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Key Takeaways
- Teriyaki sauce is a popular additive to Asian dishes
- Regular teriyaki sauce is made from soy sauce, meaning it’s not gluten-free
- Gluten-free teriyaki sauces exist
- You can make gluten-free teriyaki sauce at home if you are on a gluten-free diet
Teriyaki sauce is a popular ingredient in Asian-inspired dishes. But consumers would like to know if teriyaki is gluten free or not.
Regular teriyaki sauce isn’t gluten-free. It’s made using soy sauce. And, wheat is one of the ingredients used to make soy sauce. Gluten-free teriyaki sauces exist for those on a gluten-free diet. You simply need to ensure you buy one from a certified gluten-free teriyaki brand.
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Does Teriyaki Sauce Have Gluten?
Sauces remain one of the most popular food accompaniments. When added to a dish, they will enhance its taste, texture, flavor or appearance. And, there are different types of sauces out there, with teriyaki sauce being one of them.
Teriyaki sauce is a thick, reddish-brown sauce, with visible specks of different flavorings and spices. This sauce that comes from Japan has a sweet, salty and tangy taste. It’s mainly used as a glaze for meats or as a marinade. Teriyaki sauce pairs extremely well with a wide range of meats like chicken, pork, beef, or fish.
In Japanese cuisine, the term teriyaki refers to both a method of cooking, and the sauce itself. As a matter of fact, both the sauce and the method of cooking are inseparable.
Teriyaki can be used as a dipping sauce to flavor steak, chicken wings, shrimp and dumplings. Some people also use it as an additional flavor for vegetables, rice dishes and stir-fries, just to name a few.
The best accompaniments for teriyaki stir fry include rice, noodles, and salad.
This delicious sauce comes with its share of health benefits. Teriyaki sauce is rich in calories, sodium, potassium, carbohydrates, sugar, calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium, among other nutritious components.
Teriyaki helps in boosting the immune system. This is because it contains ingredients such as garlic which help in fighting pathogens. This protects the body from infections.
Medics have reported that teriyaki has the ability to kill some cancer cells. The soy sauce can act against certain tumors.
Teriyaki brings digestive health benefits. It is able to work against conditions such as h. Piroli, gas, nausea, and digestion. In particular, garlic enhances the process of digestion thereby preventing a stomach upset.
The fresh ginger in teriyaki is very important in preventing health problems such as common cold, and it gives this sauce a teriyaki flavor.
When it comes to foods and food accompaniments, it’s important to determine whether they have gluten or not, especially if you have gluten sensitivity, celiac disease or gluten intolerance.
Gluten occurs naturally in a family of cereals belonging to the grass family. The notable ones with the highest concentrations of gluten are wheat, barley and rye. And, this protein has been shown to cause some complications in certain individuals.
If someone with gluten-related complications consumed any food or drink that has gluten, it will leave them with undesirable complications like abdominal pain, bloating, fatigue, diarrhea, constipation, skin rash in some parts of the body and itchiness, just to name a few.
As you can see, you need to be extra cautious of what you put into your body if you have a gluten allergy.
And, this brings us to the question, does teriyaki sauce have gluten? Is teriyaki sauce gluten-free? To answer these questions, we will take a closer look at the ingredients used to make teriyaki sauce.
Teriyaki sauce is mainly made from soy sauce, sake and mirin. Sake and mirin are types of Japanese alcohol derived from rice. Soy sauce, on other hand, is made with wheat. And since wheat is a gluten grain, then it also means teriyaki sauce isn’t gluten-free and therefore, this is not gluten free teriyaki sauce.
So, if you have gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity, then you should stay away from teriyaki sauce or any food where this sauce has been added.
Is Teriyaki Sauce Safe for People with Celiac Disease?
From our discussion above, we’ve concluded that regular teriyaki sauce contains gluten. Therefore, it’s not safe for individuals who react negatively to it. Consequently, we can also say that teriyaki sauce isn’t safe for people with celiac disease. Taking such a sauce will mean constant problems with stomach disorders.
Another problem that comes with the gluten status is the risk of contamination. For example, to make the best teriyaki, you may need apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, and brown sugar.
Such products could be contaminated thereby compromising the gluten status of the end product. Contamination of foods is very common at the stage of food processing as well as transport.
If you have celiac disease and you accidentally ate food that has teriyaki sauce, it will immediately trigger an autoimmune reaction, which will leave you with stomach-related complications, among other challenges. You will definitely need to take sauce gluten free if you must take this sauce.
You should only consume foods with this sauce if you can be 100% sure it has been made using gluten-free ingredients. This will help you to prevent short term and long term health problems. So, if you have doubts, then it’s always advisable to err on the side of caution.
How to Enjoy Gluten-Free Teriyaki Sauce
The teriyaki sauce that you will find in most eateries will contain gluten, meaning it’s not safe for individuals on a gluten-free diet. The good news is that gluten-free teriyaki sauces exist, and you can get teriyaki sauce gluten free. You just need to ensure you buy your sauce from a certified gluten-free teriyaki sauce brand.
Some of the popular gluten-free teriyaki sauce brands include Kikkoman gluten-free teriyaki sauce, San-J teriyaki sauce, Sky Valley organic teriyaki sauce, Primal Kitchen no-soy teriyaki sauce, La Choy teriyaki gluten-free marinade and sauce, Ocean’s Halo teriyaki soy-free sauce and Coconut Secret Soy-Free teriyaki sauce.
These teriyaki sauces have been certified gluten-free, which means they are safe for people on a gluten-free diet. However, we should point out that ingredients keep changing.
Therefore, ensure you check the label to ensure the teriyaki sauce is still labeled gluten-free or certified gluten-free before you proceed to buy.
HomeMade Teriyaki
Making homemade teriyaki sauce is not only a fun thing to do, but it will save you money. Most importantly, you are going to have the liberty to make food the way you want.
In case you still have gluten concerns with ready-made teriyaki sauces, then you also have the option of making yours at home. You just need to search for gluten-free teriyaki sauce recipes and you should find one that you can work with.
In order to come up with an ideal teriyaki, you need gluten free soy sauce. The majority of gluten-free teriyaki sauce recipes will replace soy sauce with tamari, which is a gluten-free alternative. You can find tamari in almost any grocery store.
Also, the other gluten-free ingredients for this gluten-free teriyaki sauce like cornstarch, ginger, rice vinegar, and garlic powder are readily available.
A big advantage with making teriyaki at home is that you can replace the recommended ingredient with what is available. For instance, instead of using pineapple juice, you can use orange juice or water.
From there, you can go ahead and prepare your gluten-free teriyaki sauce.