Teriyaki Chicken has a simple sauce made of soy sauce, water, honey, vinegar, garlic and ginger. The perfect sticky sauce for serving over rice!
See the step by step recipe down in the recipe card.
Love everything Teriyaki? Try these One Pan Teriyaki Chicken and Noodles, One Pot Teriyaki Chicken, Rice and Vegetables or this Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken & Rice next!
Table of Contents
It’s no secret that we love a sweet and savory, sticky sauce over chicken here, like this Baked Honey Garlic Chicken, this Crockpot Pineapple Chicken or these Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs, and this Teriyaki Chicken is just as high on our list of favorites!
It comes together so quickly and I love it for busy weeknights (or those weekends when you have a hundred projects on the go!).
We usually serve it over this Instant Pot Brown Rice — I love that it basically cooks itself so I only have to watch one pan, but it is also delicious on its own with a salad or over noodles.
What is in teriyaki sauce?
Teriyaki sauce is a Japanese cooking sauce made up of soy sauce, sake and mirin, though the word “teriyaki” actually refers to the cooking method. Here is more information from an authentic source if you are looking to enlighten yourselves!
This is my own take on teriyaki chicken, obviously, as the original usually includes sake or mirin, which aren’t ingredients we usually have.
If you are looking for an authentic Japanese teriyaki recipe, please see the link above.
How to make Teriyaki Chicken:
Again, we are making this Teriyaki Chicken Canadian-style, so we are using a simple frying pan instead of a grill.
- Stir together your sauce: the chicken cooks quickly, especially when it is cut into pieces, so we want to make sure our sauce is ready when our chicken is.
- Cut the chicken into small (3/4-1″ pieces) and heat oil in a medium skillet.
- Cook the chicken until you can’t see any pink. You can brown it if you like, but I find with smaller pieces of chicken they become overcooked quickly, and it will be covered in sauce anyway.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, until the sauce is nice and thick and the largest piece of chicken registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees F on a meat thermometer.
Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Soy sauce: I always choose low sodium soy sauce at the grocery store and add salt later if necessary.
- Water: water isn’t traditionally used in teriyaki sauce, but I like to add a little to mellow out the flavors. You could also use chicken or vegetable broth.
- Honey: a little sweetness to balance out the savoriness of the soy sauce. You can substitute with brown sugar or maple syrup if you desire.
- Vinegar: rice wine vinegar where available, but plain white vinegar works fine, too
- Garlic: fresh is best! I like to buy a jar of minced garlic as it can keep in the fridge for months and I don’t have to worry about chopping it
- Ginger: again, fresh is best, and you can buy jars of fresh minced ginger, too!
- Corn Starch: to thicken the sauce slightly so that it coats the chicken nicely.
Can I make Teriyaki Chicken in the slow cooker?
Absolutely!
Simply pour the chicken and the sauce right in the crockpot, and cook on low for 2 hours.
I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but trust me! 2-3 hours on low for cubed chicken is plenty of time, and it means it won’t be overcooked and dried out.
Can I make Teriyaki Chicken in the oven?
Yes again!
This Teriyaki Chicken would be great baked in the oven with whole chicken breasts, just like this Baked Honey Garlic Chicken.
Simply pour the sauce over the whole chicken breasts in a baking dish and bake at 400 for 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
Teriyaki Chicken
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ⅓ cup water
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (2 large or 3 small)
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Whisk together soy sauce, water, honey, vinegar, corn starch, garlic and ginger.
- Cut chicken breasts into small cubes.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add chicken. Season lightly with salt and pepper (skip if you are not using low sodium soy sauce).
- Cook and stir for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until just white on the outside.
- Pour teriyaki sauce over top of chicken and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until sauce thickens and internal temperature of chicken reaches at least 165 degrees F, about 5-6 minutes.
- Remove from heat and serve with sliced green onions and sesame seeds or as desired.
Nutrition Information
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Shannelle says
I made this last minute and I didn’t have any rice vinegar so I used 1/2 mirin sauce (why I had mirin sauce and not rice vinegar?… no idea) and 1/2 apple cider vinegar to replace it. I also used full sodium soy sauce so I didn’t salt my chicken (only peppered it) I thought this was great! I had fresh ginger, which was a touch strong so I might use a little less, but it was very flavorful over some brown rice. Thank you! I’m saving this one!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Shannelle! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for the review!
Jim says
Im sorry we made this tonight and it is not very good. Very bland. All acid very little sweetness to the teriyaki sauce. It wasn’t good. Don’t know why people are giving it 5 stars. They obviously don’t have taste buds.
The Recipe Rebel says
Sorry to hear this wasn’t to your taste Jim. Although you might not like it, myself (and others) enjoy it with our taste buds and all.
Isla Jones says
If I use ground (dry) ginger, how much would I use? In most recipes it would be less than when using minced. This is all I have on hand. Going to make it tonight for my family. Always looking for new, good recipes to make for weeknight dinners.
Emma says
By the way, 5 stars!
The Recipe Rebel says
THANK YOU!
Emma says
I made this recipe the other night and paired it with some pasta. It was delicious. The sauce is one I’ll use over and over again. Thank you for sharing.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Emma! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Laura says
Made this for my fam tonight! We used cauliflower rice and it paired really well! This was very tasty & super quick! Def gonna keep it in the rotation- especially if we have guests.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Laura, so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review!
Julia says
I actually tried the oven version of this and it was so easy and so good! Threw a couple of frozen egg rolls in the air fryer and served over fried rice and dinner was done in less than 30 minutes! Loved it!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Julia! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Stacy Jamieson says
Family loved it!! And soooooo easy!!! A new favourite for sure!!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Stacy! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for the feedback!
Heather says
I used a combo of breasts & thighs and cooked the chicken in the crockpot. It was very flavorful – in fact my son said it was “smackin'” (which is very good!). 🙂
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Heather! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for the feedback!
Beatriz Cabrera says
Definitely a keeper!! I made a vegetarian version ( nothing against the chicken we will try the chicken next), that teriyaki sauce was fantastic.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad!
Steven says
Did you use tofu (one of my favorites) as the substitute chicken?
Ian Stevenson says
Thank you for including the video Ashley. It makes the written recipe easier to follow. Beginners like myself absolutely need both.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for your feedback Ian!
Virginia Bogan says
I have not tried the recipe yet but I will.
Ashley Fehr says
I’d love to hear what you think!