank you, you answered my question perfectly! My 10 year old son sends his thanks too!
Hi Nami, i made this teriyaki souce and i have a question, can i keep it in refrigerator?? And how long can i keep it??
Thanks it’s delicious btw,..
Sorry for my late response! Yes, up to a week at most. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Thanks for share this wonderful method for teriyaki sauce so if their is no have sake so what can i do please thanks
HI Nadeem! Sake is very important in Japanese cooking, so I’d highly recommend to use. But, if you cannot take alcohol, you can substitute with water. If you don’t have sake at home, you can use Chinese rice wine or dry sherry, which are closer (but it’s not the same… :)). Hope this helps!
Thank you very much for reply so i found sake now and i already cook teriyaki sauce wow so yummy thanks may God bless you all
Oh I’m so glad! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. I am terribly sorry that I couldn’t respond sooner…
thanks so much you have this, i’ve been craving for some chicken teriyaki and here in KSA, alcohol is very much forbidden, thanks so much 🙂
Hi Kathy! Glad to hear you like this recipe! Homemade teriyaki is the best! 🙂
Very nice and lovely way out to make sauce
Thank you Shahid!
Thanks! I’m 12 and I could still make it. The instructions were easy to follow and it was delicious
Hi Jack! I’m so glad you tried this recipe. Thanks so much for your kind feedback! 🙂