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The BEST Teriyaki Marinade Recipe

4.97 from 110 votes
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Everyone needs a fabulous Teriyaki Marinade recipe in their cooking life. I don’t always like to use the words “The BEST’ when it comes to a recipe because that gets boring when you see it over and over and over from every food blogger out there, but there are about ten times on this website that I have.

When I do, let me assure you, the recipe is always the best that I have ever tasted! With that said, this actually is THE BEST Teriyaki Marinade Recipe!

Teriyaki Marinade in a pitcher like container with green color lid, some garlic around on a marble background

This all came about thanks to my need for a copycat Red Robin’s Teriyaki Chicken Burger. I actually hadn’t tried the burger; I was just craving a chicken teriyaki burger and remembered seeing it on the menu one time.

Then I realized that I don’t actually have a tried-and-true teriyaki marinade recipe. Bear with me; my children are just venturing into the land of normal eating, so teriyaki marinade isn’t really something I worried about before.

Thanks to the burger, however, I now have an excellent teriyaki marinade that I will use time and time again!

close up Teriyaki Marinade in a pitcher like container with green color lid, some garlic around on a marble background

Those are my chicken burgers marinading for the burgers, which by the way ARE AMAZING! I pounded them flat, marinated them, and Wowza! You could have eaten these plain without turning them into a burger.  Holy Dinah, you guys, these babies were the best burgers I ate all summer. Even my son ate them ( the renowned chicken hater) and couldn’t stop telling me how awesome they were.

MAKE THESE Tropical Teriyaki Chicken Burgers NOW!

chicken burgers in a rectangular container marinading for the burgers

Ingredients in Teriyaki Marinade

The ingredients for a good teriyaki marinade are simple:

  • water
  •  soy sauce
  •  brown sugar
  • chopped fresh garlic
  •  Worcestershire sauce
  •  onion powder
  •  powdered ginger
Teriyaki Chicken Burger with marinated chicken fillet

Tuck this teriyaki marinade into your back pocket, or better yet, pin it for later using the image below. This will be my go-to recipe for teriyaki marinade from now on!

Happy cooking!

Love,

Karlynn

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The BEST Teriyaki Marinade

This is seriously the BEST Teriyaki Marinade you will ever try! It makes amazing chicken every time!
4.97 from 110 votes
close up Teriyaki Marinade in a pitcher like container with green color lid, some garlic around on a marble background
Prep Time
1 minute
Total Time
1 minute
Course
Sauces
Cuisine
American
Servings
8 -10
Calories
124
Author
Karlynn Johnston

Ingredients
 

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup of soy sauce
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

Instructions
 

  • Combine all ingredients together in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil, and let boil for 3-4 minutes. Remove and cool. Marinate meat of choice in it for a few hours, then cook as you choose.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 124kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 3g, Sodium: 1650mg, Potassium: 115mg, Sugar: 27g, Vitamin C: 0.2mg, Calcium: 31mg, Iron: 1mg

All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.

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The BEST Teriyaki Marinade Recipe! This marinade recipe has a few ingredients that make this the best Teriyaki marinade! #recipe #grilling #teriyaki

Karlynn Johnston

I’m a busy mom of two, wife & cookbook author who loves creating fast, fresh meals for my little family on the Canadian prairies. Karlynn Facts: I'm allergic to broccoli. I've never met a cocktail that I didn't like. I would rather burn down my house than clean it. Most of all, I love helping YOU get dinner ready because there's nothing more important than connecting with our loved ones around the dinner table!

Learn more about me

Reader Interactions

Comments & Recipe Tips Share a tip or comment!

  1. Deirdre says

    So Easy and So Good! I love simple but tasty and this recipe hit that mark!

  2. Marlyn says

    Teriyaki needs cloves – just a pinch but they make a big difference. Omit the onion powder – not necessary. Add a tbsp honey.

  3. Craig says

    Was hoping for delicious marinade. Unfortunately this
    wasn’t it. It was OK. More like an inexpensive bottled marinade.2 stars

  4. Cathy M says

    Really excellent and kept unused portion in the fridge to reuse a couple of weeks later.5 stars

  5. Cathy M says

    Really excellent and kept unused portion in the fridge to reuse a couple of weeks later.5 stars

  6. Naeobi says

    So I may have forgotten the boiling step, and used the fresh ginger in the tube, but this was a huge success with a sheet pan of chunked country style pork ribs, pineapple, onions, mushrooms, ect. Thank you. This was extremely simple and not too heavy, which is my usual complaint with teriyaki.5 stars

  7. Tina says

    What is a cup in english terms im guessing cup is american size

    • steve Ostrowski says

      Didn’t care for the 5 minutes of scrolling and closing ads just to finally get to the recipe, which was disappointing. Fresh ingredients are always better.

      • Donald Canard says

        You are an idiot. She doesn’t need criticism from an old, crumudgeon.

  8. Lance Love says

    Great flavor, I even used regular table sugar instead of the brown sugar. The family keep saying how amazing the smell was!!! Very easy ingredients to use and find. Awesome job, Karlynn!5 stars

  9. Judy says

    Why would you add water to a marinade?
    Seems counterproductive to putting flavor in food

    • Karlynn Johnston says

      Volume, but you could add pineapple juice etc instead. It’s also why you bring it to a boil and cook it, otherwise you’d be using an entire bottle of soy sauce every time you marinated something. Water simply gives you a larger volume of marinade to work with. Also soy is sooooo powerful, it would overpower everything, you have to dilute it. Think of how strong flavoured jerky is, that’s a pure soy marinade. An entire chicken breast would be so gross.5 stars

      • Cameron says

        While working in many restaurants we would store sauces in the fridge for up to 30 days however with a sauce such as this i would expect you could store it for a good bit longer

  10. Aaron Bright says

    Unbelievable! Even my mil ate the steak with this marinade. She doesn’t eat steak. I am going to use this again and substitute orange and pineapple juice for the water. I a was thinking about adding a dash of sesame oil and/ or mirin as well. Definitely use fresh ginger. I also vacuumed sealed the meat to marinate. It helps a lot.5 stars

  11. Alicia says

    The best Teriyaki I have ever tasted was–of all places–from a food truck in Hawaii that the locals call simply “a plate lunch”. The marinade they use (or used) was similar to this recipe except they insisted that not all soy sauces are created equal. They preferred Silver Swan brand (available in oriental stores), dark brown sugar, 50/50 orange & pineapple juice juice, a quick squeeze of lime and lemon juice, black pepper, grated ginger, smashed garlic, and a “few hours” for chicken. I don’t know how the magic happens, but the result is a layering of citrus, sweet, slightly salty, concoction of delight for the taste buds with just a hint of ginger & garlic. Of course the grilled over charred wood lends a smoky undertone as well.5 stars

  12. mnoho says

    Yes. Yes, it is excellent. I’ve been using teriyaki marinades since the 80’s, this is perfect for salmon.5 stars

  13. Alyssa says

    I love the sauce!! Use it all the time, but where did you buy the bottle to store the sauce??? I love it but can’t seem to find anything close to it.5 stars

  14. Connie says

    Can this be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen until needed? If so, about how long do you think it could be stored?

  15. Mark says

    Substitute the water with pineapple juice. Fresh ground ginger works well also.4 stars

    • Jerry says

      Definitely pineapple juice in place of water. I also used all ground spices, ginger, onion powder and garlic with 1 tbs of sesame oil. Will save this recipe. Delish5 stars

  16. Judy says

    AAAHHHH MAZING! This was so easy, I used some zested ginger instead and it was delicious!5 stars

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