This easy Chicken Teriyaki recipe is the perfect way to get your Asian takeaway fix! It’s juicy chicken cooked with the perfect homemade teriyaki sauce.
By following this recipe, you’ll get authentic flavors without a lot of hassle. It’s definitely going to become your next favorite stir-fry!
This quick recipe is going to win everyone’s heart in your family. And the sticky, perfectly glossy sauce is the best you’d ever have!
Read along to find out how to make this delicious recipe at home with step-by-step instructions!
What is Chicken Teriyaki?
Who doesn’t love a good Chicken Teriyaki? It’s the perfect Japanese dish that gives one of the best-tasting stir-fries ever!
Teriyaki refers to the style of cooking used to make this recipe and the sauce used to glaze the chicken. This way, it’s also referred to the dish itself.
Teri, in Japanese, means ‘luster’ while yaki means ‘to grill, pan-fry or cook’. In this way, Teriyaki means a glossy and pan-fried dish, exactly how Chicken Teriyaki is supposed to be!
So, while you might have read recipes that use an oven with a baking dish to make the chicken or use a crock pot, that’s not how Chicken Teriyaki is meant to be made!
Grilling the chicken in the way Americans do is also not common in Japan, so pan-frying is the way to go.
I’ll teach you exactly how to pan-fry it to perfection in this post. The sauce itself will taste better than any store-bought teriyaki sauce you’ve ever had!
What Does Chicken Teriyaki Taste Like?
Teriyaki sauce has a sweet and tangy flavor and is supposed to be sticky. It perfectly coats the chicken and has a beautiful sheen to it.
Due to the simple soy sauce base, you’ll also notice an incredible umami flavor to authentic Chicken Teriyaki.
What is Teriyaki Sauce Made Of?
Traditional teriyaki sauce ingredients are soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar.
Sake is a Japanese rice wine, and mirin is a rice wine with a sweeter flavor.
Since we don’t consume alcohol in my household, this recipe I’m sharing gives you the delicious taste of Chicken Teriyaki without using sake or mirin! It’s my personal secret way of achieving authentic flavor.
It’s the best recipe to use if you can’t get your hands on these ingredients but still want the perfect flavor. You should also go for it if you don’t consume alcohol.
You also don’t even need to substitute mirin or sake with rice wine vinegar and even rice vinegar My secret recipe takes care of it all without these ingredients.
A lot of people also tend to add chicken broth to the recipe instead of water, but this is not required at all. In fact, it takes away from the beautiful flavor of the sauce itself.
What You Need to Make Chicken Teriyaki at Home
You also need the simplest ingredients to make this Easy Teriyaki Chicken recipe at home. Here’s what you’ll need:
Chicken: I’ve used chicken breasts for this recipe, but you can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead. I wanted to use chicken breasts so you could learn how to achieve the juicy flavor even if you use such a lean cut of chicken.
Brown sugar: This really balances out the flavors of the soy sauce and brings out the perfect level of sweetness.
Ginger: This is going to add that extra special element to your dish.
Soy sauce: This is the base for your homemade teriyaki sauce. I’ve used low-sodium soy sauce in this recipe.
Oyster sauce: You’re going to get the perfect savory, tangy flavor by using oyster sauce since it also boasts umami. It perfectly helps match the sake and mirin flavor as the perfect substitute. This is truly my little secret, and no one can tell I skipped on the sake or mirin while making it!
Water: We’ll be using water to bring the sauces together and cook them without burning them. You’ll also need 2 tablespoons of it separately to make a cornstarch slurry.
Cornstarch: This is to make a quick cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce to the perfect consistency so that it coats the cooked chicken.
Sesame seeds: I love using sesame seeds for garnishing, but you can also use green onions as well and add some steamed broccoli too!
How to Make Chicken Teriyaki – Step by Step
Making Chicken Teriyaki is so simple; I’m sure you’ll skip ordering out if you try making this even once! It’s easy, delicious, and everything you’d want from an Asian takeout.
Here’s how to make it step by step:
First up, take a bowl and add water, soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, and ginger in it. Mix all the ingredients well.
Heat a pan on medium heat and add some oil to it. When it’s hot, add the chicken breasts to the pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side on high heat.
Next, use a kitchen towel to remove excess oil from the pan.
Now it’s time to get the sauce going! Pour the sauce mixture into the chicken in the pan and bring it to a boil, then let it simmer for 1 minute.
Next, add the cornstarch slurry and stir it quickly. Switch off the heat when the sauce reaches the right, thick consistency.
Slice the chicken into pieces, place it over some rice, and garnish it with sesame seeds.
Serve immediately while hot and fresh.
Other Recipes You’ll Love
The Perfect Parboiled Rice: Chicken Teriyaki goes beautifully with some perfectly cooked rice. This parboiled rice recipe is forgiving and the easiest way to get perfect rice at home every time!
Easy Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry: Looking for another stir fry? This easy chicken and broccoli stir fry will be ready in just 20 minutes! This dish is low in calories and healthier than Chinese takeout!
Cashew Chicken: This is another super popular takeout recipe! Make it alongside Chicken Teriyaki for the ultimate takeout dinner!
📖 Recipe
Easy Chicken Teriyaki Recipe (With the Simplest Ingredients)
Ingredients
- 2 skinless chicken breasts 80gm each
- 3 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon oil
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 3 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- ½ cup hot water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoon water
- Sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- In a bowl, add water, soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, and ginger. Mix well.
- To a hot pan, add oil, when hot add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side on high heat. Or cook longer if the chicken breast is thicker.
- Use a kitchen paper/towel to remove excess oil from the pan.
- Add the sauce to the chicken and let it simmer for 1 minute. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir quickly, when thick turn off the heat.
- Cut the chicken breast into slices and serve over rice, sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- You can go for chicken thighs.
- Instead of water, add chicken stock and ensure it's low in sodium.
- This dish is best when served immediately. The leftover will not taste as good.
- The post was originally published in 2014 and is updated with more information.
Nutrition
Nami | Just One Cookbook
There are some similarities between Chinese and Japanese as Japanese food is influenced by Chinese food (such as ramen) but seasoning used for food is quite different between two cuisines. I love your chicken teriyaki bowl, Muna! Looks so delicious!!!
munatycooking
Hi Nami, it is so good to hear from you 🙂 ... Yes there are some similarities but Japanese food are simpler yet have great flavor! There are vegetables and other seasonings which I knew about only after I've started cooking Japanese food.
Farah @ The Cooking Jar
Look at that glaze! That's some pretty good looking teriyaki chicken! Loved watching the video too 🙂
munatycooking
Thank you Farah, teriyaki is easy and yummy, I love to have it with fried rice at times I have it as a sandwich too 😉
ami@naivecookcooks
I love good Teriyaki chicken. Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe!
munatycooking
You're most welcome 🙂
Sue
80g chicken breast is very small
munatycooking
Hi Sue, it is low in calories but if you wish you can use a bigger size chicken breast 😊
Rosa
Tasty! A wonderful dish.
Cheers,
Rosa
Jeanette | Jeanette's Healthy Living
I do love Japanese food - this looks so beautiful. I find Japanese food more aesthetically pleasing many times, perhaps due to the care taken in its presentation.
munatycooking
I agree! Whenever I see a picture of Japanese dish, it jut looks amazingly beautiful.
Angie (@angiesrecipess)
I too love teriyaki! This looks very delicious, Muna.
munatycooking
Thanks Angie 🙂
Medeja
I never tried making teriyaki sauce myself, but it looks great. I am sure I must try it 🙂
Chris @ The Café Sucré Farine
I prefer the chicken breast so I'm glad you shared this. I never tire of good Asian food, this looks REALLY good!
Angela
I just made this dish tonight and it came out just wonderfully! I doubled the recipe and I have to say I should have tripled it! But I have to say the sauce didn't come out as thick as I wanted it to be but it still tasted amazing. Oh I did add a clove of garlic to the sauce too. We love garlic! Next time I think I will try using chicken thighs. I thought the chicken breast came out a bit on the dry side. Thank you so much for this recipe. Can't wait to try it out again!
munatycooking
Glad you liked it Angela 🙂 ... I agree that cooking chicken breast can be tricky at times, chicken thigh is actually what is originally used in this recipe, and I'm sure you'll love the taste more when using the thighs! 🙂
Brianna Turner
Howmany calories are in a serving? I'm thinking of making this tonight but I'm I a calorie counting diet, new to it I must say .
munatycooking
Hi Brianna, 205 calories per serving (didn't count the rice).
Trisha
How did you cook your chicken? I know 2 minutes will not cook chicken all the way through. If I missed that in the recipe I am sorry.
munatycooking
Hi Trisha,
If the chicken breast is medium size then 2 minutes on each side will be enough to cook it, you should use high heat.
Livia
Only Angela (last reviewer) and i seem to have actually tried this recipe and we both agree the sauce isn't thick like in the photo and doesn't come out like the photo at all! I should have prob tripled the recipe but I wonder if it's better to just use bottled teriyaki sauce like soy sauce .. It tastes good and is guaranteed to come out thick. I wasn't too impressed with how you skip from 'add corn starch' to 'final product' pic in the video either because it doesn't show hos it pans out after you add the sauce.. Overall, still tasted alright, but you'd prob get more taste letting it marinade in the sauce overnight..
munatycooking
Hi Livia,
I can't tell why your sauce didn't come out right, since I'm not with you while cooking it, but from past experiences I have noticed that the brand of corn starch play a role in this. Some brands of corn starch don't make the sauce as thick as in my pictures, so this can be one reason.
I'm sorry I can't think of any other reason. Thank you for trying my recipe.
Diane Fortes
I substituted the cornstarch for gluten free all purpose flour. Amazing!!
munatycooking
Hi Diane, thanks a lot for the tip, my readers will benefit from it 🙂
Diane Fortes
I made this dish tonight. It is so delicious and love the low calories. Thank you so much!
munatycooking
You are most welcome 🙂
Megan
Is it 205 calories per serving, one chicken breast? Or is that including the rice too? How big are the chicken breasts?
munatycooking
The calories 205 is for the chicken serving without the rice. The chicken breast is around 130 grams.
Colleen
Easy. Quick. Fabulous.
Mika
Hi, I’m highly allergic to shellfish and crustaceans. What is a substitute for oyster sauce? Thank you!
munatycooking
You can skip it and use more soy sauce, but in this case, try using low sodium soy sauce.
Jenny
Absolutely loved this! Made it the otherday and it tasted phenomenal. Though I was wondering, can you substitute the ginger for garlic and maintain the same caloric value?
munatycooking
Hi Jenny, the calorie count will still be low, you can use garlic instead of ginger.
Joe
It's says low in calorie but nothing I read says how many calories? Lol
munatycooking
The first image isn't showing in your browser? It has the number of calories!
anon
The average chicken breast weighs 5.5 oz, which is 155.9 grams. Did you cut yours in half or something? That's an incredibly small portion size.
munatycooking
Hi Anon, I didn't cut the chicken breast in half, in my country, you can get small chickens if you buy the home-fed ones, they are smaller in size but tastes amazing. You can use 160 grams of chicken breast for this recipe too and it will add around 130 calories preserving, so the total calorie per serving will be 335 calories. Hope this helped 😊
Stanley
Umami flavour will come only by adding mirin saki rice wine vinegar i can gulp plenty of that but its too expensive to buy in india i can purchase a dozen chickens with that kind of money but i will give it a try