Making Teriyaki Sauce at home used to be a concept that TERRIFIED me. A sauce that good couldn’t be simple, right? But I did some recipe testing and came up with this easy and healthy teriyaki sauce that literally only takes 20 minutes to make. Sounds too good to be true, I know. But this is real life. And this sauce can be in your kitchen and on your food in no time.
I really wanted to healthify teriyaki sauce, because those bottles you buy in the store are FULL of sugar and preservatives. I wanted to make a version that tasted equally as delicious, but simplified the ingredient list. So this sauce requires just 6 ingredients (and one of those ingredients is water.) You’ll want to pour it all over your chicken and rice (or tofu and rice ’cause there’s a vegan option), and eat it up! Get ready for your world to be rocked.
More healthified sauces you’ll love: Healthy Honey Mustard Two Ways + Healthy Ranch Dressing + Salted Date Caramel Sauce

Easy and Healthy Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch + 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (sub liquid aminos or tamari)
- 1/4 cup honey (sub coconut nectar or maple syrup)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
Instructions
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In a small bowl mix together your cornstarch and water, and set aside.
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Heat a small pot over medium-high heat. Add in your water, soy sauce, honey, garlic and ginger. Stir.
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Just as it begins to bubble, add in your cornstarch mixture and stir continuously for 7-10 minutes.
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Take off the heat and set aside for 5-10 minutes to let it thicken.
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EAT UP!
Recipe Notes
You can store this sauce in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. However the cornstarch will cause it to congeal like jello. I recommend heating it in a pot over medium heat while whisking in order to bring it back to it's original texture.
Ingredients
Let’s talk ingredients.
- Cornstarch is used as a thickener for this recipe. I figured almost everyone has it in their pantry already, so it’s an easy addition and gives the sauce great texture.
- Water. Do I have to explain water?
- Soy sauce. You can easily substitute soy sauce with liquid aminos or tamari to make the recipe gluten-free! All three options work equally as well. This gives it a salty, tangy flavor that you love.
- Honey is used to sweeten the recipe. However, you can easily substitute for coconut nectar or maple syrup if you are vegan.
- Minced garlic. Mince fresh garlic (here’s a link to the garlic press I use in the video) or you can even use that pre-minced garlic that comes in a jar.
- Grated fresh ginger. If you’ve never bought fresh ginger before, you can find it in the refrigerated section of the produce. It’s quite knobby, and you only need a SMALL piece for this recipe. However, the leftover ginger will store well in your refrigerator, so you can use it on your next batch of teriyaki sauce or a different recipe. No, you can’t use ground ginger.
Storage
I get a lot of questions about storing this recipe, so here’s the deal… the sauce will keep in your refrigerator (in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks). However, it WILL congeal. Meaning, next time you take it out of the fridge, it will have the consistency of jello. Don’t worry, that’s just what the cornstarch does to it. All you need to do to get it back to its original form is heat it in a small pot over medium heat, whisking it thoroughly until it returns to a smooth liquid state. Then you can serve it over anything you want!
Reviews
I’m not going to lie, I’ve had people tell me that this sauce is the reason their husband married them. (Direct quote.) So don’t trust me, trust the people. Go out and get your man. Go forth and make sauce. xo.
Shareen says
I was redirected by Foodgawker to this site as I searced for Teriyaki sauce recipe. I’m simmering it now as I type this out. Then I was blown away when I read you had a workshop on Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly. I read all her three books and finished the last one a few weeks back. Last night I said, I wish to connect with like-minded people who are see the beauty in vulnerability and being whole-hearted.
Is this a sign? 🙂 Let me know if you have a blog/page about what you do 🙂
Cheers,
Shareen in Sweden
Haley says
Hey Shareen!
I’m SO glad you ended up on my site! I hope you enjoyed your Teriyaki sauce! I LOVE Brene Brown, and I’m so so happy to connect with people who think the same way. Thanks for your sweet words. I’m sending you so many hugs and so much love from the states.
If you wanna know a little bit more about me, check out my about page : https://www.brewinghappiness.com/about/
xoxo
Sarah | Well and Full says
This teriyaki sauce looks positively mouthwatering, Haley! I can’t wait to try it! 😀
Haley says
Thanks, Sarah! I’m excited for you to try it!!! hahah