Soy-free teriyaki sauce is sweet and sticky and delicious on practically every protein and veggies. A very versatile condiment and cooking sauce. I love recreating takeout using real ingredients. I’ve kind of spoiled myself with doing this. Now on those nights that I don’t feel like cooking dinner and just want to order something in… I usually end up making a sauce like this and making my own version of takeout. It’s quick, easy, and nourishing. 

The store-bought sauces can have a lot of additives and preservatives that can be not so pleasant, especially if you have a sensitive gut. Our Teriyaki sauce is extra special because we use our very own Tasty Yummies coconut sugar as our sweetener.  If you are looking to change up your basic meals this sauce or marinade will give some new life to your standing meal prep. 

We really recommend using fresh ginger and garlic. If you use garlic powder and ground ginger, it’ll work but we find that you use don’t get that extra special flavor we are looking for, but certainly you can use the dried spices if you are in a pinch. Fresh ginger is hard to fully replace. We do recommend buying a root of fresh ginger and storing it in the freezer for when a recipe like this calls for it. The ginger stays good in the freezer for a very long time. We also use a micro planner to grate the ginger quickly and easily. 

While you prep your protein and veggies you can easily put this sauce or marinade together in about 15 minutes. In a saucepan combine coconut aminos and coconut sugar, rice vinegar and pineapple juice.  Heat on medium/low until the coconut sugar melts and dissolves. You want to watch the heat because if the sugar burns it can give the sauce a strange taste. If pineapple juice isn’t an option try a little orange or just use water.

In a small bowl or ramekin, combine the arrowroot powder and 2 tablespoons of water. Make sure that the arrowroot completely dissolves. This helps with eliminating clumps while you cook down the sauce as you get it to thicken. You want to whisk the sauce well so that everything combines. If you are looking for an even thicker sauce, add an additional ½ teaspoon of arrowroot and 1 teaspoon of water slurry to the mixture. 

Add in the garlic and ginger. Continue to cook for 5-8 more minutes. Taste and adjust to your preference. You will know that the sauce is done when it coats the back of the spoon. Once the mixture is to the thickness you like, remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and sesame seeds. If using in a stir fry or as a sauce, you can use right away. If using for a marinade allow the sauce to fully cool in the refrigerator first. 

This sauce will stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week. You can use this sauce with chicken, shrimp, ground pork, in a veggie stir fry on a veggie fried rice or cauliflower rice, over salmon or other fish, etc. It adds great flavor to proteins and can help you get out of food boredom with the unique flavors. If you don’t have coconut aminos you can use gluten free soy sauce or regular soy sauce, just wait until the end to add any salt. If you don’t have pineapple juice you can just the juice of an orange. 

This is a great sauce that you can use to recreate some popular take-out options. We hope you enjoy it!

Easy Homemade Soy-Free Teriyaki Sauce {vegan, paleo}

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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Calories: 90kcal

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Ingredients 

• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
• ½ cup coconut aminos
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons water
• ¼ cup pineapple juice, or orange juice
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• **optional 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Instructions

• In a saucepan combine coconut aminos and coconut sugar, water, pineapple juice.
• Heat on medium/low until the coconut sugar melts and dissolves. Omit coconut sugar if Whole30 and add an additional 2 tablespoons of pineapple juice.
• In a small bowl or ramekin, combine the arrowroot powder and 2 tablespoons water. Make sure that the arrowroot completely dissolves. This helps with eliminating clumps while you cook down the sauce to get it to thicken. You want to whisk the sauce well so that everything combines.
• Add in fresh ginger and garlic.
• Stir and continue to cook on medium/low for another 5 minutes. Do not bring to a boil, as you do not want the sugar to burn.
• You will know that the sauce is done when it coats the back of the spoon. Once the mixture is to the thickness you like, remove from the heat,
• Add in sesame oil, sesame seeds and taste for salt and pepper adjustments to your preference. If you like a little spice add ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper.
• Sauce is ready to serve over cooked food. If using as a marinade allow the sauce to fully cool first.
• Store in an airtight container up to 1 week in the refrigerator.