Honey Teriyaki Sauce
Made with basic pantry staples, this honey teriyaki sauce is the perfect balance of sweet and savory. This naturally-sweetened recipe is great for stir-fry, but you can also use it as a marinade for chicken or salmon, or even as a dipping sauce for your favorite appetizers.
Why you’ll love this sweet teriyaki sauce
- This honey teriyaki sauce goes on just about everything. Try it on some chicken wings, as a sauce for your favorite teriyaki noodles or serve it with sesame crusted teriyaki salmon.
- Try using this sauce to make your own chicken teriyaki bowls. They will taste even better than take out, in the comfort of your own home.
- If you don’t have any teriyaki sauce on hand, or if you simply want to make your own.
Ingredients & substitutions
- Honey – Used to sweeten the sauce, but this also helps give it a nice, thick consistency.
- Soy sauce – Reduced sodium soy sauce is best for this, as you can always add additional salt if needed.
- Ginger – I like to buy pre-minced ginger in a jar because it’s so much easier, but you can also grate fresh ginger.
- Garlic
- Sesame seeds – Toasted sesame seeds bring a subtle nuttiness to this teriyaki sauce.
- Cornstarch – This is used to thicken the sauce.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
How to make this easy teriyaki sauce with honey
Mix the sauce. Combine the honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and sesame seeds in a saucepan. Let it heat over medium until the honey thins out and can easily be stirred into the other ingredients.
Let it thicken. In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with some cold water until it dissolves. Stir the slurry into the saucepan and let the sauce cook for a few minutes to allow the cornstarch to thicken the sauce.
It won’t be completely thickened while it’s hot, but it should coat the back of a spoon.
Store the sauce. Transfer the sauce to a mason jar or other air-tight container, and pop it in the fridge until it cools. But don’t worry, you can use some of it right away if you need to. You can store it in the fridge until for up to a week.
Everything you need to know about this recipe
Honey is what I find works best. You can substitute brown sugar if you don’t have honey. You can also use agave nectar to make this vegan.
Honey does help thicken a sauce, but it won’t quite cut it on its own, which is why we have incorporated cornstarch into the sauce.
More teriyaki style recipes you should try
More dairy free condiment recipe you will love
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (4 cloves)
- 1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- ¼ cup cold water + 1 tablespoon cornstarch (slurry)
Instructions
- Combine soy sauce, honey, water, ginger, garlic and sesame seeds in a large saucepan. Whisk together and heat until honey has full incorporated into the sauce.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the water and cornstarch into a slurry.
- Stir the slurry into the sauce and continue to heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and transfer to a mason jar.
