Bringing you the BEST vegan teriyaki sauce recipe that’s made in five minutes with easy pantry ingredients for your noodle dishes, tofu, and more.
Today I’m bringing you the easiest and best vegan Teriyaki sauce recipe because we all need this sauce in our tool kit! Do you know the origins of Teriyaki sauce? Fascinatingly, it was created by Japanese immigrants who moved to Hawaii in the 60s. They combined traditional Japanese cooking methods with local Hawaiian flavors like brown sugar and pineapple to create this amazingly, mouth-watering sauce.
Traditionally, Teriyaki sauce from Japan is made with sake, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar and ginger. My recipe is more related to the Japanese/Hawaiian Teriyaki sauce so far all intents and purposes, modern day Teriyaki is actually American!
For the purposes of ease and convenience, I have written this recipe with ground ginger and garlic. Something I’ve noticed is that when exposing children to new and different tastes, I have found that ground ginger and garlic are more palate friendly and can be less overwhelming to new taste buds!
Honey and sugar are common ingredients used to give that sweet flavor to Teriyaki sauce. However, to keep this vegan and refined sugar free, we’re going with maple syrup! Salt Fat Acid and Heat – four characteristics often used to describe the important foundational elements of cooking. In this case, the saltiness comes from the soy sauce. The fat comes from the oil in this sauce – I love the nutty taste of sesame oil. You could also use avocado oil. The acid comes from my use of lime juice. Often times, recipes will use a rice vinegar. Personally, I love the crisper citrus taste of lime juice. In terms of heat, the bite of garlic and ginger gives this sauce such defined flavor.
How To use Teriyaki Sauce
My absolute favorite way to eat this Teriyaki sauce is on my tofu. The most important step with tofu is to press and drain the liquid out to make your tofu more susceptible to the marinade. Then I toss the tofu cubes in potato starch until well coated. This is what provides that crispy outside. I air fry (bake) it until golden brown. Finally, I add the baked tofu to a warm skillet and pour the teriyaki sauce in. The heat activates the corn starch and sugar; it starts to bubble and thicken and transforms into a beautiful glaze.
I have also made noodle and veggie stir fries. At the end, you add the teriyaki sauce to the heated skillet with the noodles and gently mix in until thickened and coated.
The amazing thing about this BEST vegan teriyaki sauce is that it takes less than a minute to get to that glaze once it’s been added to a heated skillet.
Can you make Teriyaki sauce without cornstarch?
The short answer is: yes. The cornstarch in this recipe is used to achieve a thick and sticky glaze-like texture. Traditional Japanese Teriyaki sauce is actually thinner and is not made with cornstarch. You’d simply increase the soy sauce to a half a cup and reduce it down in a sauce pan for a couple of minutes. Depending on whether you want a runny texture or a thicker, more viscous texture like lava/honey, that will decide which way to go. The recipe in this post is for the thicker glaze. Find the recipe below and don’t forget to share on Instagram with me!
Best Vegan Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil sub with avocado or neutral oil
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- juice from half a lime
- 1/3 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Whisk the water and cornstarch in a small bowl until fully diluted.
- Whisk in the rest of the ingredients. RIGHT BEFORE cooking, whisk again because the cornstarch sinks to the bottom.
- Add the sauce to a heated skillet (medium) heat, either on it's own or with your food of choice (tofu, noodles, etc). For on it's own, gently whisk in the heat until it thickens (less than a minute). Remove from heat and pour over your food.OR, add your food (tofu, noodles) to a heated skillet, pour the sauce into the skillet over medium heat, and gently mix around for a minute until sauce turns to a thick glaze and everything is coated. Shut off heat and serve.
Notes
Did you make this? Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #thewholescoopblog
