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)
-
Combine the Teriyaki Sauce ingredients in a small bowl or cup and mix well until the sugar dissolves (note 4).
-
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).
-
Poke the skin with the tip of the knife in several places so that the sauce gets through to the flesh better.
-
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.
-
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).
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
Mhai says
Hi I’m wondering if there’s any substitute for sake ? In planning to make this but i only found expensive sake 🙁 .thank you.
Yumiko says
Hi Mhai, you could substitute sake with sherry. If the Asain grocery store sells ‘cooking sake’, that’s better.
Racheal says
This was delicious, just like everything else we have attempted!
Thank you so much for creating your site. Not only do your children have access to your recipes, but my children are loving being able to put authentic tasty food on the table. Every recipe we have tried has been a success. And I definitely cannot complain about all the veggies they eat without a fight or the fact that they want to make supper! We have also started doing bento boxes for school lunches! Deepest thanks from myself, husband, and 5 children for a taste of Japan in Missouri, USA.
Yumiko says
Hi Rachel, fantastic!
I’m so happy that you are making use of my recipes and even making bento for your children.
Thanks for a kind note.
Pauline Marie Allan says
I’ve tried various versions of Teriyaki Chicken recipes and this is gooooood. So simple, yet so flavoursome. I like the taste of this recipe and the kids loved it too. Thanks for sharing the Japanese version!
Yumiko says
Hi Pauline, thanks! I feel honoured that you gave me 5 stars after trying various recipes.
Ajita says
Hi Yumikosan!
I am Ajita from India. I am a big fan of Japanese cousin! And thanks to your blog I have started cooking Japanese food at home too.
I will really appreciate if you could pls share the recipe of chicken shichu without d ready-made shichu paste.
Waiting to hear from you.
Ajita
Ajita says
I am sorry I meant Japanese cuisine. Autocorrect sucks sometimes.
Yumiko says
Hi Ajita, did you mean chicken cream stew which is thick and white? If so, this is something I will be able to share.
Ajita says
Hey Yumikosan
Thanks so much for replying to my email.
Yes that’s exactly I would love to learn from you.
El says
I’m not sure which mirin, sake, and soy sauce are nice for true Japanese teriyaki sauce?!
Yumiko says
Hi El, I use different brands depending on what’s available at the shop and the price. You can see the sample bottles of these seasonings in my post Japanese Dressings. For mirin, I usually buy Takara brand but sometimes, I buy Hinode brand or Mizkan. For cooking sake, I used to use Mizkan or Hinode brand which are good brands. But I now use Takara brand which does not contain salt unlike most others. See my post Teriyaki Chicken for the photo. Soy sauce can be Kikkoman, Yamada or Higashimaru brand.
Steven says
This was so delicious. I love your recipes as much as I love Nagis.
Best Regards
Yumiko says
Thank you, Steven!
Yvonne says
I usually buy teriyaki chicken or the sauce from stores, but this is so simple to make and the chicken is very tasty. I used skinless chicken thigh and they turned out great. Thanks Yumiko for a simple and tasty recipe, and the notes to wipe the oil off the pan. It’s the little things that make the dish better 🙂
Yumiko says
Hi Yvonne, it is surprising to find that simple sauce you make at home turns out to be much better than the one you buy, isn’t it? I’m glad that you find it easy to make and tasty, too.
Davo (Christchurch NZ) says
HI Yumiko
I made this dish last night. Wow… it was so good. Chicken moist and flavourful. This recipe definitely goes in the ‘keeper’ file. I also tried cooking spring onions (scallions) in the frypan as you suggested. Another winner. I had never thought of cooking them before but I am glad I did. The onions were wonderful, sweet and soft but still with a little crunch. YUM!! The teriyaki sauce is far superior to what you can buy and easy to make. Thanks for a great recipe.
Yumiko says
Hi Davo, you are most welcome and I am glad you like it including grilled spring onions. Once you know how simple it is to make teriyaki sauce, you will never want to use a store-bought, do you?
Brian says
Tried this tonight with a couple of thin boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The breasts were not as tender as thighs would have been, but they were pretty good. I found I had to cook them much longer than what the recipe calls for to get them to 165°. The sauce, however, was fabulous, certainly much, much better than any store bought Teriyaki. Being a sauce lover, I doubled the sauce so I would have enough to drizzle on the salad.
Yumiko says
Hi Brian, your chicken breast might have been a bit thicker. But I am glad that you liked the teriyaki sauce. It’s a great idea to drizzle on the salad!
Jess says
Hi, are we able to replace Mirin and sake with something? I’m cooking this for a young toddler and prefer not to use alcohol in the cooking process. Thanks!
Yumiko says
Hi Jess, you can replace sake with water. With regard to a substitution for mirin, there is non-alcoholic mirin (https://www.amazon.com/Honteri-Non-alcoholic-Mirin-Sweet-Seasoning/dp/B00IFW3X9A) and if you can purchase it, that would be the easiest. If not, replace with 1½ tablespoon of water + sugar which is 1/3 of the quantity of water.
Estela S Navarra says
So easy and so tasty my family loved it!! I added a little salt though. Thank!!
Yumiko says
Hi Estela, I’m glad everyone liked it.
Celia says
Thanks for the recipe – was so simple and easy, and tasty. Added a minced garlic clove just for the danger of it. Delish!
Yumiko says
Hi Celia, that’s great and thank you!