Quick and easy teriyaki shrimp is on the table in about 30 minutes! Complete with a homemade teriyaki sauce, this meal is better than takeout. Serve with rice or steamed vegetables for a healthy, nutritious weeknight dinner.
The inspiration for teriyaki shrimp comes from my honey garlic shrimp— one of the most popular recipes on Sally’s Baking Addiction. I know, a non-dessert recipe! It’s quick, made with minimal ingredients, and delicious as leftovers. Today’s teriyaki version is just as simple and leftovers also hit the spot. It’s the kind of carefree dinner you want around all year.
Better Than Takeout Teriyaki Shrimp
And here’s why:
- Completely from scratch
- Healthy and wholesome lunch or dinner
- Bright, bold flavors
- Customize the amount of each sauce ingredient
- Use your favorite vegetables
- Ready in 30 minutes– quicker than picking up takeout!
Overview: How to Make Homemade Teriyaki Shrimp
- Make the sauce.
- Marinate the shrimp. Place the shrimp in a bowl and pour half of the sauce on top.
- Cook everything together. Begin by cooking the vegetables in a skillet with oil, then add the shrimp and remaining sauce.
- Enjoy. I like to serve over rice, steamed vegetables, quinoa, or even salad.
You have options!
Vegetables: Use your favorites. I used snap peas, but a stir-fry veggie medley with broccoli, peppers, and mushrooms would be incredible. Just cook them first in a little sesame oil, then add the shrimp and remaining sauce.
Meat: Instead of shrimp, you can most certainly use chicken or beef– or both! Thinly slice either, then you’ll likely want to marinate it for a little longer than you would the shrimp. It will take a bit longer to cook as well. Shrimp cooks in about 3 seconds, so it’s usually my top choice on nights when free time is fleeting.
Easy Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
This completely homemade teriyaki sauce is full of fresh flavor and you only need a few ingredients like brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and ginger, plus a little cornstarch to thicken it up. The sauce is wonderfully thick after it’s initially cooked, but once it heats up again over the veggies and shrimp it becomes a sticky teriyaki glaze over everything. I also love to use this sauce on top of cooked salmon or as a chicken marinade– in fact, it’s the same sauce we use for my baked pineapple teriyaki chicken.
And it’s totally customizable, too– you control the ingredients, sodium, and nutrition. Want more garlic or ginger? Add it! Not a fan of something? Leave it out. Make this dish truly your own and what you and your family will love.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
- Honey Garlic Shrimp
- Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
- Honey Chipotle Salmon
- Sweet Chili Chicken
- Baked Lemon Herb Salmon
- Skillet Chicken with Cilantro Lime Sauce
- Black Bean Burgers
30 Minute Teriyaki Shrimp
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 4
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Japanese
Description
Easy, healthy, and on the table in about 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon (7g) cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) room temperature water
- 1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (42g) honey
- 1/2 cup (120ml) soy sauce
- 1/4 cup (60ml) vinegar (either rice wine or apple cider is great)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1–2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger (I use 2)
- 1 and 1/2 lbs medium-large uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined*
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil or olive oil
- 2–3 cups snap peas or any stir-fry veggie
- optional: sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Make the sauce: Whisk cornstarch and water together in a small bowl. It will be a milky liquid. This is for thickening the sauce. Combine the cornstarch mixture, brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and ginger together in a small saucepan over low heat. Allow to simmer while whisking occasionally. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
- Place shrimp into a heat-proof bowl, then pour half of the sauce on top. Give it a stir and set aside for 10 minutes, uncovered at room temperature. If cooking later on, you can marinate the shrimp for up to a day. Keep it covered and refrigerate. (I usually begin cooking rice to have on the side at this point, but that’s optional.)
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the snap peas, then stir and cook until crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add the shrimp, then the remaining half of the teriyaki sauce. Stir and cook until shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes.
- Serve with rice and a sprinkle of sesame seeds if desired. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for a few days.
Notes
- Shrimp: You can remove the tail or leave it on. Whatever’s easiest!
Keywords: teriyaki shrimp
Hey thanks for the recipe …the frozen shrimps are laying in my refrigerator for long and i guess now its time to take it out 🙂 will try this recipe for sure…m wondering if i can skip the brown sugar from the recipe!!!
I followed the recipe to a T and it was delicious!
The sauce was good except it was a little too salty for my taste. I recommend putting a little less than 1/2 cup, maybe in between the 1/4 and 1/2 line. This was my first homemade dinner in 17 my years of life, and i have to say it’s easy to make.
I’ve made this twice now, following the directions exactly, and both times my sauce gets thin. It’s nice and thick when I first make it, but once I add it to the shrimp, it thins out and loses that great stickiness. I don’t know if it’s the residual water from the shrimp or what, but I think next time, I’ll skip marinating, and just add it directly to the saute pan.
I made this for a weeknight dinner and my husband & I both loved it. Because I had low sodium soy sauce and broccoli in the refrigerator, they went into the mix (no snap peas this time). Otherwise, I followed this quick & easy recipe.
So good!
★★★★★
I made this tonight and I’ll make it again. I’ve tried other teryaki sauce recipes and have always been disappointed. So it was a pleasant surprise that this was good.
My husband’s reaction was “wow. Whatever you did don’t change it” so safe to say he loved it!
I’ve bookedmarked other recipes from this site and I’m excited to try them now.
Thanks for a keeper !
★★★★★
I was wondering if I could, or if anyone had, used chicken instead of shrimp?
Question, I am allergic to soy so is there a substitute for soy sauce to use in this recipe?
Hi Tracy, you could try using coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. We haven’t tested this recipe that way, so let us know if you try it!
Looks great! Can I marinate for longer than 10 minutes or will the shrimp start to break down? Would love to have this in the fridge marinating before going to work.
Hi JD! If cooking later on, you can marinate the shrimp for up to a day. Keep it covered and refrigerate.
I really dont know what I did wrong, but it was horrible….it smelled very badly, taste was not good, super salty…maybe I cooked the sauce too long or something…I dont know, but it was just bad
★★