Teriyaki Chicken is a very popular Japanese dish, and it is so easy to make. The sweet soy-based sauce goes so well with the chicken. Just sauté the chicken and cook it in the sauce. You don’t marinate the chicken in the sauce and the sauce does not contain garlic or vinegar. That’s the Teriyaki Chicken the Japanese way. It only takes 15 minutes!
Teriyaki chicken is one of the most popular Japanese dishes among Aussies and I presume it is popular in other parts of the world as well. At almost every Japanese restaurant in Sydney, you will find Teriyaki Chicken on the menu.
I often find that the flavour of the Teriyaki Chicken at restaurants is slightly Westernised, and I can sometimes even taste garlic in it. But the recipe I am sharing today is the traditional Japanese way of making Teriyaki Chicken. The sauce is a mixture of soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar.
Teriyaki Chicken (照り焼きチキン) is more commonly called ‘tori no teriyaki’ (鶏の照り焼き or 鳥の照り焼き) in Japan. Both Kanji characters 鶏 and 鳥 mean chicken in this context, but to be exact, 鶏 means chicken and 鳥 is a generic word for bird.
Teriyaki can be made not only with chicken but also fish (see my Teriyaki Salmon recipe as an example), pork, and beef. However, chicken is by far the most popular ingredient for Teriyaki.
What’s in My Teriyaki Chicken
You will be surprised to know that there are only 5 ingredients involved in making such a delicious, well-loved Japanese dish (vegetables in the photo below are just for serving):
- Chicken thigh fillets
Teriyaki sauce
- Soy sauce
- Cooking sake
- Mirin
- Sugar
To Serve
- Shredded cabbage
- Finely julienned carrot
- Finely julienned capsicum
I use chicken thigh as it is juicier than chicken breast and best suited for Teriyaki Chicken. You can use chicken breast if you prefer, but you will find that the cooked chicken is slightly dry.
I know the skin is fatty, but I use chicken thigh with the skin on. I think that the chicken looks nicer with the skin on when cooked, especially nicely browned.
ABOUT TERIYAKI SAUCE
You can’t talk about Teriyaki Chicken without mentioning Teriyaki Sauce.
This is a very simple sauce that is made up of only 4 ingredients. But once you know the proportion of ingredients, it becomes so easy to cook flavoursome dishes in 5-10 minutes. Any dishes called ‘teriyaki’ something use this Teriyaki Sauce.
The Teriyaki Sauce is made with 1 part soy sauce + 1 part cooking sake + 1 part mirin + about ½ part sugar. I say ‘about ½ part sugar’ because you can adjust the sweetness to your liking. Note that there is no garlic and no ginger in the traditional Teriyaki Sauce.
Here is the sample photo of the soy sauce, mirin and, sake (from left to right) I use. At supermarkets in Australia, you might find different brands of mirin and cooking sake such as Bento brand. They are fine to use too. Please visit Pantry Essentials for Japanese Home Cooking – Part 1 and Pantry Essentials for Japanese Home Cooking – Part 2 for more details about them.
Combine them together and mix well to dissolve the sugar. You can heat the mixture slightly to speed up the process of dissolving the sugar if you like.
This sauce is a very good sauce to have on hand. It keeps for weeks in the fridge, and you can sauté or grill fish/meat/vegetables and pour the sauce over it. You could add grated garlic/ginger to vary the flavour too.
How to Make Teriyaki Chicken (See the video)
- Butterfly chicken thigh fillets to make the fillet an even thickness (photo above).
- Using the tip of a knife, poke the skin randomly.
- Heat a frying pan and cook the chicken, skin side down.
- Turn the chicken over and cook further.
- Add the Teriyaki Sauce to the pan and cook until the sauce thickens.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and cover with a sheet of foil.
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized strips.
Poking the skin will allow the teriyaki sauce to penetrate into the flesh better.
The step-by-step photo does not show it, but I steam cook the chicken for about 30 seconds after adding the teriyaki sauce (see the video). This ensures that the chicken is cooked through.
To nicely coat the cooked chicken with the teriyaki sauce, there are a couple of important things you need to adhere to.
SECRET OF MAKING GREAT TERIYAKI CHICKEN
Have you ever experienced the teriyaki sauce not sticking to the chicken evenly and the sauce is somewhat mixed with oil? This is because you had too much oil in the frying pan before adding the teriyaki sauce to it.
The chicken is covered with oil and the excess oil and the sauce splits because they do not mix well. To prevent this from happening:
- Do not add oil to the frying pan when cooking the chicken.
- Wipe away any excess oil in the frying pan just before adding the teriyaki sauce (see the photo below).
When you do the above, you will find that the sauce sticks to the cooked chicken and you will have a saucy Teriyaki Chicken.
Serving Teriyaki Chicken
Most Japanese meals are served in such a way that you can pick up and eat the food with chopsticks without needing to cut it. In this recipe, I sliced the chicken after it was cooked so that you can still see the whole fillet of chicken, and it is easier to pick up a piece with chopsticks.
But if you are eating Teriyaki Chicken with a knife and fork, you don’t need to slice the chicken.
I served my Teriyaki Chicken with shredded cabbage, but any green salads or boiled vegetables are OK. If you are using a dressing, I’d suggest a light one. I don’t use a dressing on the vegetables.
If you place sliced Teriyaki Chicken over the rice with extra sauce poured on it, you get a Teriyaki Chicken Don (Teriyaki Chicken on Rice).
I hope you like my version of Teriyaki Chicken.
Yumiko
Watch How To Make It
Teriyaki Chicken is one of the most popular Japanese dishes. The Teriyaki Sauce is so easy to make, it’s just a mixture of soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. You do not marinate the chicken in the sauce to make Teriyaki Chicken. Just sauté the chicken and cook it in the sauce, which takes only 15 minutes in total! See the video above the recipe to believe it.
Don’t forget to see the section ‘MEAL IDEAS’ below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and the new recipe in this post that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 2 thigh fillets skin on, bone removed (about 350g/12oz in total, note 1)
- 1½ tbsp soy sauce
- 1½ tbsp cooking sake
- 1½ tbsp mirin
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
- ½ cup carrot finely julienned
- ¼ cup capsicum finely julienned
- a sprig of parsley or mint (optional)
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Combine the Teriyaki Sauce ingredients in a small bowl or cup and mix well until the sugar dissolves (note 4).
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If the thickness of the chicken is uneven, place a fillet on a cutting board skin side down, make a cut horizontally and outward where the meat is thick, and butterfly it (see the Video).
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Poke the skin with the tip of the knife in several places so that the sauce gets through to the flesh better.
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Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Place the chicken in the pan, skin side down. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the skin gets cooked to a golden brown.
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Turn the chicken over and cook for about 3 minutes (Note 5). If a lot of oil comes out of the chicken fat and skin, absorb excess oil with a paper towel (Note 6).
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When the chicken is nearly cooked, add the sauce, shake the pan to even out the sauce, and put the lid on. Cook for 30 seconds.
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Remove the lid and cook until the sauce thickens and reduces to about 1-1½ tablespoons (Note 7). Turn the chicken over and coat the skin side with the sauce.
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Remove the pan from the heat and place the chicken on the cutting board, skin side up. Cover with foil for a few minutes to let it cook further. Slice the chicken into 1½-2cm/⅝-¾” thick pieces.
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Place mixed cabbage, carrot and capsicum salad on a plate and then arrange the sliced chicken. Pour the sauce over the chicken and add a sprig of parsley/mint if using. Serve immediately.
1. I could not find chicken thigh with only skin on. So, I bought chicken thighs with skin and bone on and removed the bones.
You can use skin off and even chicken breast if you prefer. The texture of the chicken will be different, particularly with chicken breast, but the flavour should be the same.
2. You can make a larger quantity of Teriyaki Sauce to use for another dish. Teriyaki Sauce keeps about a month in the fridge.
3. You can pick any vegetables to go with the Teriyaki Chicken, but I would recommend either fresh salad or boiled vegetables.
4. You can warm up the sauce on the stove or in the microwave to dissolve the sugar faster if you want.
5. Depending on the thickness of the thigh fillets, time will vary.
6. It is important to remove the excess oil as much as possible. Too much oil from the fat prevents the teriyaki sauce from sticking to the meat. This is the reason for using a non-stick frying pan with no oil. If using a normal frying pan, I’d suggest that you oil the pan with a small amount of oil when heating it up.
7. You need to retain enough sauce to pour over the chicken on the plate. After turning off the heat, the sauce continues to cook with the pan’s residual heat and concentrates further. So, turn off the heat slightly earlier. You can always concentrate further if required.
8. If you are making Teriyaki Chicken Don (Teriyaki Chicken on Rice), increase the quantity of Teriyaki Sauce by 50% (as noted in the Teriyaki chicken Don recipe) and pour it over the cooked chicken on rice. The rice will absorb the extra sauce, which is really tasty.
9. Nutrition per serving including salad.
serving: 341g calories: 449kcal fat: 26g (40%) saturated fat: 7g (35%) trans fat: 0.1g polyunsaturated fat: 5.6g monounsaturated fat: 11g cholesterol: 166mg (55%) sodium: 960mg (40%) potassium: 686mg (20%) carbohydrates: 20g (7%) dietary fibre: 3.2g (13%) sugar: 14g protein: 32g vitamin a: 109% vitamin c: 127% calcium: 4.9% iron: 10%
Originally published in August 2017, rewritten in June 2019 with new photos and Meal Ideas added. Republished in April 2022 with improved contents and video. No changes to the recipe.
Meal Ideas
A typical Japanese meal consists of a main dish, a couple of side dishes, a soup and rice. I try to come up with a combination of dishes with a variety of flavours, colours, textures and make-ahead dishes.
As Teriyaki Chicken comes with a sweet sauce, I serve Cucumber and Seaweed Sunomono (Vinegar Dressing) to cleanse the palate. Instead of Sunomono, you can serve something with vinegar but perhaps not with Amazu (sweet vinegar) as the teriyaki sauce is sweet.
Instead of miso soup, I thought clear soup might be better suited to the strongly flavoured main dish.
- Main: Teriyaki Chicken – today’s recipe.
- Side dish 1: Gomoku-mame (Simmered Soybeans with Vegetables) – make ahead.
- Side dish 2: Cucumber and Seaweed Sunomono (Vinegar Dressing) – alternatively, Octopus and Cucumber Sunomono.
- Soup: Japanese Style Egg Drop Soup (Kakitama-jiru) – or other clear soup.
- Rice: Cooked Rice.
SquirrellyTots says
I served this recipe along with rice and stir fried vegetables. My family inhaled the teriyaki chicken, leaving me to eat the stir fry. I wanted to cry tears of joy. Finding a dish my entire family will eat is an epic adventure. My youngest in particular is so picky his picky is picky. Plus as a working mom getting dinner on the table in a reasonable time during the week is another layer to the epic adventure. I look forward to trying your other recipes. Thank you.
Yumiko says
Hi, thank you so much to drop me a wonderful note. You made my day!
D-Rose says
I made this once right after it was posted to /r/gifrecipes on reddit and it was delicious, but what really bugged me was how that crispy chicken thigh skin gets all soggy after steaming under the pan lid. I gave it another go tonight with some technique modifications that create minimal extra cleanup. The result is what I think is a PERFECT dish that is better than anything I’ve ordered in an American Japanese restaurant.
First: I start the sauce separately in a small saucepan. I scale the amounts up to 1/3 each of mirin, sake, and soy sauce yet only put 1 Tbsp of sugar in. After reduction, between the mirin and sugar, there is more than enough sweetness I think. The reason for scaling up is because I’m working with 4-6 thigh fillets (16-28 oz. instead of the listed 12). Honestly, I might go up to 1/2 cup each or more next time so I have some leftover sauce. It’s a perfect addition to roasted or stir-fried veggies in any meal you make.
Second: After de-boning the chicken thighs, I pound them with a meat tenderizer until they are about 1/4 inch thick and then salt the skin side. This is important because after searing the skin side and flipping over, I do not add the sauce per instruction. Instead, after flipping the chicken, I splash enough sake in to coat the bottom of the pan and turn the heat down to medium-low without covering (water or chicken broth would be fine instead of sake). This allows the thighs to cook fully while uncovered without making the skin soggy (adding about 6-8 minutes of total cooking time). By the time the sake/water/broth fully evaporates, you have perfectly juicy chicken and skin that remains deliciously crispy.
By the time the chicken, rice, veggie side, and chicken are all done, my teriyaki sauce has reduced to that wonderful, silky consistency. I’ll plate everything, and drizzle the teriyaki over the chicken at the table for a little extra show. Oh, and I also top everything with freshly sliced scallions. That fresh, mild onion flavor compliments this dish so well.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe, Yumiko! Even with the modifications I’ve made, I’m blown away with how easy it is to prepare such a delicious dish in such a small amount of time. Thanks to that reddit post, you are now my primary source for home-cooked Japanese food. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Yumiko says
Hi, thanks for the details of your modified version. I agree that the skin gets soggy by placing a lid. But flavour is great and it’s so easy, isn’t it?
Great to know that my site is your primary source for Japanese home cooking. Thank you!
Kelly says
Hi Yumiko, I’d love to try this but could only find something called ‘cooking sake’. Is that what I should use for the sake or is it something totally different (it was in the Asian grocery store near the mirin). Thanks!
Yumiko says
Hi Kelly, cooking sake is fine. When I say sake, I normally use cooking sake instead of drinking sake as it is much cheaper. The other differences are that in the case of cooking sake, salt is added to it. Also, unlike drinking sake, the liquid was not purified, retaining umami etc which are good for cooking.
Kelly says
Thank-you 🙂
Mark says
What a recipe. Perfect first time.
This will be a regular dish for sure!
Thanks very much for sharing this recipe.
Yumiko says
Hi Mark, that’s great! It’s so easy, right?
Nana says
Question?? I looked up MIRIN and it says it’s a sweetened sake. Can I just use regular sake as it’s already in the recipe and add a bit of sugar to sweeten? Or is there really a difference. I couldn’t find MIRIN in any local stores.
This looks really good!!!
Yumiko says
Hi Nana, Mirin is made from sticky rice while sake is from rice. They are also made in a different way resulting in different flavours. So you cannot completely replace mirin with sake + sugar but you could achieve similar sweetness of mirin. Taste will be slightly different but some people may find it’s OK. The other difference would be that the sauce will not be as shiny as the sauce made with mirin as it is one of the key characteristics of mirin.
To make 1 portion of mirin equivalent, you need to mix 1 portion of sake with 1/3 portion of sugar.
Jeanie says
HI, What kind of pan did you use to cook in this recipe? Would a cast iron work?
Yumiko says
Hi Jeanie, I used non-stick frypan but cast iron would work well, too. If the meat tends to stick on your cast iron, I would suggest that you oil the surface very lightly.
Amy C. says
I made this chicken last night for dinner along woth rice and roasted broccoli. It was a huge hit with my kids. The sauce is fantastic. I wasn’t able to find the cooking sake, so I substituted cooking sherry, and it was wonderful.
Yumiko says
Hi Amy, nothing is better than kids’ happy face at dinner time, isn’t it? I’m glad they liked teriyaki chicken.
Unless sake is one of the key ingredients such as ‘Sakamushi Fish (Steamed fish in Sake)’, sherry can be substituted for sake, particularly in the strong flavoured sauces.
Steven says
Yumiko, this looks so good. I made your 2 sauces meatballs and now I will try this. I’ve been folllwing Nagi for about 6 months now. Love her recipes. So many different cuisines but I’m really looking forward to trying your Japanese recipes.
Yumiko says
Nagi loves teriyaki chicken and she says my version is yummy. I hope you will agree with her.
Gloria | Food Oh Glorious Food says
Hi Yumiko!
Thank you for this amazing recipe. I cooked it for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and the family has been asking for it every day since. This is an excellent recipe to add to our regular rotation as it takes next to no time to prepare, and is soooooo full of flavour.
I am going to need to get some cooking sake to add to my pantry – I have been using Chinese rice wine as a substitution, which I thought worked well.
Thanks again for this wonderful recipe!
Yumiko says
Hi Gloria, I am so glad that your entire family enjoyed it. Chinese cooking sake and Japanese one are different so you will probably find a subtle difference in flavour. But still yummy!
Lee Leicester says
Hi Yumiko, Konnichiwa
Tried this recipe yesterday and it was delicious. I always wondered how the sauce had so much flavour.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with everyone. I like trying different recipes so I cannot wait to try another one of yours.
Yumiko Maehashi says
Konnichiwa Lee-san.
Wonderful! I am always nervous about what people think of my dish. So when I get a feedback like yours, I feel relieved.
Thanks for taking time to get back to me.