I used to have a fridge door full of half-empty sauce bottles. Soy sauce from six months ago. Teriyaki that separated into layers. A hot sauce I bought for one recipe and never touched again.

Now I make three sauces from scratch. They take five minutes each, cost maybe a dollar, and honestly taste better than anything with a label. Here they are.

1. Five-Minute Teriyaki

Equal parts soy sauce, mirin, and sake — or if you do not have mirin and sake, soy sauce + honey + a splash of rice vinegar works. Simmer for 3 minutes until it thickens slightly. That is it. No corn syrup. No preservatives. Just real teriyaki that actually tastes like a Japanese restaurant.

2. Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and cook for 30 seconds. Squeeze in half a lemon. Add a pinch of salt and a handful of chopped parsley. This goes on pasta, fish, chicken, roasted vegetables — basically anything. My kids call it “the green butter” and ask for it on broccoli.

3. Quick Chipotle Mayo

Half a cup of mayo. One canned chipotle pepper, chopped fine, plus a teaspoon of the adobo sauce from the can. A squeeze of lime. Stir it together. It is smoky, spicy, creamy — incredible on burgers, tacos, or as a dip for sweet potato fries. A little goes a long way.

Why Homemade Wins

You control the salt. You control the sugar. No unpronounceable stabilizers. And you actually use up the whole batch because you made it for a specific meal, not because it was on sale at the grocery store.