All over the world, sauces are considered an essential part of any cuisine. Normally, the sauce adds visual appeal, moisture, and flavor to a dish and cannot be consumed by itself. The same goes for teriyaki, there has to be a sauce to complete a tasteful Japanese cuisine. The most common teriyaki sauce ingredients are sugar, mirin and soy sauce.
However, through the years, the teriyaki sauce evolved and now, there are different teriyaki sauce ingredients to prepare this delicious flavor. Enjoy the following recipes that introduce you to different teriyaki sauce ingredients. We will show how to make the sauce using three, four and five ingredients.
How to Make 3-Ingredient Teriyaki Sauce & Easy Recipes to Follow
Most of us have busy lives and might perceive cooking as a tedious job. However, we will show how simple it is to prepare a delicious meal using easy 3-ingredient teriyaki sauce.
#1. What to Prepare for Homemade Teriyaki Sauce 3 Ingredients For 2 Servings
To create an easy 3 ingredient teriyaki sauce, please prepare the following:
- ½ cup of water / ½ cup of mirin
- ½ cup of soy sauce (add more if you want it to be saltier)
- 4 tbsp of honey (add more if you want more sweetness)
- 1 tbsp of arrowroot powder/ cornstarch (optional)
Instead of ordinary soy sauce, you may also use the Japanese soy sauce which has added flavor. If you want to make your dish become more authentic Japanese cuisine, then using a Japanese soy sauce is a must in our easy 3 ingredient teriyaki sauce.
Instead of water, you may also use mirin. This is almost similar to sake but it has lower alcohol content, which is about 14 percent but mirin has more sugar. Again, if you want an authentic Japanese dish, then achieve your easy teriyaki sauce 3 ingredients using mirin.
If you can’t find honey, then you may use sugar but make sure to find the balance especially if you will use mirin instead of water. The result of your easy 3 ingredient teriyaki sauce might be too sweet if you add too much sugar or honey.
After preparing all these, let’s start cooking our easy teriyaki sauce 3 ingredients, which are the following: soy sauce, honey, and mirin.
#2. Step-by-Step Guide on Cooking the 3-Ingredient Teriyaki Sauce
Follow this simple step-by-step guide to cook our easy teriyaki sauce 3 ingredients:
- First, get a small pot. Mix the cornstarch with water and soy sauce and whisk it until it becomes smooth.
- Switch on the stove to medium-high heat until the pot gets warm. When the pot is ready, add the honey. Whisk it in the pot until dissolved and wait until the mixture boils.
- Reduce the heat of the stove to medium and whisk constantly until you reach the desired thickness of your teriyaki sauce 3 ingredients. Reminder: Never leave the pot unattended. Once the mixture boils, it will quickly thicken and might burn quickly.
- Taste the finished easy 3 ingredient teriyaki sauce and adjust accordingly depending on your desired taste. If the sauce is too thick, you may add water to get your desired consistency.
To add some spice, you may also include a dash of garlic powder in your prepared ingredients. However, that’s only optional. It is up to your taste buds whether you will include spices or not in your basic easy 3 ingredient teriyaki sauce.
#3. What Are The Best Dishes to Serve with 3-Ingredient Teriyaki Sauce?
Now that you are done with the tasty easy 3 ingredient teriyaki sauce, we need to find delicious dishes to complement its flavor, here is the shortlist:
- Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs – This dish has a similar taste with chicken teriyaki except that it is easier to eat and prepare.
- Beef Teriyaki – You only need 15 minutes to prepare this dish along with the easy 3 ingredient teriyaki sauce.
- Chicken Teriyaki – This one is quite popular especially if served with crispy and crackly skin. Depending on your location, usually, the chicken thighs are grilled then sliced.
You may also experiment with the easy teriyaki sauce 3 ingredients with other dishes! Share with us your unique combinations in the comment section below.
How to Make 4-Ingredient Teriyaki Sauce & Delicious Recipes to Follow
After we are done with the 3-ingredient, let’s move on to the 4-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe. Is this what you are looking for? Check it now!
#1. The Ingredients for 4-Ingredient Teriyaki Sauce Recipe
You can easily create a 4-ingredient teriyaki sauce with the following ingredients:
- ¼ cup of soy sauce (add more to make it saltier)
- ½ cup of water / ½ cup of mirin
- 1 tbsp of arrowroot powder or cornstarch
- 4 tbsp of honey (add more to make it sweeter)
- ⅓ cup of apple cider/ vinegar
It is important to assess if you will be needing a Japanese soy sauce instead of an ordinary one. If your guests wish to taste authentic Japanese dishes, then you should consider using a Japanese soy sauce as well. The flavor of your 4-ingredient teriyaki sauce will create a different savor, that’s for sure.
Another option that you might consider substituting is water with mirin. It is sweet because it came from rice but since it is close to sake, there’s 14 percent alcohol in it. For sure, it will add authenticity to your 4-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe if you will use one.
Sometimes, honey is not available in supermarkets. The easier solution to that is to replace it with sugar. Just a reminder though, if you already used mirin, you only need to put the right amount of sugar, if not the 4-ingredient teriyaki sauce might become too sweet.
When you are done with the preparation especially with the main ingredients: soy sauce, honey, mirin, and vinegar, you can now start cooking your homemade 4-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe.
#2. Step-by-Step Guide on Cooking the 4-Ingredient Teriyaki Sauce
You can now figure out how to cook the 4-ingredient teriyaki sauce by following these simple steps:
- Prepare a saucepan where you can mix vinegar, water, cornstarch and soy sauce. Whisk them until you reach a smooth consistency. Prepare the stove, put the saucepan and set the heat to medium-high.
- Once the saucepan is ready, pour the honey and whisk them all together.
- Bring the mixture to its boiling point.
- Turn the stove to medium heat while whisking continuously until your 4-ingredient teriyaki sauce reaches the right consistency.
Important: Always check the saucepan until it boils. The mixture might get burned since it thickens quickly at high temperatures.
Adjust the taste of your 4-ingredient teriyaki sauce according to preference. You may add water to lessen the thickness of the mixture.
A dash of garlic will also help you spice up your 4-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe. This one is optional depending on you or your guest’s taste buds.
#3. What Are The Best Dishes To Serve With 4-Ingredient Teriyaki Sauce?
Now that you are done with the tasty easy 3 ingredient teriyaki sauce, we need to find delicious dishes to complement its flavor.
- Salmon Teriyaki – This dish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. It has low calories and is a good source of protein.
- Almond Chicken Stir Fry – This type of chicken stir fry is mixed with vegetables.
- Tropical Jerk Chicken Rice Bowl – You may prepare this dish within 30 minutes and it’s flavorful considering the mixture of sweetness and a little spice.
Experiment with other ingredients that will match your dishes. Feel free to tell us what you’ve discovered while preparing your very own 4 ingredient teriyaki sauce!
How To Make 5-Ingredient Teriyaki Sauce & Great Recipes to Follow
Last but not least, the 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe will be broken down to the easiest DIY Guide in this part for you.
#1. The Ingredients for 5-Ingredient Teriyaki Sauce Recipe
Before anything else, you need to prepare the following for your 5 ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe:
- ½ cup of water/ ½ cup of mirin
- ¼ cup of soy sauce (add more if you want it to be saltier)
- 4-5 tbsp of honey (add more if you want more sweetness)
- 1 tbsp of minced ginger
- ⅓ cup of apple cider/ vinegar
- 1 tbsp of arrowroot powder/ cornstarch
A gluten-free soy sauce is the best choice in preparing our 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce. It is also advisable to use a Japanese soy sauce since it has a unique flavor. It is a must if you wish to create a Japanese dish with an authentic taste.
Other than ordinary water, you may choose mirin as a substitute. Mirin is close to the taste of Japanese sake. Its alcohol content is low, which is only about 14 percent. But same with sake, it is sweet and probably has more sugar. This is a good choice in cooking the 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe.
Other than substitutes for soy sauce and water, you may also use sugar or honey and vodka as alternatives to mirin. Just a reminder, be careful when putting sugar or honey because your 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce might become too sweet.
Once done preparing everything included in the list, you can now start cooking the 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce, which includes vinegar, ginger, honey, and mirin.
#2. Step-by-Step Guide on Cooking the 5-Ingredient Teriyaki Sauce
Follow this simple guide in cooking the 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe:
- In a small pot, mix the cornstarch with mirin, soy sauce, vinegar, and ginger. Whisk it all together until it becomes smooth. To complete the 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe, you only need to add one more: honey.
- Wait for the pot to get warm in medium-high heat.
- Pour the honey once the pot is ready. Dissolve the honey by whisking constantly.
- Bring the mixture to boil.
- Continue whisking while reducing the heat of the stove from medium-high to medium. Do this until you are satisfied with the thickness of your 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce.
Note: Do not leave the stove unattended since the sauce will thicken fast once it reaches the boiling point and might burn.
Get a spoon and taste the result of the 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe. If unsatisfied, you may adjust the measurement of the ingredients until you reach your preferred taste. To get your desired consistency: add water if the sauce is too thick or add cornstarch if you want the sauce to thicken.
A dash of garlic powder will also help to add some spice in your 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce. However, this one is only optional. Our preferences vary so including spices in your 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe is up to you but it is also wise to consider your guests’ preferences when deciding.
Here’s a tip, create a separate dip so the guest has an option which one to choose: the original 5-ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe or the one with spices.
#3. What Are The Best Dishes To Serve With 5-ingredient Teriyaki Sauce?
It is quite easy to find a complement to your 5 ingredient teriyaki sauce, here are some of those dishes:
- Beef Teriyaki – This is an easy dish to prepare. In 15 minutes, you can eat this delicious meal with a drizzle of 5 ingredient teriyaki sauce.
- Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs – The only difference between this dish and the chicken teriyaki is its form: meatballs, which is easier to cook and eat.
- Salmon Teriyaki – This meal is low in calories and rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which is also a good source of protein.
If you are craving for other meals that will complement the 5 ingredient teriyaki sauce, you may freely experiment! Share with us your unique dishes and tell us how it tasted after mixing with the 5 ingredient teriyaki sauce recipe.
Final Words
We hope you learned some tips on how you can level up your teriyaki dishes. The teriyaki sauce ingredients we’ve shared may be mixed with other spices/ingredients that will further enhance the flavors of your meals.
Also, you may have noticed that we used teriyaki sauce ingredients that are readily available inside your kitchen cabinets or can easily be purchased in supermarkets. Our goal is to make your dishes more enjoyable to eat but still, easy to prepare.
