Learn how to make the most delicious Best Vegan Gluten-Free Teriyaki Sauce totally oil-free and soy-free! Loaded with flavor and made with coconut aminos, fresh ginger and chives, it will become your go-to teriyaki sauce.
Meet my new best friend. Sauces can be best friends, can’t they? I originally fell in love with the Teriyaki sauce made by Coconut Secret. It is really delicious and the best list of clean ingredients I’ve seen in teriyaki sauce. But, like with anything, I love to recreate my own homemade sauces. They are fresher, cheaper and can be tailor-made. Well, I think I not only nailed the store-bought version, additionally, I made it oil-free. It’s also made with Coconut aminos, instead of soy sauce, so it’s totally soy-free, whoop!
This sauce is so delicious and so popular with readers that I included it in my cookbook! I have a Teriyaki Burger in the book too and it was featured on NBC News!
THE BEST INGREDIENTS FOR VEGAN TERIYAKI SAUCE
This isn’t your average tasting vegan teriyaki sauce. This teriyaki sauce has 8 delicious ingredients:
- fresh ginger
- fresh garlic
- green chives
- toasted sesame seeds
- coconut aminos
- maple syrup
- brown rice flour
- cayenne
THIS TERIYAKI SAUCE WILL BECOME YOUR GO-TO
Eating this with a spoon is likely going to happen for you too, just warning you now. If you aren’t familiar with teriyaki sauce, basically it is a sweet and salty Japanese sauce that is much more sweet than say, a peanut sauce. It has a syrup consistency and really sticks to your food. I lived in Japan many, many years ago, but I don’t know if I ever had any while there. My version is naturally sweetened by using pure maple syrup, instead of refined sugars like brown or white sugar. Much better flavor too, in my opinion.
This vegan teriyaki sauce will go on just about anything your heart desires. In other words, you will want to add it on top of fluffy brown rice, peas and some carrots and drizzled some of this bad boy sauce on it, added extra chives and sesame seeds and it was like the best party in my mouth I’ve had all year. The recipe require just 8 ingredients (+ water).
MORE VEGAN SAUCE RECIPES
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If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
The Best Vegan Teriyaki Sauce (Soy Free!)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (180g) coconut aminos (this is sweeter and less salty than soy sauce and important-SEE NOTES)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (120g) pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (60g) water
- heaping 1/2 tablespoon finely minced ginger (8g)
- 1 teaspoon (4g) minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon (3g) finely chopped chives
- 1/2 tablespoon (5g) toasted sesame seeds
- 1/16 - 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (15g) brown rice flour
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients, except the rice flour, to a small pot and whisk together well. Now whisk in the brown rice flour until there are no lumps.
- Turn the heat to medium and once the entire surface is bubbling, let it cook for about 5-7 minutes as it starts to reduce a bit. Whisk around the edges a couple of times while it cooks. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes. It should have a runny syrup consistency as it cools. If it's not a syrup consistency after a few minutes, cook just a couple more minutes. It should not be overly thick, but easily pourable, so it works well for dishes and drizzling. Traditional Japanese Teriyaki is not thick. Use over your favorite dish. I served it over some fluffy brown rice and peas and carrots, then topped with extra chives and sesame seeds. This would also be great over cauliflower wings as a great dipping sauce.
- To serve this with peas and carrots, zucchini or broccoli, simply cook them in a pan over the stove in a little bit of water, pinch of salt and pepper, and garlic powder until tender. I cook my broccoli in a large wok separately to reach desired tenderness.
Absolutely LOVE this sauce! We used it for tofu/veggie stir fry and it was delicious!!!!!
So so happy to hear Monica, thank you for taking the time to leave a review!!
This looks and sounds so delicious. I will definitely be trying it. Thank you for sharing
This is so good! I love Asian style foods and sauces and I was really bummed when I realized that soy makes me feel terrible. Thank you for a delicious alternative. My toddler thought it was too ‘spicy’ so I’ll try it without the ginger next time. My husband and I both love ginger, but the kid needs a bit more time. 🙂
Awesome, so happy you loved it Shalyn!!
I AGREE WITH THE OTHERS WHO’VE SAID THIS IS THE BEST SAUCE EVER! WE’RE SNOWBIRDS AT THE MOMENT AND NO COCONUT AMINOS AVAILABLE AT ANY STORE. I’VE SEARCHED HIGH AND LOW SO I USED THE LIQUID AMINOS. STILL THOUGHT IT WAS FABULOUS. MAYBE I’LL FIND THE COCONUT AMINOS WHEN WE GET BACK TO THE BIG CITY, BUT ACTUALLY NOW THAT COULD BE A WHILE. I LOVE YOUR BLOG AND HAVE TRIED SEVERAL OF YOUR RECIPES.
So sorry – didn’t mean to use all caps. Thought it was your formatting!
What could I use to replace the rice flour? I’m trying to get off rice for a little while 😊
1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch.
I made this for the first time tonight and it is soooooo good. I don’t know why I waited so long to make it but I will never buy it from the store again. This was easy and it’s so much better.
So awesome to hear that Lisa!!
Just making this now, scaled down to go with one meal. Please let us know about refrigeration and freezing, as it would be nice to make it ahead and have it on hand. Thanks!
Hi Karey, yes, you can freeze this for a few months in the freezer and just thaw in the fridge! Works well!
Vegan 8 did it again!!! Wish I could give this 10 stars. Absolutely delicious ~ best teriyaki sauce I’ve ever had.
Just found your blog and loving the recipes, will be buying your book.
Just wondering can u keep the left over sauce in fridge?
Thanks
Lisa
Thank you! Yes, definitely, you can even freeze it.
Yummy! So happy to find a soy free recipe that’s delicious. I skipped the cayenne and added toasted sesame oil. Yum. Thank you!
Do you think Arrowroot would work in place of the rice flour?
I’ve never tried it but you can try it. I’d use half the amount since starch tends to thicken twice as much as flour.
Brandi, I madethis version of The BEST Vegan Teriyaki Sauce last night. It is extremelt salty to the point that I don’t know if I’ll be able to use it. Since the only item that has sodium in it is the Coconut Aminos, I have to wonder if it could be the brand I used, which was Bragg. Do you have any thoughts as to what I can do to rescue this sauce for dinneer tonigjht? I will thin it down with a little water but I don’t want to use too much and have the sauce to liquidy. I also thought about putting a raw potato in it when I heat it again. I don’t know if tha really works but I have heard that it does in spoups and gravies that are too salty.
I woyuld appreciate your feed back.
Thanks,
Penny
Hi! Are you sure you used “coconut” aminos and not “liquid aminos”?? Braggs makes a liquid aminos which is just as salty as soy sauce. They also make a coconut aminos but it has a lot more sodium in it, 140 mg per teaspoon, whereas the brand I use, coconut Aminos has only 90 mg of sodium per teaspoon, so that definitely would be it. Ive only ever used the Coconut secret brand, which can be found at lots of grocery stores or Walmart or target. The only thing that can balance out saltiness is more sweetener and water. It’ll be tricky though if it’s super salty.
Hi Brandi, It definatly used the Coconut Aminos. When you consider that Bragg brand is 140 mg per tsp and the Coconut Secret brand is 90 mg per tsp, the difference of 50 mg is tremendous since you use 3/4 cup. That is a difference of 1800 mg of sodium for the recipe!!! Wow! I was able to adjust mine to the point that my husband wants to eat it with a spoon!! I added water and maple syrup but becasue it was so salty, I had to add considerable water and syrup. So, I ended up adding more garlic, ginger and brown rice flour until it reached a point that I found it acceptable. It is still a bit saltier than I wanted but hubby loves it and that’s what counts. Thanks so much for responding so quickly and for the delicious recipe. I can’t wait to make it again using the Coconut Secret brand of Coconut aminos!!
So glad it worked out! Yeah such a bummer that brand had so much sodium! You’ll notice a much better balanced flavor next time with the coconut secret brand!
Looks great! How do you adapt this for 1 person serving?
Desperately want to try it!
I wouldn’t suggest doing that because the spices and garlic amount would be entirely too small trying to reduce it for one serving. You can try just cutting the recipe in half. The sauce is freezable, so it doesn’t go bad.
The most delicious Teriyaki sauce I have ever had!! The recipe was so easy to follow and came out amazing!! I made the veggie and rice teriyaki bowl and my 7 year old daughter kept stealing it from me. She begged me save her a bowl for lunch tomorrow!
I am going to try arrowroot and if I don’t have chives, what is a good substitute?
I’ve never tried arrowroot, so I hope it works. It may thicken it more than the rice flour, so watch that it doesn’t overcook and become slimy. You can use green onions.
I was so excited when I saw Bragg’s Coconut Nectar at the grocery store. I can’t get coconut aminos where I live in Canada. I quickly came home to make your Teriyaki sauce. So delicious!!!!!
Yay, glad you loved it! Coconut nectar is much thicker and sweeter than coconut aminos, but glad it still worked out!
DELICIOUS! I’ve used this over stir fry and as dressing for my Chinese “chicken” salad using butler soy curls for the chicken over a bed of shtedded napa cabbage topped with toasted sesame seeds toasted sliced almonds with this teriyaki sauce drizzled over it….it doesn’t take much. It is WONDERFUL any way I’ve served it…. thank you for sharing!
That is so awesome, thanks for the amazing feedback!
Would psyllium husk powder work as a thickener instead? How many grams would you suggest?
I have no idea, I have never used that ingredients. It would probably make it too gooey though. You can just use regular flour or cornstarch instead, half the amount.
I’ve tried a few GF/DF teriyaki sauce recipes. They’re all perfectly fine but THIS ONE is the WINNER! My store was out of brown rice flour so I used a GF 1:1 four and it worked great. Also omitted the cayenne (#NoNightshades) and poured the sauce over takeout chicken teriyaki (I asked my local spot to cook the chicken sans their house sauce). This would be fantastic with veggies, fish or PINEAPPLE. Oooh! Now I wish I would have added some pineapple!
Yay Natalie! Really happy to hear how much you enjoyed this!
Used this recipe for a marinade for tofu shishkabobs. Yum! Thank you! 😊
I’d love to try this but cannot have maply syrup. Do you think it would work with date paste?
It’ll make it thicker but I think that should work!
Please, is there something to use in place of the maple syrup? I want so much to try this, and just by chance I had even bought the same coconut aminos you recommended, and I have rice flour. But I cannot use maple syrup.
Never having made this, I don’t know how important the syrup is to the flavor of it or the texture. The closest thing I have is sugar-free pancake syrup. Do you think that will work? Thanks!
Agave is the next best sub! I’d strongly suggest that, I would not do pancake syrup. It’s highly full of artificial sweeteners, and probably wouldn’t taste good.
Delicious,easy to make. My only problem it was to thick. I’ll try using less brown rice flour. Will definitely share and try again.
If the heat is too high or cooked too long, it will thicken quicker, so just adjust that and it would help.
Will you clarify something for me? If I use Coconut Secret am I using it straight out of the bottle or am I using it as an ingredient in your Teriyaki sauce?
If it’s the coconut aminos, it’s one of the ingredients!
Love the coconut aminos, can’t wait to make the sauce. I didn’t even know coconut aminos existed, thanks, now I do quick stir frys all the time now.
By the way, love your hair!
Wonderful! Aww thank you Colleen!
I love this recipe and so does my family. It’s delicious. Everything I make from your site doesn’t disappoint. Do you have a pad Thai recipe or planning on bringing in one to the site? Thanks!
This is a fantastic recipe! My family liked it a lot. I didn’t have maple syrup so I had to sub with date syrup and it came out yummy. I did add a little more water-just a dash- and it was fine. I marinated some tofu with this and we had teriyaki un-fried rice. I will definitely be putting this on the permanent recipe rotation. Delish!
It is delicious!!
How many days can it be refrigerated?
Thank you! I’d say about 2 weeks!
delicious but it came out too thick, what do you suggest I use to thin it out?
Just add water! It will come out too thick if cooked a tad too long.
Do you think this would freeze well? Coconut aminos doesn’t seem to last long once it’s opened, so I thought about making a big batch and freezing in portions.
Hi! I really want to make this today but the only ingredient I don’t have on hand are the chives. Is this a deal breaker or can I sub?
Ty!
You can leave it out!
Too late! Lol. I went out just for this because I MUST try this tonight!! 😊😊😊😊
I made this tonight and it was incredible! Was super hot and spicy though, I used just under a 1/4 cayenne. I did use garlic powder instead of fresh because I was starving and got lazy and I think that made a difference. However this was hands down the best teriyaki sauce I’ve ever tasted! Ty for the recipe! 💚🌱
Question, i do nothave rice flour. Subsitution?
You can do cornstarch, just do half the amount.