Teriyaki Chicken

4 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Marinating Time 4 hours
Total Time 20 minutes

Teriyaki Chicken made with just five ingredients in your skillet that’s as delicious as your favorite takeout restaurant.

We love classic Asisan Takeout recipes including General Tso’s ChickenOrange Chicken and Lo Mein and my absolute favorite Mongolian Beef which is another five ingredient recipe.

Teriyaki ChickenTeriyaki Chicken Recipe

Teriyaki Chicken is one of the classic takeout recipes we all love. No one thinks about how to make it at home mostly because we either have a restaurant we love or because we buy teriyaki sauce like we buy ketchup. But instead of buying it you can make the BEST version of teriyaki ever if you own Mirin and Sake (white wine works too).

Japanese Teriyaki sauce that you buy from the grocery store (my go-to prepared variety is this one) is generally either expensive or already reduced or REALLY salty.

Marinades are essential to cooking with few ingredients and this marinade is magic. I usually don’t even add the garlic and ginger that I’ve listed as optional unless I have some in the house that needs to be used up and the kids, guests and family all love this recipe.

How do you make chicken teriyaki sauce?

Teriyaki sauce is a quick mixture of soy sauce, mirin, sake (or white wine) and sugar that is mixed together and added to chicken for 2-3 hours before cooking and being reduced into a glaze.

How do you bake chicken with teriyaki sauce?

Baked Chicken Teriyaki Can be made using the same soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar marinade that is added to a baking pan small enough to allow the chicken to bake while being covered by the sauce until it reduces. An 8×8 pan (like this) would be a good fit for this.

Teriyaki Chicken

How do you marinate teriyaki chicken?

The easiest way to marinate teriyaki chicken is to add it along with the sauce ingredients to a ziploc bag for 3-4 hours before draining it and cooking. The marinade is then brought to a rapid boil to kill the salmonella and reduce it to the consistency of a sauce.

Cooking times/methods for different cuts of Chicken:

  • Teriyaki chicken breast: Drain the marinade well and pat dry. Add a bit of canola oil to the pan and sear on medium high heat. Remove the chicken from the pan, reduce the sauce and add the chicken, sliced thinly, back in to coat.
  • Teriyaki chicken wings: Drain the marinade and add to a cookie sheet lined with foil. Cook at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. While the chicken is cooking reduce the marinade on the stovetop in a small pan then coat with the cooked wings.
  • Teriyaki chicken stir-fry: Cut the chicken (dark meat preferably) into 1″ chunks and marinade. Drain the marinade and cook the chicken on high heat until caramelized and cooked through (2-3 minutes) before removing from the pan. Add in marinade and let reduce 75% of the way before adding in the vegetables to cook them.
  • Teriyaki chicken legs: Add the legs to a baking pan and cook at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.While the chicken is cooking reduce the marinade on the stovetop in a small pan then coat with the cooked legs.

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Teriyaki Chicken

Teriyaki Chicken made with just five ingredients in your skillet that's as delicious as your favorite takeout restaurant.
Yield 4 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Japanese
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 6 chicken thighs , boneless and skinless
  • 1/4 cup sake (or white wine)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup mirin
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • grated ginger and garlic , optional

Instructions

  • Put all the ingredients into a large Tupperware or resealable bag and marinate for at least 30 minutes but preferably 3-4 hours.
  • In a large skillet add the chicken thighs on medium heat, cooking 4-5 minutes on each side before removing from the pan and adding in the marinade.
  • Let the marinade come to a rolling boil and cook on medium heat until thickened (4-5 minutes) before adding the chicken back in to coat.

Nutrition

Calories: 498kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 166mg | Sodium: 1976mg | Potassium: 408mg | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 130IU | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1.8mg

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

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Comments

  1. I tried this recipe after my Sam’s Club store stopped carrying my family’s favorite teriyaki chicken. My husband, who is super picky, loved this. I always triple the recipe and my family of 5 always have plenty of left overs. The youngest loved to pack it for school lunch the next day. I serve it with steamed rice and broccoli.

  2. Made it as written with no changes. Wished the sauce had thickened up a bit more. It did as it sat. Was fantastic with broccoli on the side.