Chicken Teriyaki (Video) チキン照り焼き

Learn how to cook classic Chicken Teriyaki at home in less than 20 minutes using authentic Japanese cooking methods. You‘ll love the seared and juicy chicken thighs glazed in an easy and flavorful homemade sauce. No bottled teriyaki sauce needed!

Everybody loves some good, juicy chicken in a sweet sticky glaze. This is why chicken teriyaki, a humble Japanese dish, is so popular everywhere in the world! In this recipe, I’ll show you how to make authentic Chicken Teriyaki at home—how it is done in Japan.

This foolproof Japanese method gives you the most flavorful meat and the crispest skin. It’s so good, easy, and a sure win for a weeknight dinner.

What is Chicken Teriyaki?

Teriyaki (照り焼き) commonly refers to a style of cooking, but it also refers to the name of a cooked dish or the sauce that is used to brush over the food.

To help you understand better, teri (照り) means “luster,” given by the sweet soy sauce marinade, while yaki (焼き) has a broader definition that can denote “cook or pan-fry or grill.” When translated literally, the dish means “shiny or glossy grilled chicken,” as it describes the lustrous glaze on the chicken created by the teriyaki sauce.

There are a lot of homemade teriyaki chicken recipes online, and to be honest, many of them have been modified or deviated from the original method. Here are a few things you might want to know:

• The Japanese don’t bake the chicken teriyaki in the oven, cook it in an Instant Pot, or cook it in a sheet pan with vegetables.
• We don’t grill the chicken at home either, as most Japanese homes are too small to own a grill.
• There are no bottled teriyaki sauces in Japan. We usually make our sauce with four simple pantry staples.

So, how do we cook chicken teriyaki in Japan? We pan-fry the chicken over the stove until we sear the skin, then simmer it with the sauce until it thickens and caramelizes, leaving the meat with an irresistibly glossy finish. 

Ingredients for Chicken Teriyaki

It’s amazing that you only need a few pantry staples to make this classic Japanese recipe!

• Chicken thighs – For the traditional authentic version, choose boneless, skin-on chicken thighs, but you can also use skinless chicken thighs. How about chicken breasts? I’ll discuss about it in the next section.
• Salt and pepper – Just a little bit of these. Most flavors come from the teriyaki sauce.
• Homemade teriyaki sauce – 4 simple ingredients: Soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar.

Skinless or Skin-on Chicken

In Japan, boneless, skin-on chicken thighs are always preferred for chicken teriyaki because they don’t dry out quickly. The skin also provides a protective layer between the chicken flesh and the hot pan. Chicken skin yields a delicious flavor and acts like a magnet for the sticky sauce. As a result, you get moist, flavorful, and juicy meat every time. American grocery stores typically carry bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. You can ask the butcher to remove the bone for you, or you can debone the thighs with a sharp knife.

Here in the U.S., however, most people prefer boneless, skinless chicken thighs. So my teriyaki recipe below focuses on the recipe with skinless thighs. You can see my skin-on version at the end of the recipe instructions.

Chicken Thighs vs. Breast

When cooking chicken, thighs are more forgiving than breasts. Thighs can withstand higher temperatures and longer cooking times. Which is why thighs are ideal for this Chicken Teriyaki recipe.

The fat from chicken thighs keeps the meat moist and tender throughout cooking, resulting in a juicier and more flavorful dish.

You can use chicken breasts if that’s what you prefer. Just remember that chicken breasts have more fiber and tend to turn rubbery sooner than thighs.

Authentic Teriyaki Sauce

The basic teriyaki sauce is made of only four simple ingredients:

1. Soy sauce is the most critical and prominent ingredient, giving teriyaki sauce a rich, dark color. It imparts umami and saltiness. You want to use Japanese soy sauce, not other Asian soy sauce.
2. Sake is Japanese rice wine, an essential ingredient in Japanese cooking. In addition to tenderizing the meat, the amino acids in sake remove any odor of the chicken. Other key reasons to use sake? It adds subtle sweetness and umami to the dish. See my recommended sake brand and substitution here.
3. Mirin is Japanese sweet rice wine. This syrupy condiment adds a nice shine and natural sweetness to the sauce, helping to temper its saltiness. It also helps the flavor sink in and fully develop. Read more about mirin here.
4. Sugar plays a vital role in balancing out the saltiness of soy sauce, lending teriyaki sauce its signature sweet and savory flavor. We also need the sugar to thicken the sauce so it will caramelize beautifully and create a glossy sheen that coats the chicken.

My basic teriyaki sauce consists of two parts soy sauce, two parts sake, two parts mirin, and one part sugar (2:2:2:1). You can adjust the ratio to suit your taste.

You can even make a big batch of Homemade Teriyaki Sauce ahead of time and store it in a bottle in the refrigerator. 

Optional Sauce Ingredients:

Sometimes, you can add optional ingredients such as grated ginger, grated onion, and minced garlic for additional depth and zing. You can change things slightly based on the ingredients (meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, and tofu).

Many teriyaki sauce recipes I’ve seen online call for rice vinegar, honey, brown sugar, sesame oil, or apple cider vinegar in the sauce mixture. I would not recommend them if you wish to follow the authentic Japanese cooking method. 

Some people even use cornstarch to thicken the sauce, but it is unnecessary. As the alcohol from sake and mirin evaporates, the sauce will naturally reduce and thicken with the sugar caramelizing during the simmering process.

Should we marinate the chicken in the teriyaki sauce?

In Japan, we don’t typically marinate chicken to make chicken teriyaki because we use a pan-frying method. When you cook the marinated chicken in the frying pan, it steams in a pool of the remaining marinade, making it more difficult to get a nice searing mark.

If you plan to cook the chicken on your BBQ grill, you can marinate it. Since you cook it over an open frame, the chicken will not stay in a pool of marinade and can get a nice char on it.

How to Make Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken teriyaki is so easy and quick to make. You will need a sharp knife, a cutting board, a large frying pan, and a small mixing bowl. In less than 20 minutes, you will be enjoying delicious chicken teriyaki!

1. Mix the homemade teriyaki sauce. Heat it in the microwave and stir to dissolve the sugar.
2. Prepare the chicken. Score and flatten the thighs to create an even thickness. This step is really important, so please don‘t skip it!
3. Pan-fry the chicken. Cook the chicken for 5 minutes, pressing down hard with a spatula to give the presentation side a nice sear. Flip over, sear the other side, and cover and steam it for another 3 minutes.
4. Add the teriyaki sauce to the pan. Spoon the sauce over the thighs until well coated. When the chicken is cooked through, remove from the pan. Slice and drizzle with the sauce.

Chicken Teriyaki Cooking Tips

• Score and flatten the thighs for an even thickness. Cut slits across the meat every ½ inch (1.3 cm) without slicing all the way through. Make deeper slits on the chicken‘s thick parts and skip scoring the thin parts. After each cut, press open and flatten the meat with your fingers. Scoring and flattening the meat will help distribute the heat evenly and prevent overcooking for dramatically juicier chicken! It is an extra step, but it ultimately makes a difference.

• Pan-fry and sear the chicken (5 minutes): You only need a reliable frying pan or large skillet to pan-fry the chicken. The pan and oil must be hot before adding the chicken so it gets a nice brown sear quickly. When you cook the chicken, remember to place the smoother side (or the skin side) down first. Press the chicken down with a spatula and let it sear undisturbed until the skin crisps up and browned.

• Steam the chicken (3 minutes): Flip and cook covered on low heat once the chicken is browned. Steaming helps cook thoroughly until no longer pink inside. It’s best not to overcook the chicken as it will continue to cook with the sauce.

• Patiently spoon over the teriyaki sauce: Once the teriyaki sauce is poured over the chicken, tilt the frying pan to pour the sauce over the chicken. Repeat this process until the chicken absorbs the delicious glaze and starts to shine. Remove the chicken and reduce the sauce in the pan if the sauce is too thin.

What to Serve With Chicken Teriyaki

Simple and bursting with sweet yet savory flavor, I believe anyone can cook this classic Japanese dish at home. Serve the Chicken Teriyaki with rice with a salad or steamed vegetables like broccoli. Here are some side dish ideas that pair well with chicken teriyaki:

• Quick Blanched Broccoli with Sesame Oil
• Green Bean with Sesame Dressing
• Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
• Japanese Kani Salad
• Wafu Salad
• Vegetable Miso Soup

Readers’ Teriyaki Chicken Recipes

Teriyaki Chicken was the challenge recipe for the JOC Cooking Challenge June 2024. Check out the delicious dishes created by JOC readers!

Other Teriyaki Recipes You’ll Enjoy

Love teriyaki dishes? Find salmon, tofu, chicken meatballs, and beef in 17 Best Authentic Teriyaki Recipes to Make At Home!

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Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on March 22, 2012. It was updated with a revised recipe, new images, and more helpful information on April 14, 2024. It was republished with a new video on May 31, 2024.