I get really excited about making my own dressings and sauces. Come to think of it, I can’t even remember the last time I bought salad dressing.
This isn’t about food snobbery; it’s about control.
I’ve never cared much about control, but in the kitchen I tend to be a control freak. My husband has quickly learned that the only way he can help is by banning me from the kitchen and making me dinner himself. (I should mention that he made an ah-maaaazing pasta for me earlier this week. Thanks, babe.) Any time someone tries to help me in the kitchen, simple directions turn into Here, just let me do it.
Oops. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
But back to the good kind of control; flavor control.
When you can have control over the sweetness, tartness, consistency, etc. of a sauce, it is fan-freaking-tastic. And what’s even *more* exciting about it is that your end result is typically much healthier than anything you’ll find on the shelves. Take, for instance, my Healthy Homemade Vegetarian Caesar Dressing. This dressing is creamy and dreamy and has everything you want in a good caesar dressing all while having less than half the calories of a store-bought caesar dressing per tablespoon. WHUT. Yeah.
So make things at home.
But today isn’t about salad dressing — it’s about Teriyaki sauce.
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Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
It was when my husband was making me a mock bowl from one of his fave restaurants that he asked me to fetch him the Teriyaki sauce from the fridge. As I grabbed it, I looked at it and thought… I bet I could make this. It turns out that it’s super duper simple and you probably have all of the ingredients kicking around in your kitchen right now.
The flavor of this Homemade Teriyaki Sauce differs quite a bit from one you’d snag off the shelves at the supermarket; it’s got a deeper and richer flavor, and it doesn’t have that pang of saltiness or sweetness from the processed stuff.
If I can stress one thing in this post, it would be this: use fresh garlic and mince it yourself. Do not use the jarred stuff, god please no.
To echo the notable Anthony Bourdain, “…Too lazy to peel fresh? You don’t deserve to eat garlic.”
Though I don’t agree with that sentiment in all cases, I absolutely have to in this case.
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Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic minced fine
- 2 TBSP packed brown sugar I used coconut palm sugar
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- 1 TBSP cornstarch
- 1/4 cold water
Instructions
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Heat a small pot over moderate heat and add the soy sauce, water, ginger, garlic, garlic salt, sugar, and fish sauce.
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Bring to a simmer.
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Once simmering, mix the cornstarch into the 1/4 cup of cold water; mix until well blended and there are no longer any white chunks.
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While whisking the teriyaki sauce, slowly add the cornstarch mix to thicken the sauce.
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Allow to simmer for a minute, then remove from heat.
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Store in a heat-safe container. Homemade teriyaki sauce can last for weeks and weeks, so you'll likely finish it before its quality diminishes.
15 Comments
Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Kebabs With Pineapple | Killing Thyme
September 14, 2018 at 12:51 pm […] can use store-bought teriyaki, but I do recommend making your own if you have the time; creating it from scratch lets you control the amount of sodium and sugar in […]jenny
January 18, 2018 at 6:41 pm looks yummy! About how much does this sauce make?Killing Thyme
January 18, 2018 at 8:14 pm Hi Jenny! This recipe makes about a cup, give or take.Joseph
January 17, 2017 at 4:57 am That was the first time I made teriyaki sauce homemade and I'll never buy another bottle of it again! That was delicious over some breaded chicken tenderloins. Thanx!Killing Thyme
January 22, 2017 at 9:53 am Hey Joseph! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Your use of it over breaded chicken tenderloins sounds perfect. Thanks so much for stopping by with feedback, I really appreciate it :)Bridget Oland
January 15, 2017 at 10:06 am Love the simplicity of this recipe. (Really makes you wonder why anyone would buy the jars of processed stuff.)Killing Thyme
January 15, 2017 at 10:43 am Thanks Bridget! I hear you. I think for most people, until they make something from scratch themselves, they don't realize the simplicity of it. I know I used to think making sauces and dressings from scratch would be a huge time commitment, but gosh — it's so easy.Diana L.
January 14, 2017 at 4:11 am Soooo.... does it count if I take about 3-5 heads of garlic and make my own chopped garlic in a food chopper that I keep in olive oil in a mason jar in my fridge?? lol... all kidding aside, I am totally trying this homemade teriyaki sauce as I also prefer homemade instead of a jar of processed sauce. What a great recipe to have on hand!!Killing Thyme
January 14, 2017 at 3:41 pm Haha, WELL. First of all, look at YOU going as far as to making your own jarred garlic! Respect, girl. Though I'm surethere is a huge difference between yours and the store-bought stuff! I'd love to jar my own, but I can't have enough garlic bulbs in my kitchen. It's kind of sad. I'll have two full bulbs and panic, thinking I'm going to run out. Ha. I hope you like this sauce! Keep me posted :)Vicky Chin
January 13, 2017 at 8:40 pm My kids are big fan of Japanese food, they would love this sauce! And homemade is always better. Looks easy enough for me to try! Thanks for sharing! ????Killing Thyme
January 14, 2017 at 3:35 pm My pleasure, Vicky! It's super duper easy. Let me know how it goes! Thanks for stopping by :)Cathy
January 13, 2017 at 1:03 pm Good for you tackling this sauce yourself! I'm sure it's delicious! I also like to make my own dressings and sauces from scratch so that I know what's in them.Killing Thyme
January 14, 2017 at 3:34 pm Thanks, Cathy! The best part is how easy it is to make your own sauces at home — but one would never know until they tried. I used to assume that there'd be some huge involvement in it, but so far everything has been easy peasy. I'm the same as you — I like to know what's in my food if I can control it. I don't stress about *everything*, because we could drive ourselves mad in doing so… but I do what I can.Nicoletta @sugarlovespices
January 13, 2017 at 12:14 pm We actually have all the ingredients so I can ask Loreto to concoct this amazing sauce! I agree on homemade sauces and dressings, way healthier than the store-bought ones and also cheaper. I also am with you on the use of fresh garlic, it just IS better :-) . Beautiful pictures by the way ;-) .Killing Thyme
January 14, 2017 at 3:31 pm Yay! I hope you both enjoy it. I slathered it over a fillet of salmon yesterday and it was delicious. Thanks so much, Nicoletta!