This homemade Vegan Teriyaki Sauce with Coconut Aminos is sweet, savory, and perfectly glossy. Made with maple syrup and ready in just 15 minutes, it’s an easy gluten-free and soy-free teriyaki sauce for stir-fries, tofu, rice bowls, and more.
Let's get saucy
Making your own teriyaki sauce is one of those things that sounds far more ambitious than it actually is. In reality, it takes about 15 minutes and a handful of ingredients you may already have in the cupboard.
I started making my own after a craving for teriyaki stir-fry led me to inspect the long-forgotten bottle in my pantry. It was badly expired, apparently should have been refrigerated (whoops!), and wasn’t even vegan. Not exactly the dinner solution I had hoped for.
Fortunately, homemade teriyaki sauce is almost ridiculously easy to make. This version uses coconut aminos and maple syrup for that sweet, savory teriyaki flavour, with no soy or mystery ingredients required. Once you see how quickly it comes together, you may never go back to the bottled stuff.
I use my homemade teriyaki sauce to make this quick and easy Tempeh Teriyaki recipe, but it's also delish as a dipping sauce for HNL community fave Vegetarian Salad Rolls.
A note on substitutions
Coconut aminos: If you'd prefer to use regular soy sauce or soy aminos in place of coconut aminos, your teriyaki sauce will be considerably more salty than the recipe that I've developed and tested. You may need to add additional maple syrup to balance the saltiness.
Maple Syrup: You can certainly use another liquid sweetener to replace the maple syrup. Although I have not tested any alternatives, I believe that brown rice syrup, agave, or honey (if not vegan) are suitable replacements.
Corn starch: Corn starch is the only thickener I have tested, however, I've seen other recipes that use arrowroot powder in its place.
Let's make vegan teriyaki sauce together!
You'll find detailed instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this post (just use the "jump to recipe" button to skip right to it), but for now, let's take a visual walk-through.
Step 1: Make your cornstarch slurry
Simply whisk the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl, and set aside so it's ready when you need it.
Step 2: Make the teriyaki sauce
Combine the coconut aminos, maple syrup, water, rice vinegar, ginger, and garlic in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
As soon as the mixture is boiling, whisk in the cornstarch slurry!
Step 3: Thicken the sauce
Keep on whisking until the sauce thickens.
Keep in mind that the sauce will continue to thicken as it cools, so you don't want it to be *too* thick while it's on the heat. It should coat the back of a spoon, like in the picture below.
Step 4: Cool the sauce
Remove the teriyaki sauce from the heat, and you are done!
Either you can use it right away, or transfer it into a clean glass jar and store in the fridge for up to one week.
Vegan Teriyaki Sauce with Coconut Aminos
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons cold water
- 1 Tablespoon ginger finely grated
- 2 cloves garlic crushed or finely grated
- ½ cup coconut aminos or low sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with cold water. Mix well, and set aside.1 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch, 2 Tablespoons cold water
- In a medium sized saucepan, mix together the grated ginger, crushed garlic, coconut aminos, water, maple syrup, and rice vinegar.1 Tablespoon ginger, 2 cloves garlic, ½ cup coconut aminos, ½ cup water, ½ cup maple syrup, 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- Bring the teriyaki mixture to the boil over medium heat.
- Add the cornstarch slurry, and whisk well.
- Continue whisking until the sauce thickens to the point that it coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove from the heat and cool slightly before using.
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only.
- Keep in mind that the sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Vegan Teriyaki sauce can be kept in the fridge for up to one week.
- See the main post for substitutions.
Bonnie says
Yum
Linda says
I used half the suggested maple syrup and it was really good.
kim says
I probably shouldn't drink this... but it's so good 🤩 I reaaally enjoyed this as a marinade, thank you!
Katie Trant says
Haha, no judgement here. Drink away!
Cholena Humphrey says
I made it and it's great! This is an authentic sauce, the ingredients sound misleading but when you put the final product together, it tastes like something from a restaurant. You will be wanting to come back for more like it was a weight watcher's frozen dinner!!
Kellie Anderson says
This sounds fantastic, Katie! Commercial ones are commonly full of rubbish and since it's a frequently used Asian sauce, it make sense to make one's own. Fab!