You’ve gotta try this homemade teriyaki sauce. It tastes like the sweet, sour, rich sauce you know and love but uses only ingredients you already have at home. No special grocery trip required!
Recently on TheCookful, the other website that I run, we’ve been talking about Chicken Wings. All chicken wings all the time. It’s been a really fun series. We’ve covered how to cut whole wings, how to bake chicken wings that are super crispy, beers to pair with wings, how to make boneless wings and so much more. There are more wing articles coming too, a whole week’s worth.

Teriyaki Sauce With On-Hand Ingredients
When we were doing the recipe-testing for the wing series, there were a lot of wings in this house to eat. I started experimenting with different sauces to toss them with. I really wanted to make a teriyaki sauce but a lot of the recipes I found online had ingredients that I didn’t have, like rice wine. I decided to make a version that uses things I always have in my pantry. This teriyaki recipe was born!
It’s made out of soy sauce, water, regular white vinegar, brown sugar, garlic powder, ground ginger, and cornstarch. First you make a paste out of the cornstarch and some water. Then you mix that with everything else in a small saucepan. Heat it to a boil and simmer it until it’s thick.
What Can I Use Teriyaki Sauce With?
Toss it with wings, use it in a stir fry, or try our Teriyaki Chicken recipe. It so sweet and tangy, rich and good. I know you’ll love it!
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Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 7 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Japanese
DESCRIPTION
You’ve gotta try this homemade teriyaki sauce. It tastes like the sweet, sour, rich sauce you know and love but uses only ingredients you already have at home. No special grocery trip required!
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. cornstarch
- ¼ cup + 1 Tbsp. water, divided
- ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup brown sugar, plus more to taste
- 2 Tbsp. white vinegar
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
- ⅛ tsp. ground ginger
Instructions
- In a small saucepan mix together the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of the water.
- Add the remaining ingredients. Stir. Heat over medium-high until it reaches a boil, stirring often.
- Reduce to a simmer and cook stirring occasionally until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes.
- Taste and stir in more brown sugar if you’d like it sweeter.

Jacqui says
Hi there :)
… your recipe calls for 2 tsps cornstarch + 1/4 tsp cornstarch… is this correct?
Christine Pittman says
Eek! Good catch! The second cornstarch was supposed to be garlic powder. I have corrected the recipe. Thanks for spotting it!
Megan {Country Cleaver} says
I had NO IDEA it was so easy to make at home!!