Takoyaki Sauce (2024)

Takoyaki sauce is a sweet-savory brown sauce specifically for takoyaki. You can buy commercial brands or make it from scratch.

Takoyaki Sauce is used for takoyaki (AKA octopus Balls or octopus dumplings). It’s a sweet-savory sauce generously slathered over takoyaki, with a sprinkle of aonori seaweed, katsuobushi bonito flakes, and a side of beni shoga.

What Is Takoyaki Sauce?

Takoyaki sauce is a sweet brown sauce that’s a must for takoyaki. Takoyaki is a Japanese street food seen at festivals and events and an Osaka specialty food cooked in a special takoyaki grill pan.

What Does It Taste Like?

The sauce is sweet-savory and slightly thick to make it pourable.

How to Make Homemade Takoyaki Sauce

If you can’t find commercial varieties, you can make it with the condiments in your pantry. All you need is Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, mentsuyu, and sugar.

See Also

Takoyaki Recipe (Video) たこ焼き

Recipes Using Takoyaki Sauce

Where To Buy

You can find it at Asian or Japanese grocery stores or even online, like Amazon.

Substitutions

You can swap it for yakisoba sauce, tonkatsu sauce, or okonomi sauce. The balance of sweet and savory flavors, ingredients, and viscosity slightly differ, but it won’t be a huge noticeable difference. Unless you plan to make huge batches of takoyaki in the future, it’s OK to substitute with other Japanese brown sauces.

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Condiments + Seasonings