Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
This homemade teriyaki sauce is a must-have in my kitchen. It takes just a minute to make, but is a shortcut to dozens of dishes – many of which aren’t even teriyaki dishes. Teriyaki in Japanese is made from the characters teri 照 (glazed/shiny) and yaki 焼 (grilled/fried), so teriyaki is essentially a glaze that is applied to something grilled or fried.
This base sauce contains less than a third of the sugar of many commercial sauces, and although it may look very watery it reduces to a shiny glaze in the pan, coating your ingredients.
Ingredients
250ml (8 oz) soy sauce
200ml (6 oz) mirin
200ml (6 oz) sake
60-90g (2-3 oz) white sugar
Method
Combine the ingredients in a small saucepan and place the saucepan over medium heat. Stir for a few minutes until the sugar dissolves. Don’t boil the mixture. Transfer the sauce to a bottle and store in the pantry until ready to use.
For ideas on what to make with your homemade teriyaki sauce, check out my playlist on YouTube:
Or just check out these recipes:
Tips
- You don’t need to refrigerate the sauce. It will keep out of the fridge for years, but you’ll use it long before that.
- If you don’t have access to sake you can use a 50:50 mix of vodka and water.
- If you don’t consume alcohol, I’d recommend a recipe of 250ml soy sauce and 100g of sugar with 250ml of the stock of your choice. It won’t be quite the same and you’ll need to keep it in the fridge, but this mixture can be applied in the same way as teriyaki sauce in the following recipes.
Dear Adam,
Thank you for sharing teriyaki sauce recipe.
For mirin and sake..would you inform the brand of those two ingredient ?
Thank you Adam.
Regards,
Fonny
Any
Thanks Adam! This is now a staple in our fridge the kids looove it and so do I
Can I replace white sugar with 50 grams of brown sugar an 40 grams of Agave? This is used for a brine in making teriyaki beef jerky.
I’m sure you could.
Thanks Adam! ❤ all your recipes Look forward to more delicious recipes
Would we use unseasoned mirin?
I have mirin, soy sauce, and sugar. I don’t have sake, though, because alcohol is not readily available in my area. I saw your recommendation, but I want to use the mirin that I have in my home. Is it alright to follow the same recipe, but without the sake? What should I do?
You can use a 50:50 mixture of vodka and water instead of sake, or even just a dry white wine.
I have all the ingredients but the Mirin, do I need it? Or, can I substitute it with something else.
I have all the ingredients but the Mirin, do I need it? Or, can I substitute it with something else.
Where did you get the bottle?
A bit late, but it looks like a soy sauce bottle (20 oz).
Where did you get the bottle?
Does that cooking sake have salt in it?
No. While many Chinese cooking wines are salted, Japanese ones generally are not.
Are all teriyaki sauce made with alcohol The kids love teriyaki chicken
The alcohol in the sake will evaporate when the sauce is cooked
Are all teriyaki sauce made with alcohol The kids love teriyaki chicken
Hi Adam, you mentioned in the video that the sauce can be used for shoyu ramen – mind sharing your recipe for that?
I’ve already made gyudon, teriyaki chicken, and ginger pork thanks to you. Thanks for making Japanese cuisine so much easier!
In the States cooking sake is terribly salty. I do not recommend using it. It ruins the flavor.
I use drinking sake. This is an amazing sauce. And as I use Gluten free tamari I can now use it for my son who has celiac. We use it on everything. Thank you so much!!
I found that Rice Wine Vinegar substitutes the Sake quite well, it tastes amazing. Thanks for the great recipe, I’ll be using this all the time!
Hi Adam, love your recipes! I made this yesterday and it was delicious with the chicken! How long does this stay fresh, give or take?
Would water or vinegar be a good subsitute for the alcoholic ingrediants?
Your recipe in SMH says light soy but the recipe above just says soy sauce. Which one should I use?
Thanks
Thanks Adam. Making this with your chicken thigh recipe tonight for dinner. Keep on keeping on, son 🙂
Excellent sauce – as is your description on how to make it and use it. I find your description and demonstration of recipes among the best out there.
One question: where did you get that bottle with the drip top? I can’t find it anywhere.
Thanks!
Can I substitute Shaoxing wine for Saki?
This came out so very strong – it was just pure salt flavor. I was very disappointed and had to spend a lot of time doctoring it to make it usable.
Make sure you are using quality drinkable sake and light soy sauce. The naturally brew part is definitely important as I made that mistake in my first attempt.
Very easy to make and absolutely gerat in taste! Thank you for the recipe!
Where can I buy Merin?
It’s probably the soy sauce and mirin you’re using. Make sure it’s HON mirin (not aji mirin, which has lots of additives), and naturally brewed soy sauce with very little if any added salt. It should taste above and beyond anything, umami. I can’t go without this recipe in my kitchen.
How can I make mine sweeter? The soy sauce is overpowering the rest of the ingredients.
Made this tonight after a meeting and it was super easy and delicious. Very impressed with the sauce and the walkthrough on how to tailor the cooking process for different dishes! Would love a teriyaki tofu video!
hi. I want to make a teriyaki sauce at home. is their any ingredient that I can substitute the sake and the mirin? please let me know if there is a halal substitute.
I just read your recipe and it’s absolutely fantastic. But, can I replace sake with Tsao Tsing Wine?
A chinese teriyaki? That’s very cross-cultural of you
Do you have to use white sugar? Can I replace it with raw sugar instead?
In your metric measurements you use 5 parts shoyu to 4 parts mirin and 4 parts sake. In your standard measurements you use 4 parts shoyu to 3 parts mirin and 3 parts sake. Those are quite different proportions. Which one should I follow?
How long can I storage this teriyaki sauce? Room temp or refrigerated?
Big hug from PR!!
@Gord: Stick with the metric measurements, as Adam is living in Australia and uses metric as well in his recipes, to ensure the original ratios.
For everyone concerning about the saltines, you can also use less-sodium versions like from Kikko (the bottles with a green cap). I do use the light version from the panda brand (which is also a little bit oversalted in the EU, but I do like it) and do just not add additional salt in my dishes if using this sauce.
Generally, be aware that brands do taste differently in each region as other companies do deal with the local brewing and use own rations of the ingredients than the brand from the origin country. I.e. do never buy QP ‘Japanese’ mayo in the EU that is made in the Netherlands. It lacks of MSG, so you will not have the taste you’re looking for.
What brand name of Sake is recommended?? Thanks
I’ve been using this recipe, which I really like but, I just can’t seem to get it to the correct consistency. I’m having a real hard time getting the sauce to thicken up the way yours did in your video.
Any tips or suggestions on what I’m doing wrong or need to try?
Thanks in advance.
Steve – you need to coat whatever protein you are using in corn flour prior to cooking and then apply the sauce. Been using Adam’s recipe for years.
Love the video
Can you please tell me what kind of Sake you recomend?
Can this be used for katsudon as well?
How can I make teriyaki sauce for kids
Where’d you get the bottle? Hard to find a bottle that size now.