Teriyaki Sauce is a delicious accompaniment to many Asian inspired dishes, but it’s loaded with artificial sweeteners. I’ve had trouble buying it for years after reading disappointing ingredient and nutrition labels. Making your own teriyaki sauce is quite simple. You’ll wonder why you haven’t made it this way before. You can enjoy teriyaki sauce without all extra added junk added. The taste of this homemade sauce really trumps bottled teriyaki! Try it with my Ginger Teriyaki Meatballs or Teriyaki Chicken Bowl.
My Teriyaki Sauce Take
I’m not claiming to mimic a traditional teriyaki sauce, but this recipe is an Asian inspired sauce that is healthier than a lot of store bought teriyaki sauces without excess sugar and sodium. Adding bold flavor, like a bit more fresh grated ginger (not powdered) can please many palates. Even my kids who love a good sugar-laden teriyaki sauce have told me numerous times to “put this on my website.” That is always a compliment coming from finicky eaters.
Gingery Goodness
This recipe is my take on a teriyaki recipe I found that seemed good, but had loads of sugar and sodium. I’m always adjusting recipes, especially recipes like teriyaki that I know get a bad rap. I halved the sugar, soy sauce (the big sodium bomb), added double the ginger, made a couple more slight adjustments to taste and voila…my recipe came to fruition and gets huge applause from all my guys at home.
I don’t recommend using ground ginger for this recipe unless you simply have no way of getting fresh ginger. It just won’t have the same punch. Fresh grated ginger just brings so much depth of flavor to a sauce like this. Plus, as you might know, ginger is so good for you; great for your gut, circulation and more. And, of course, the flavor is a one of a kind earthy goodness. If you don’t have quite enough fresh ginger then of course supplement with ground ginger.
Saucing
You’ll find that this sauce is so flavorful that you really won’t need as much as you’re maybe used to pouring on from a store bought jar. Whatever you’re serving this sauce with, a vegetable stir fry, meatballs or maybe a chicken dish, you will only need enough sauce to coat the food. That’s my recommendation for serving and then if anyone wants a little more just serve it on the side and it can be spooned on as needed. This would also make a great glaze for salmon. It’s a big YUM all the way around for whatever Asian type of dish you’d like to serve up.
Ginger Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger packed (if low on fresh ginger you can add some ginger powder, but I highly recommend fresh for maximum flavor)
- 1 Tbsp corn starch
- 1/2 Tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan combine soy sauce through vinegar and cook on medium heat till sugar dissolves.
- Add ginger and stir.
- Combine corn starch with only enough water to cover corn starch (I use a little dipping bowl or tiny ramekin for this) quickly stir with a fork and add to sauce mixture in pot.
- Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer on low for about 1-3 minutes, continuously stirring until sauce thickens.
- Remove from heat, stir in sesame seeds and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Disclaimer:
Nutrition
Oh wow, this was absolutely perfect! I had discovered Keli’s Hawaiian sauces in the bottle but they aren’t available in my region… so I decided to give this a try. And it did not disappoint! I was worried maybe I would miss the extra sugar, sodium, etc but nope this was missing nothing! Thank you for an awesome recipe!
Great to hear, Christine! Glad you love it and it did not disappoint. This always makes me happy! Thanks so much for sharing!
Katia, I was looking for a good homemade ginger teriyaki sauce for a dish I am making in the near future. As I was scrolling through the comments, I noticed your name. My niece has the same name. The spelling and pronunciation are the same,that is too cool! It is rare that we run into anyone with the same name as her. I will definately try this recipe out soon. It looks very delicious.
Very cool, Kenya! Thanks for the comment and I hope you enjoy the recipe! Happy New Year!
I made this tonight and it was delicious. Instead of cooking on the stove, I microwaved the mixture for 90 seconds and it came out perfect. Thank you!
That’s great, Victoria! I never thought to microwave it, but if it worked…kudos to you! Thanks for the comment.