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.
Most healthfood stores carry the San-J brand of teriyaki sauce. Unfortunately, it has nonorganic (translation: GMO) canola oil in it, so this an unacceptable product in my home.
Why Canola Oil in Teriyaki Sauce Makes it Unhealthy
Canola oil is a good source of omega 3 fats and is thought by many in the health community to be a quality oil.
Nearly all restaurants cook with an olive oil/canola oil blend (25/75). Â Even when nonGMO, organic and cold pressed, canola oil should still be avoided.
Canola oil goes rancid very easily requiring manufacturers to deodorize it to hide the off smell. The deodorizing process forms a dangerous form of transfat in the canola oil which is not labeled!
And worse, if it’s not organic canola oil, it is more than likely from genetically modified canola to boot!
For this reason, skip any bottled sauces or dressings that contain this very misunderstood and unhealthy oil!
Teriyaki Sauce Recipe
Once you have abandoned the teriyaki sauces from the store with frightening ingredients and resolve to make your own truly healthy, homemade teriyaki sauce alternative, you will be shocked at how easy and fast it is to whip together.
The homemade teriyaki sauce recipe below recommends optional liquid whey to add additional enzymes and probiotics to the final blend.
By the way, making your own homemade steak sauce is a good idea too for the same reasons outlined above!
Use your DIY teriyaki sauce to make this delicious teriyaki chicken recipe with roasted vegetables.
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
- 1-3 tsp ginger freshly grated, preferably organic
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced, preferably organic
- 2 Tbl toasted sesame oil
- 2 Tbl rice vinegar preferably organic
- 2 Tbl raw honey preferably local
- 1 Tbl liquid whey
- 1 cup soy sauce naturally fermented, unpasteurized
Instructions
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Mince and mash the garlic gloves.
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Mix with the freshly grated ginger and whisk in the remaining ingredients including healthy soy sauce of choice.
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Pour into a one pint glass mason jar.
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Stir in optional liquid whey, affix the lid and leave the teriyaki sauce on the counter overnight before refrigerating.
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Homemade teriyaki sauce will keep for a month or two if liquid whey is added and a couple of weeks if not used.
Recipe Notes
Wheat free soy sauce is fine to substitute for regular soy sauce as desired.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source:Â Nourishing Traditions Cookbook
I found this too salty for a teriyaki sauce. Had to add more sugar anyway although I really wanted just the honey to work on it’s own as a sweetener. Also added a bit of ginger powder as well, which gave it a deeper flavour.
Hi Sarah, Just found your website and am looking forward to trying your teriyaki recipe. Unfortunately, I live in an area where I cannot get farm fresh milk so I will have to forgo the whey. I have one more possibility, but have never noticed if there is farm fresh milk in the health food section of our smallish grocery stores. It is surprising how many wonderful healthy things we do carry, so I am hoping. Any suggestion?. One other thing is I notice you still eat wheat products. My husband and I have eliminated wheat for almost 8 months now and it has made a huge difference in our over all well being. not only have we lost some weight, but have not had indigestion at all. We used to take an acid reducer, no more. Also, my husband had many symptoms of Celiac and those are completely gone. Okay, I subscribed to your news letter and am sure you will have lots of recipes I can use in our “Just eat real food lifestyle. One more thought, there is a lady here that has a couple of goats. Would goat milk make whey?
MSG is a natural flavor that is not good for anyone. Be aware that when you see natural flavor in the list of ingredients it may well be MSG.
I just pinned a link to your recipe on my Pinterest so that I can make this. I hope you don’t mind..
Just proves that there’s basically nothing you can’t have when eating real food…you just have to make it yourself. 🙂 The other day I made my kids “lemonade” with fresh-squeezed lemon juice, water, and a little raw honey. They loved it. And my daughter just finished eating GAPS-friendly coffee cake. The point being…the (food) world is open!!
Sarah, If whey is not used should you still keep on counter overnight? Should it be stored in refrigerator or on counter ? Is there a non-dairy sub for the whey that can be used instead?
Hi Cara, refrigerate right away if not adding the whey. You can add a bit of a probiotic capsule (BioKult is a good one) to the sauce and leave on the counter overnight instead .. I’ve not tried this but other folks have used this method with my other lactofermented recipes with success.
Teriyaki chicken is a tradition in my family. It is a “comfort food” and holds special memories of my mom who passed away in ’99. I love “her” recipe (it is Kikkoman based) but I definitely want to try yours Sarah. Thanks for the healthy option 😉
PS ( The way we love our teriyaki chicken meals is with mashed potatoes, make a well in a dollup of taters and pour t. sauce in like gravy …. so yummy 😉 … OK, gotta make me some now! )