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Teriyaki chicken is a Japanese dish with savory and sweet teriyaki sauce. This is the best chicken teriyaki recipe that calls for only 4 ingredients. So easy!
Teriyaki Chicken
This is the BEST and easiest recipe you’ll find online. It’s so good!
I have tasted many amazing chicken teriyaki in the United States and in Japan. The best ones always have crackly and crispy skin.
The chicken thighs are usually grilled, then sliced and drizzled with delicious teriyaki sauce. For an extra kick of umami, consider adding shoyu egg to this recipe!
This recipe is quick, easy and takes only 20 minutes to make. It’s also very versatile and you can make it with an Instant Pot Chicken or Slow Cooker.
You can also stir-fry or make the recipe with chicken wings.
Teriyaki Chicken Recipe
In this recipe, you are going to learn how to make teriyaki chicken and the sauce by using only a handful of ingredients.
You will learn the easy techniques on how to make the chicken super crispy, just like how it’s served at the best Japanese restaurants.
You can check out my video in the recipe card and learn how to make teriyaki chicken from scratch at home.
How To Make Teriyaki Chicken
To make this popular Japanese dish, first you need to make the teriyaki sauce.
My recipe is very easy and calls for only three (3) ingredients:
- Japanese soy sauce. I like low sodium soy sauce for the sauce. It’s important you buy a good quality Japanese soy sauce. I like Kikkoman or San-J brand soy sauce.
- Sugar.
- Mirin or Japanese sweet rice wine.
After the sauce, prepare the chicken. I love using bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs. I debone the chicken thighs by following the steps in my How to Debone Chicken Thighs video.
Next, I season the chicken thighs with salt as the marinade. Then I pan-fry the chicken until crispy.
To serve, I drizzle the sauce on top of the chicken with a rice bowl.
Cooking Tips
For the best and authentic chicken teriyaki, please follow my cooking tips below:
- Use chicken thighs as the meat is juicy and tender.
- For the best results, grill your chicken with an outdoor or indoor grill.
- If you don’t have a grill, pan-fry the chicken until the chicken skin side down first until the skin turns crispy and golden brown.
- Make chicken teriyaki bowl with steamed white rice and boiled broccoli.
- Drizzle the teriyaki sauce right before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
The teriyaki sauce can be made ahead. You can make it in advance and keep it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
I don’t recommend freezing it as you don’t want the sauce frozen.
To ensure freshness of the sauce, keep it in a glass jar or a tightly sealed container.
Yes, chicken teriyaki is very healthy as Japanese recipes are one of the healthiest in the world.
The recipe is also perfect as a meal prep for the entire week.
This recipe is only 392 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Chicken Teriyaki
This meal is best served with steamed rice or green tea rice. For restaurant-style Japanese dinner at home, make the following dishes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Teriyaki Recipes You Might Like
Chicken Teriyaki
Ingredients
- 1 lb. (500g) chicken thighs, deboned, skin-on
- salt
- white sesame seeds, for garnishing, optional
Teriyaki Sauce:
- 1/3 cup Japanese mirin, sweet rice wine
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce, low sodium preferred
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Lightly season both sides of the chicken thighs with a pinch of salt. Combine all the ingredients for the Teriyaki Sauce in a saucepan. Simmer on low heat until it thickens to a desired consistency, about 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, heat a non-stick skillet over high heat. Pan-fry the chicken thighs, starting with the skin-side down, until both sides are nicely browned and cooked through, achieving a crackly, crispy texture on the skin. Turn off the heat, transfer the chicken to a plate, and let it cool.
- Slice the chicken thighs into pieces and drizzle the teriyaki sauce over the chicken. If desired, garnish with sesame seeds. Serve immediately with warm steamed rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello, cannot seem to find mirin…could I use sherry instead? Many thanks for all the great recipes.
Yes you can!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
The sprinkling of sesame seeds at the end is exactly how I like it!
I’ll make it with your recipe!
Thanks for the great post!
Is it better to use table sugar or brown sugar for the sauce?
Either is fine.
Delicious chicken !!!
Best teriyaki sauce and super simple. Pretty authentic.
Hi Melissa, awesome. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Hi,
May i know does i need to put oil on the pan when pan fry the thighs?
You don’t have to if you have a non-stick, pan fry with skin side down. If you don’t have a non-stick, you can add a bit of oil.
Love teriyaki chicken. This recipe is so good!
is rice vinegar ok to use?
There is no rice vinegar in the recipe and it shouldn’t be in the sauce.
Quick question…… I have an indoor grill. What are the instructions for that. Do I coat chicken in oil first or put on grill dry? Thanks
You can coat some oil on the grill. :)
Loved the recipe simple and perfect my family loved it they said it tasted like we went to a good restaurant. I will put this in my weekly rotation