This beef teriyaki recipe gives you tender strips of steak in a sticky, glossy, sweet-and-savory glaze that clings to every piece and soaks right into your rice. The sauce is made from scratch with pantry staples (no mirin or bottled teriyaki needed), and it all comes together in one skillet in about 15 minutes of cooking.
Beef Teriyaki At A Glance
Prep
20 min
COOK
15 min
Total
35 min
Serves
4
Pan
12-inch cast iron skillet
Main ingredients: NY strip steak or flank steak, soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, garlic, ginger
The Best Way to Make Beef Teriyaki
I lived in Japan for two years and I adore good Japanese food. Beef teriyaki is one of my comfort foods. This simple recipe gets delicious beef teriyaki on your dinner plate quickly, and is one of my go-tos on busy weeknights.
My husband Greg is a huge fan of this dish, and always goes back for seconds when I make beef teriyaki. I know you’ll love it, too!
Let’s dig in!
Tips and Notes Before You Start
- Slicing matters, but depends on your steak. NY strip is easy: just slice it into thin strips, because the grain already runs the right way. Flank and sirloin need to be sliced against the grain. I’ll show you both below.
- Mix the slurry before you turn on the stove. Things move fast at the end, and you don’t want to be hunting for the cornstarch with a skillet of sauce bubbling (ask me how I know).
- Brown sugar and honey sink. Give the sauce one last whisk and scrape the bottom of the bowl right before you pour it in.
- Taste the sauce before you add the beef back in. If you’d like it sweeter, stir in a little more honey a tablespoon at a time.
- No mirin needed. A splash of rice vinegar gives the sauce the little bit of tang mirin would.
- Frozen steak is fine, and actually easier to slice. More on that below.
- Gluten-free: use tamari in place of the soy sauce.
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Ingredients for Beef Teriyaki
Steak. Flank steak is the classic choice for beef teriyaki, but I used NY strip because that’s what I had, and it’s more tender and harder to overcook. Sirloin works well, too. If you have a bigger cut and want a whole grilled steak instead, my easy steak marinade is the way to go.
Soy sauce. I like low-sodium soy sauce here because the sauce simmers and the salt concentrates. I only had a little low-sodium left, so I used regular soy sauce in the sauce, just less of it with a little extra water. It was salty enough without being too salty. Both amounts are in the recipe card.
Brown sugar and honey. These give teriyaki its sweetness and that glossy shine. Honey also makes the glaze cling, the same way it does in my Easy Honey Garlic Chicken.
Garlic and ginger. I use jarred minced garlic because I really don’t like mincing garlic. For ginger, I used ground ginger because that’s what I had, and it worked great. Fresh grated ginger is a little brighter if you have it.
Rice vinegar. Most teriyaki recipes use mirin, a sweet rice wine. I didn’t have any, so I used water and a splash of rice vinegar, and it worked great. If you do have mirin, see the note in the recipe card.
Cornstarch. You’ll use it twice: once to coat the beef, and again in the slurry that thickens the glaze.
How to Make Beef Teriyaki
First we’re slicing and coating the beef, then searing it, and finally building the glaze in the same skillet. I’ll walk you through it.
How to slice the steak
Your goal is thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick, with short muscle fibers so the beef stays tender. How you get there depends on the cut.
NY strip: just slice it into thin strips. A strip steak is already cut across the grain at the butcher, so its fibers run straight up and down through the steak. Every slice you cut ends up with short fibers no matter which way you go. I spent a good while hunting for the grain on mine before I figured this out… the grain was pointing straight up at me the whole time.
Flank, skirt, or sirloin: here the grain matters a lot. The grain is the direction the long muscle fibers run, and on these cuts you can see them as lines across the face of the steak. First cut the steak into wide strips about 2 to 3 inches across, going the same direction as those lines. Then turn each strip and slice it across the lines (against the grain). Cutting along the grain leaves long, stringy fibers that chew tough, even when the steak is cooked perfectly.
Don’t worry if your slices aren’t all the same thickness… close is good enough.
SLICE IT PARTLY FROZEN!
Thin slicing is SO much easier when the steak is partly frozen. If your steak is fresh, pop it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. If it’s frozen solid like mine was, set it in a zip-top bag in a bowl of cold water until a knife can push into the edge but the middle is still firm. Be careful not to try slicing it rock-hard, because the knife can skid.
Using skirt steak? I show how to slice it against the grain in my cast iron skirt steak, too.
Coat the beef in cornstarch
Toss the slices with a tablespoon of soy sauce and the cornstarch. This helps because the thin coating protects the beef from the heat so it stays tender, and later it gives the glaze something to grab onto. It’s okay if it looks a little patchy.
Make the teriyaki sauce and the slurry
Whisk the sauce ingredients together until the brown sugar mostly dissolves. If you’re using ground ginger, whisk it into the soy sauce first so it doesn’t clump. Then stir the cornstarch and cold water together in a small cup for the slurry, and set both next to the stove.
One common mistake (I made it!) is pouring the sauce in a hurry and leaving the sugar and honey stuck to the bottom of the bowl. They settle fast. So give it one more good whisk right before it goes in, and scrape the bowl with a spatula.
Sear the beef in batches
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high until it shimmers. Lay the beef in a single layer with a little space between the pieces, and sear about 1 minute per side, until browned on the outside.
It doesn’t need to be cooked through, because it finishes in the sauce. Move it to a plate and repeat with the rest.
Make sure you don’t crowd the pan. Crowded beef steams and turns gray instead of browning. And since the pieces cook so quickly, flip them in the same order you laid them in. It’s hard to get them all in the pan at the same time, and a couple of mine cooked longer than the rest while I filled it.
Build the glaze in the same skillet
Turn the heat down to medium and pour the sauce into the skillet. Scrape up all the browned bits stuck to the bottom, because that’s where so much flavor lives. Let it simmer for about 2 minutes. Give the slurry a quick stir (the cornstarch settles too), then pour it in while you stir. In about a minute the sauce turns thick and glossy and coats a spoon.
Now taste it. This is your moment to make it sweeter: stir in more honey a tablespoon at a time until it tastes right to you. Sweetness comes through a little more once it coats the beef, so stop just short of where you think you want it.
Toss the beef in the glaze
Slide the beef and any juices from the plate back into the skillet and toss for a minute or two, just until it’s hot and every piece is glazed. Be careful not to let it go much longer, or the beef starts to toughen. Spoon it over rice and top with green onions and sesame seeds.
Beef Teriyaki Troubleshooting
Why isn’t my teriyaki sauce sweet enough?
Check the bottom of your sauce bowl. If the sugar and honey settled there, they never made it into the pan. Either way, stir in more honey a tablespoon at a time before the beef goes back in.
Why is my beef tough?
Usually it cooked too long, or (with flank or sirloin) it was sliced along the grain. Sear just a minute per side, slice flank and sirloin across the grain, and only toss the beef in the glaze long enough to heat through.
What if my sauce is too thick or too thin?
Too thick, stir in a splash of water. Too thin, simmer it another minute or mix a little more cornstarch with cold water and stir it in.
Can I Make Teriyaki with Chicken or Ground Meat?
Yes. The same sauce is lovely on bite-size chicken; cook it through to 165°F before you add the glaze. If you’d rather skip the slicing altogether, my Teriyaki Ground Turkey Rice Bowls are a 30-minute dinner with a homemade teriyaki sauce, too.
Storage and Reheating
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days (here’s my guide to storing leftovers for the best results). The glaze thickens as it chills, so reheat it in a skillet over medium-low with a splash of water, or in the microwave at half power, stirring once or twice.
Beef Teriyaki FAQs
Can I make the teriyaki sauce ahead?
Yes. Whisk it together (without the slurry) and keep it in a jar in the fridge for up to a week. Shake it well before using, since the sugar settles.
Is beef teriyaki spicy?
No, it’s sweet and savory. If you like a little heat, add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the sauce.
Do I have to use cast iron?
No. Any large, heavy skillet or a wok works. You just want a pan that gets hot enough to brown the beef quickly.
Beef Teriyaki Recipe
Equipment
- 12-inch cast iron or heavy skillet
- sharp knife
Ingredients
Beef
- 1 1/2 lb NY strip steak (or flank or sirloin steak) trimmed of extra fat
- 1 tbsp soy sauce low-sodium
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp neutral oil such as vegetable or avocado oil, divided
Teriyaki sauce
- 1/2 cup soy sauce , low-sodium (if you only have regular, see notes below)
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp brown sugar , packed
- 1 tbsp honey plus more to taste
- 1 tbsp jarred minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger or 8 times as much grated fresh ginger
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
Slurry
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp cold water
To serve
- 3 green onions sliced
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 4 cup hot cooked rice
Instructions
- Firm the steak: place fresh steak in the freezer for 20 minutes. If the steak is frozen, thaw it in a sealed bag in cold water just until a knife can push into the edge but the center is still firm.
- Slice the steak about 1/4 inch thick. For NY strip, simply slice it into thin strips. For flank or sirloin, cut it into strips 2 to 3 inches wide along the grain, then turn each strip and slice it across the grain.
- Toss the beef with the soy sauce and cornstarch in a bowl. Set aside.
- Make the sauce: whisk the ground ginger into the soy sauce, then whisk in the water, brown sugar, honey, garlic, sesame oil, and rice vinegar until the sugar mostly dissolves.
- Make the slurry: stir the cornstarch and cold water together in a small cup. Set the sauce and slurry next to the stove.
- Heat half the oil in a 12-inch cast iron or heavy skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Add half the beef in a single layer without crowding. Sear until browned, about 1 minute per side, flipping the pieces in the order you added them. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining oil and beef.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Whisk the sauce again, scraping the bottom of the bowl so all the sugar and honey go in, and pour it into the skillet. Scrape up the browned bits and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Stir the slurry, then pour it into the sauce while stirring. Simmer until thick and glossy and the sauce coats a spoon, about 1 minute. Taste and stir in more honey, 1 tablespoon at a time, if you’d like it sweeter.
- Return the beef and any juices to the skillet. Toss for 1 to 2 minutes, just until heated through and glazed. Serve over rice, topped with green onions and sesame seeds.
Nutrition
Notes
How to Trust This Recipe
To help you feel confident that this is real food made by a real person in a real kitchen, I like to take and share a special unedited photo at the end of my posts. This is a photo of my bowl of beef teriyaki over rice with broccoli on the counter in my kitchen, with no retouching … this is real life food, just the way we ate it for dinner.
The above photo was taken with ProofMode, which attaches Content Credentials (the C2PA standard) to the image, so anyone can check that it’s a real photo taken by my iPhone on my farm on a particular date and place. You can download the proof files here and learn how to verify them.
Craving another takeout favorite at home? My Pepper Steak uses the same thin-sliced steak and glossy skillet sauce, and it’s SO GOOD over rice.
Happy cooking!
Love,
Jennifer
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Meet Jennifer
Jennifer cooks and experiments in the kitchen at Maker Farm, where she focuses on simple pantry cooking, homemade staples, and practical recipes that make everyday meals easier. Over the years she has tested many ways to make cooking simpler and more dependable, and shares the methods that work best in her own kitchen, occasionally showing them on her Heart to Home at Maker Farm vlog.