Making homemade teriyaki marinade is so simple and so delicious especially when it has maple syrup in it! You’ll never have to buy bottled again. Bonus: this recipe is made with wheat-free tamari so it is gluten-free.
How I Created This Teriyaki Marinade
Teriyaki marinade will never get old. We just love it! I love the sweetness and saltiness and the garlic and ginger. All of the simple ingredients play off each other so well. Today, I used maple syrup instead of another sweetener. Maple goes really well with the ginger and soy and adds a woodsy caramel flavor to the healthy teriyaki marinade.
It is really easy to make. The hardest part (if you can even call it hard) is grating the ginger. Let’s chat about that for one sec. You all have a microplane grater right? I have been extolling the virtues of this simple kitchen tool since 2010. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend getting one. I use mine every single day. I am not exaggerating. I use it for citrus zest, garlic, Parmesan and ginger. And more! It is a simple way to add flavor to a recipe without extra calories.
I love using it for ginger because it makes such a fine result. It is wet and paste like, as opposed to hand minced ginger, which is drier and fluffy by comparison. Grated ginger melts into the recipe and creates an overall ginger flavor without a stark contrasting ginger pop. Minced has bigger pops of flavor that are more distinct. Both have their merits, depending on the recipe.
But here’s a tip. Don’t assume that 2 tablespoons of grated ginger is the same as 2 tablespoons of minced ginger. For this recipe, I used a piece of ginger that was about three inches long! If I were to mince that same piece of ginger root, I’d have way more than a two tablespoons because it is fluffier. Does that make sense?
So anyway, ginger, check! So good.
Then we have the maple. If you have my cookbook, which hopefully you have that too *wink*, then you know about pairing the flavor of maple with other ingredients. As I said in the book, maple pairs well with the flavor of soy sauce and tamari. So it seemed like a logical substitute for other sweeteners in this marinade. Sure enough, the maple really makes the whole teriyaki marinade more rich and caramely than brown sugar would. Plus, it is lower glycemic than brown sugar and it has trace micronutrients and minerals.
I used reduced sodium tamari instead of traditional soy sauce. So it is lower in sodium and gluten-free.Yay! Don’t get me wrong, I love salt, but usually teriyaki is too salty even for me.
How to Use This Teriyaki Marinade
This teriyaki marinade recipe makes two cups of marinade, which is enough for three pounds of chicken or meat. You’ll want to use 2/3 cup marinade per pound of meat. If you’re using chicken or pork with this healthy teriyaki marinade, let the meat marinate for a good 4 to 12 hours before cooking it. This will give the meat time to soak up all that delicious teriyaki flavor, and it’ll tenderize slightly as well. However, if you’re using this marinade with seafood, it only needs to marinate for 30 to 45 minutes.
This maple teriyaki marinade keeps in the fridge for days, but you can also freeze what you don’t use right away. If you freeze this marinade, I recommend freezing it in an ice cube tray or small containers instead of freezing it all in one large container. This will make it easier to thaw out the exact amount of marinade you need (I don’t recommend re-freezing this marinade once you’ve thawed it out).
Questions:
Do you mince or grate your ginger?
What do you use your microplane for?
Do you find bottled teriyaki marinades too salty?
More Marinade Recipes You’ll Love:
Isabel’s Island Chicken Marinade
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Making homemade teriyaki marinade is so simple and so delicious, especially when it has maple syrup in it! You’ll never want to buy bottled again.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup pineapple juice
- ½ cup reduced-sodium tamari sauce
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup, dark or amber
- ¼ cup chopped fresh garlic
- 2 tablespoons grated peeled ginger root
- ¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flake (optional)
Instructions
- Place juice, tamari, maple, garlic, ginger and red pepper in a 2 cup jar. Cover and shake to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use up to 1 week. Use 2/3 cup per pound of meat or poultry. Marinate chicken or meat 4 to 12 hours, marinate fish or seafood 30 to 45 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 1/2 tablespoons
- Calories: 28
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 28 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 7 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 0 g
Keywords: teriyaki marinade, healthy teriyaki, maple teriyaki
Dear Katie, this marinade is right up my alley…I love the deep, rich color…and the more ginger the better in my opinion! I love the fresh ginger coming through…absolutely delish! xo, Catherine
I love fresh ginger too. I think it is so much tastier than the ground dried spice.
This sounds right up my alley!!
Yay, glad you like it Julie. Thanks for coming by.
There’s nothing better than homemade marinades, this one looks amazing!
Thanks so much Kellie.
I love my microplane too!!! Freshly grated ginger and maple. Can’t think of a better combo for this delicious teriyaki marinade.
Microplane zesters are the best! Thanks so much for coming by Allie, have a great day.
Oh Katie! You hit the nail on the head! Love this one so much!
Thank you my friend. Have a great day Sara.
This marinade looks amazing, I can’t wait to give this a try!
Thank you Marye. So glad you stopped over for a visit. Have a good one.
I am all about this for summertime!:)
Thank you Maria. I am too! Ha ha. Thank you for coming by and saying hello.
I am such a sucker for teriyaki! Love the maple (of course!)
It’s a classic, isn’t it? Yay, maple lovers unite!
teriyaki doesnt get old at all..i have never tried making it at home, so will definitely be keeping this in mind next time.
It’s a breeze, you’ll love knowing how easy it is.
Very delicious for summer grilling! I recently discovered the jars of organic minced ginger at Sprouts and Whole Foods. No more cleaning the microplane for me!
Hi Anne, thanks for your comment. Minced has it’s place, so I am sure that comes in handy.
This sounds delicious, what a super recipe! Can’t wait to give it ago.
Thanks so much Lucy!
I am obsessed with teriyaki sauce! It tastes so much better homemade too!
I agree home made is always the best choice!
I’m reading over the ingredients and did wonder if 1/4 cup of chopped garlic was correct. It seems like an awful lot.
I know and I would normally balk at the idea myself because too much garlic can be… well too much. But the recipe makes enough for 12 servings of marinated meat. So 1/4 cup divided by 12 isn’t so bad. Especially since it just flavors the meat.