This simple recipe for teriyaki sauce makes about 1 1/2 cups and can be used with any of your Asian-inspired recipes instead of unhealthy bottled versions from the store with toxic additives.
I go through a lot of homemade sauces cooking for my family. I use the easy teriyaki sauce recipe below primarily for marinating chicken.
It is also very useful for making homemade barbecue sauce as well.
Bottled teriyaki sauce from the grocery store has so many additives that it is downright frightening to read the label.
The brands at the healthfood store are, disappointingly, not a whole lot better. For example, the organic brands I’ve examined are either loaded with sugar and/or contain toxic seed oils!
Canola oil, a popular choice in commercial teriyaki sauce brands, is surprisingly STILL considered by some in the health community to be a quality oil.
Nearly all restaurants cook with an olive oil/canola oil blend (25/75). Even when nonGMO, organic, and cold-pressed, canola oil should be actively avoided.
For this reason, skip any bottled sauces or dressings that contain this very misunderstood, unhealthy fat.
My teriyaki sauce recipe below is inspired by the version in Nourishing Traditions Cookbook. My method differs by using ground ginger and garlic powder (quicker for busy Moms!), and uses wheat-free, traditionally fermented, unpasteurized Tamari sauce instead of soy sauce to make it friendly for those healing their gut microbiome.
Use this delicious DIY teriyaki sauce to make this teriyaki chicken recipe with roasted vegetables.
By the way, making your own homemade steak sauce is a good idea too for the same reasons outlined above!
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
This recipe for teriyaki sauce makes about 1 1/2 cups and can be used for any of your Asian recipes instead of unhealthy bottled versions from the store.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Tamari sauce naturally fermented, unpasteurized
- 1/4-3/4 tsp ground ginger or 1-3 tsp freshly grated
- 3/4-1 tsp garlic powder or 3 cloves, freshly minced
- 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar preferably organic
- 2 Tbsp raw honey preferably local
- 1 Tbsp liquid whey optional
Instructions
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Mix all the ingredients together except the whey in a small glass bowl until well blended.
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If not using the optional whey, the sauce is ready to enjoy immediately.
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If using whey, stir it into the sauce, pour into a one pint mason jar and affix the lid. Leave the jar on the counter overnight to lightly culture it before refrigerating.
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Homemade teriyaki sauce will keep for a couple of weeks without whey added and over a month when this optional ingredient is used.
Now and again not made at home food — notably pizza from Whole Foods and if shopping at Sprouts (not often) I will get one of their wraps made up and take that home. They had a tomato pesto that
was so good I asked if they sold it; they did and I bought a small
container from the fridge section. Its delicious on so many things that
I wanted to buy it again but won’t because it contains canola oil and
is not organic in any of its ingredients. So, I would be delighted if you
ever are in Sprouts if you would look at the ingredients and come up
with a recipe for it perhaps using using avacado oil rather than olive or coconut oil. I’m thinking olive oil has too strong a flavor and coconut oil is thinner than avacado oil. Thanks, gail
I have a suggestion how to get whey. Buy a good quality full fat organic yogurt like Tremona or Maple Hill. Scoop out a serving of yogurt from the middle of the container and eat it. Yum Put container back into refrig for one or two days and you should get a clear liquid in the hole you left from before. This is whey..Scoop out 1 Tbs and use in recipe
Wow … this is a great tip. Thanks!
Sesame oil is very high in Omega-6!
Yes, but you don’t use very much and sesame oil is traditional and perhaps the safest oil with omega-6 in it because it is very resistant to rancidity.
This recipe is delicious. I made as directed, but didn’t get the thick texture as shown in the picture. I added arrowroot powder to the sauce before putting in stir fry…otherwise it was too runny. The flavor is perfect, though.
What is there is soy allergy? What can you make/use in place of soy sauce?
I would tentatively suggest coconut aminos. The label on this product looks great … I have not fully and deeply researched the production methods as of yet (it’s on my to-do list!). However, as of this time, it looks like an extremely good alternative. Please do not use bragg’s liquid aminos as it is loaded with MSG.
My brother sent me an article on MSG being used in Asia for millennia and it being fine. I totally disagree and have read about this before, but cannot find it. Can someone help me to educate him?
Perfect. Have been thinking I needed to find a healthy recipe. 🙂
so easy to make, it will become automatic, no recipe needed
I read this and I was like..I throw this together all the time and didn’t even realize it was ‘teriyaki sauce’ lol. It’s so good, easy and way more healthy. Even if you found a good one commercially it’ll save you money to just make this yourself. Generally I don’t even measure. Throw some of each of those in a bowl..whisk, taste, adjust..
Make our own all the time. SO easy!