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This teriyaki chicken will be the best that you ever make! The tender, juicy chicken is coated with the most amazingly flavored sauce. Once you eat this, it will become your new favorite!

This teriyaki chicken makes the best entree for any meal! Serve this up with some easy fried rice, some delicious vegetable lo mein, and these amazing egg rolls!

A pan of teriyaki chicken being stirred with a wooden spoon.

Reason’s You’ll LOVE This Recipe

  • Better than takeout: Trust me when I tell you that this teriyaki chicken recipe is the best. Seriously, I love Asian food so much and have tried countless different recipes. This one takes the cake.
  • It’s simple: Recipes don’t need to be complicated to be delicious! This teriyaki chicken is smothered with the best teriyaki sauce out there, and the chicken soaks it up, making it really flavorful.
  • The flavor combo is perfection: The flavor combination in the sauce is made with ginger, soy sauce, and garlic and is percet every single time.

Ingredients to Make Teriyaki Chicken at Home

This recipe is simple and easy to make from the comfort of your own home. No more need to dine out to get chicken this good. Now you can make it for yourself whenever you want! See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact measurements.

  • Chicken: You can use chicken thighsย or breasts for this recipe. Whichever type you prefer will work great.
  • Salt and Pepper: Use these to your liking to season the chicken.
  • Olive Oil: You will use the olive oil to cook the chicken in before adding the sauce,
  • Soy Sauce: I like to use low sodium soy sauce to make this a little bit healthier.
  • Brown Sugar: You can use light or dark brown sugar.
  • Apple Cider Vinegar: You can use rice vinegar in a pinch!
  • Garlic Clove: If you don’t have a fresh clove of garlic on hand then you can use minced garlic instead. 1/2 teaspoon equals about 1 clove of garlic.
  • Sesame Oil: This is essential to usingin a teriyaki sauce! My favorite one to use is thisย sesame oil.
  • Freshly Grated Ginger: Whenever you use fresh ingredients, the flavor is more potent.
  • Water and Cornstarch: This will be used to thicken up the sauce.
  • Sesame Seeds and Green Onions: These will be used to garnish the top of your chicken!

How to Make Chicken Teriyaki Recipe

This recipe is quick and easy! You can whip it up in no time and have a delicious meal on the table that your entire family will go crazy for! It’s going to fly off of your table fast. If I were you, I would double the recipe.

  1. Cook the Chicken: Cut the chicken into one inch pieces and salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a wok or skillet over medium high heat and add the chicken. Cook until no longer pink and remove and set aside on a plate.
  2. Whisk: In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, and ginger. Then, in a separate small bowl whisk the water and cornstarch to make a slurry. Add the cornstarch to the sauce mixture and whisk.
  3. Thicken Sauce: Add the sauce to the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and then whisk until it starts to thicken.
  4. Toss Chicken with Sauce: Add the chicken back to the skillet and toss until coated and heated through. Garnish with chopped green onions and sesame seeds. Serve over rice if desired.
4 pictures showing how to whisk the sauce, add it to the chicken and cook it together in a pan.

Is Teriyaki Chicken Healthy?

Teriyaki chicken is an excellent form of protein but can also be high in sodium. To help counter that, I like to use low sodium soy sauce in this recipe to lower the sodium intake! It’s an easy thing to do and it doesn’t affect the taste at all. Teriyaki chicken is definitely a healthier choice than some of the fried foods that are on the menus at Asian restaurants.

A bowl of rice topped with broccoli and teriyaki chicken.

Helpful Suggestions

There are a few things that you can do to this teriyaki chicken recipe to make it perfect for you and your family! Here are some tips to help you out.

  • How to cut your chicken: To make sure that all of your chicken cooks at the same time, it’s importatnt to make sure that you cut all of the pieces to be similar in size. Then they will cook evenly throughout.
  • Taste: If you like a saltier taste then add a bit more soy sauce. If you want less of a salt taste then you can replace some of the soy sauce with water.
  • Serve it with Rice: If you are looking to serve this teriyaki chicken over some rice then I suggest serving it with white rice or brown rice. But if you want to make this meal even healthier then you can serve it with Cauliflower Fried Rice and it tastes so delicious!
A close up of a teriyaki chicken bowl with a fork in a piece of chicken.

How to Store Leftovers

This chicken teriyaki makes fantastic leftovers. The sauce really soaks into the chicken making it even more flavorful the next day!

  • Store in the Fridge: Once your chicken has cooled then you can place it in an airtight container and store it in your fridge. It will last about 3 days.
  • To Reheat: When you are ready to reheat your chicken then you can cook it on your stover on medium heat until it is warmed through. If you need to, you can make more teriyaki sauce and add it on top!

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Best Ever Teriyaki Chicken

4.67 from 12 votes
By: Alyssa Rivers
This teriyaki chicken will be the best that you ever make! The tender, juicy chicken is coated with the most amazingly flavored sauce. Once you eat this, it will become your new favorite!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Cut the chicken into one-inch pieces and salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat and add the chicken. Cook until no longer pink and remove and set aside on a plate.
  • In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, and ginger. In a separate small bowl whisk the water and cornstarch to make a slurry. Add the cornstarch to the sauce mixture and whisk.
  • Add the sauce to the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and whisk until it starts to thicken.
  • Add the chicken back to the skillet and toss until coated and heated through. Garnish with chopped green onions and sesame seeds. Serve over rice if desired.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 491kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 29gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 167mgSodium: 1199mgPotassium: 430mgFiber: 1gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 133IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 33mgIron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Asian, Asian American
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!

About Alyssa Rivers

Alyssa Rivers is the author of 'The Tried and True Cookbook', a professional food photographer and experienced recipe-developer. Having a passion for cooking, her tried and true recipes have been featured on Good Morning America, Today Food, Buzzfeed and more.

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Recipe Rating




28 Comments

  1. I noticed that this teriyaki recipe doesn’t actually have teriyaki sauce in It even though you showed your favorite sauce. Does It or doesn’t have teriyaki sauce??

    1. It’s made with homemade teriyaki sauce! All of the ingredients are included in the recipe card. ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. 5 stars
    Delicious and way healthier and tastier than at a restaurant. I was craving Teriyaki chicken and will never use the bottle again. I thought the saltiness was enough…but I did make it with Brown Rice and Boc Choy, so I guess that absorbed it.

  3. 5 stars
    This was DELICIOUS! I made this to add to my salads for lunches at work. Perfect and tender and so easy! Much better than a restaurant, in my opinion. This will be great with rice and veggies, too!

  4. 4 stars
    I agree with most comments here– very easy to follow, but a little too salty. I’ll try this recipe again for sure, but with some adjustments to the salt.

  5. 5 stars
    Love this recipe. I grilled the chicken on the BBQ then cut up chicken and added it to the
    Sauce. I suggest paparic onion and garlic powder ant

  6. 4 stars
    The recipe was very easy to prepare. I do recommend low sodium soy sauce as it was very salty. Other than that it was perfect. I used cauliflower mashers instead of rice as we are on diet

  7. 5 stars
    For those saying way too salty, maybe just dont pre season the meat, and make sure you use low sodium soy sauce, but most teriyaki sauces are salty.mine got all gobbled up!

  8. 5 stars
    Very simple and really easy!!! With three young kids and working from home I need quick recipies! I did cook the chicken the day before and put in fridge to make it even faster ๐Ÿคฃ had this with your fried rice and a aubergine dish and prawns fried in batter!

  9. 3 stars
    Not terrible, but not the best. I love how the ingredients are things most people have which is why I used this recipe. Itโ€™s just way to salty. I used everything listed (including the low sodium soy sauce). The recipe needs to be adjusted.

    1. Hi Kris,

      I made this last night and it was very good, but I agree it was VERY salty. Hoping for suggestions to tone it down……

      1. My lovers for me a good choice use Coconut Secret organi soy free
        Less72 sodium n came OUT delicious!Gbu

  10. 5 stars
    My husband and I were joking that this was the โ€œbest teriyaki chicken,โ€ yet only had one rating. After I made this recipe he demanded I leave another review. This recipe is super easy. It uses items that are in most pantries and is delicious! I added a little mirin because I like the flavor. Thank you for sharing. My family really enjoyed this.

      1. I would probably just bump it up to 3 lbs of chicken and just double the recipe. Adding only 1/2 pound more of chicken gets a little tricky on the measurements!

    1. Yes! After you cook it up and it has cooled then you can place it in an airtight container. It will last about 3 months in the freezer. Let it thaw in your fridge overnight and then reheat it on the stove until it is warmed through! Cook some extra teriyaki sauce to add fresh to the chicken after you warm it up!

  11. 5 stars
    Trying this tonight. I didn’t have apple cider so I used white vinegar instead. Is that okay?

  12. Hi Alyssa,

    It looks really nice and I would love to give this recipe a try.

    Can I substitute the brown sugar for something else without losing the flavour, as my wife who absolutely lives for her food has just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and it calls for a sudden lifestyle change? ๐Ÿ™

    Cheers,
    John

    1. John, try the sugar replacements used in keto diets. I use erythritol or xylitol. Also, monk fruit & allulose are widely used & easily found in grocers & online. Should help greatly in managing diabetes. Good luck!

      1. Hi Charlotte,

        Many thanks for those suggestions, we shall look into them, and thanks for the good luck as her world is spinning madly at the moment.