Glazed with a delicious soy-butter sauce, this Butter Shoyu Chicken will win your family’s heart! It is a simple recipe but produces a luxurious result. The chicken is exceptionally moist and tender and so flavorful. Did I say it only takes 25 minutes from start to finish?!
Looking to dial things up for your regular chicken recipes? This Butter Shoyu Chicken (バター醤油チキン) is going to be a win. It’s the tastiest, most foolproof chicken dinner I know, and my children can attest to that.
It will remind you of Teriyaki Sauce, but with the addition of butter, the sauce is creamier with a tinge of sweetness and depth of flavor.
What is Butter Shoyu Chicken
Shoyu (醤油) is soy sauce in Japanese, so butter shoyu means butter-flavored soy sauce. If you have never combined these two ingredients together, you will be pleasantly surprised by how delicious the duo brings to a dish.
In Japan, you will see many dishes flavored with this combination and we call it ‘butter shoyu aji‘ (醤油バター味). Whether it’s for a sauteed dish, grilled corn, or wafu pasta (Japanese-styled pasta), butter adds a rich creaminess and sweetness to the salty, savory soy sauce. It makes the most sumptuous sauce when glaze over meats, vegetables, or even noodle dishes. Not to mention, soy sauce gives us a familiar taste to the dish.
How to Make Butter Shoyu Chicken
The ingredients for the butter shoyu sauce is fairly basic and short, but it has all that it takes to enrich a dish.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Skin-on chicken thigh (see why in the cooking tips section)
- Sake
- Mirin
- Soy sauce
- Sugar
- Butter
3 Easy Steps
- Pan sear the chicken on the skin side until golden brown.
- Flip to cook the other side and add sake to steam the chicken until cooked through.
- Season the chicken with the sauce.
Cooking Tips
- Use skin-on chicken thighs – Instead of using chicken breasts, I prefer to use chicken thighs. Fattier than lean meat, they are less likely to turn dry on the heat. The skin from the thigh gives extra flavor and keeps the meat moist and juicy. I recommend removing the bone first so it’s faster to cook.
- Sear until golden brown – The moment the oil gets hot, it’s time to give the chicken a deep, nice sear for presentation and crispness. You’d want to go for a bit darker brown (not burnt) since we’ll be giving the meat a quick steam later that will take away some of the colors.
- Use sake for steaming – Sake not only masks unwanted gamey flavor but also adds nice umami. If you don’t have sake, you can use white wine (dry sherry would be a good sub). Alternatively you can use water, but no additional layer of flavor to the chicken.
- Spoon the sauce over the chicken – After adding the sauce to the pan, repeatedly spoon the sauce over the chicken while the sauce is being reduced. It’s an extra step, but I think it’s really worth it in the end.
What to Serve with Butter Shoyu Chicken
If you are thinking of cooking chicken tonight, definitely give this recipe a try. There is no need to marinate, and you can finish cooking in 20-30 minutes!
Serve the Butter Shoyu Chicken with steamed rice and miso soup alongside a vegetable side dish and you’ve got a delicious meal for the family.
Other Delicious Recipes
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Butter Shoyu Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless, skin-on chicken thighs (2 thighs; Japanese grocery stores sell prepackaged boneless, skin-on thighs, but you can ask the butcher to remove bones from bone-in, skin-on thighs at your grocery store)
- ¼ tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc)
- 4 Tbsp sake (or water for steaming)
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients
- Cut each chicken thigh into 2 pieces (as you see, this chicken thigh is big). Discard any excess fat. Prick the skin with the tip of the knife. The flavors and heat will distribute faster.
- Lightly sprinkle salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides of the chicken.
- Combine the ingredients for the sauce (2 ½ Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp sake, 1 Tbsp mirin, and 1 Tbsp sugar) in a small bowl and whisk till sugar is dissolved completely. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. When it's hot, add the oil and distribute it evenly.
- Cook the chicken, skin side down, until golden brown, roughly 4-5 minutes.
- When the bottom side is nicely brown and crisp, flip over and cook the other side for 3 minutes.
- Add sake and cook covered until cooking liquid is gone.
- Remove the lid and wipe off excess oil on the frying pan with a paper towel.
- Add the sauce and butter.
- Coat the chicken well with the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the chicken a few times.
- Serve the chicken onto a plate and drizzle some sauce over. I usually serve simple veggies such as blanched broccoli and tomatoes (serve with homemade Wafu Dressing or Sesame Dressing).
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for a month.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on February 14, 2011. The images and blog content have been updated in May 2021.
Thank you for your delicious recipe. I made the chicken this morning. I made two changes: 1. I didn’t use any oil to pan fry the chicken (there was enough fat from the chicken skins) and 2. I tripled the sauce and used only 1 1/2 tbsp of butter. The sauce was delicious and it went well with the rice. Thank you again.
This was a delicious dinner and nice and easy for a beginner cook like me! I discovered a little ‘variation’ because I accidentally added the sauce into the pan at the beginning of cooking the chicken, rather than towards the end. I found this also gave a great flavour, you just have to be careful not to burn the sauce. Thanks, Nami, I love your website and will be trying more!
Hi Elerrina! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Nami and JOC team are so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and our website! Happy Cooking!😊
I made this tonight and all 3 of my kids and husband absolutely loved it. My husband said it was one of the best meals I’ve ever made. My 15 year old son asked if I could make it everyday lol. This was a huge hit and pretty easy to make once you get all the ingredients. The only thing that took a long time was deboning the chicken thighs. If I decide to leave the bones in next time, how would that affect the cooking time? Thank you for all the great recipes!
Hi Angela! We are so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this Nami’s Butter Shoyu Chicken recipe very much!🥰
To cook this dish using bone-in chicken depends on the size of the meat; it will take about 20~30 minutes. Please make sure that the meat’s internal temperature reached 165 F degrees when done. We hope this helps!
Can I use boneless skinless chicken thighs?
Hi Ray, Sure, you can use boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Since it will be no skin, you can dust the chicken with some flour to keep the chicken moist.
We hope this helps!
Absolutely phenomenal dish – perfect for the week-night. While the chicken is better fresh off the pan, reheating this in the oven or the microwave (I would use the oven, if possible, since it makes for better texture) is no issue. With that said, this dish is perfect for meal prepping. I did this with boneless, skinless chicken thigh because it’s what I had, but I definitely plan to use skin-in, boneless chicken thighs in the (near) future.
The only the issue I came across was worrying about whether I cooked my chicken for long enough since I don’t have a thermometer pen which is a personal issue haha. All-in-all, I recommend this recipe to cooks of all skill-levels. Cheers!
Hi Isabella, Thank you very much for trying this recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us. We are glad to hear you enjoyed this dish! As for the thermometer, we highly recommend it! It will be less stress worrying about the Chicken, and the meats are neve overcooked!😃
A quick and easy recipe. It didn’t require any ingredients that I don’t always have on hand. Great for a weeknight dinner with some rice and veg. Delicious!!
Thank you! I have yet to follow a Just One Cookbook recipe that wasn’t a hit!
Hi Gayle! Aww… Thank you very much for your kind word. We are so glad to hear you enjoyed this dish and many others. Thank you for trying our recipes!
Great recipe! I used breast as it’s what I had on hand (I imagine thigh would be even tastier) and it came out great. It’s a very rare recipe that’s quick and simple to do and is very tasty. Thanks for sharing it!
Hi Jason,
Aww…Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear you enjoy this dish.☺️
This recipe is amazing. I skipped the sake as I didn’t have any on-hand but it turned out delicious. Since I’m Malaysian, I paired it with the rice from Hainanese chicken rice recipe which I regularly cook and it pairs amazingly well.
Thank you for this and many other amazing recipes that I’ve tried on this website.
Hi Malaysian Fan,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so glad to hear the Chicken turned out delicious and you enjoyed it with Hainanese Chicken Rice. We have to try the combo one day.😋
I made this dish today and my family loved it, including my 2 year old picky eater. She kept pressing me to give her the chicken so I didn’t have time to snap a picture 😂 Thank you for another great recipe!
Hi Selina!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We couldn’t be happier to hear how much joy and excitement Nami’s recipe has brought to you and your family!
Next time, Please take a cute picture!😊
Hi Nami, I love Japanese food and really wanted to learn how to cook Japanese cuisine. I am so glad and very satisfied that I found your website. It made cooking easier because of you. Every recipe that I have tried really taste so good without adjusting anything. I sometimes have to adjust measurements of ingredients in some of the recipes I found in other websites and sometimes they don’t give all the ingredients. But with you, all good and tummy satisfying. Thank you for sharing your cooking!!
Hi Mildred!
We couldn’t be happier to hear how much joy and excitement Nami’s recipe has brought to you!
Your kind words meant to us a lot! Thank you for writing! 💕
Dear Nami, my parents were from Kumamoto and my mom was a great cook. She made a
similar dish which she called garlic butter chicken. She would fry the chicken in butter and when cooked, she would add a lot of minced fresh garlic and shoyu. It did not make a lot of sauce but enough to coat the chicken. It was delicious and since my dad was diabetic, he could eat it too.
The recipe is as follows: 4 boneless chicken thighs cut into 4, 2T butter, 4-5 cloves garlic minced, 1//3 C shoyu and fry til the shoyu becomes thick This is an approximate recipe as my mom never gave me a recipe to follow. Hope you like it.
Hi June,
Yummy! Garlic Butter Soy sauce Chicken! The aroma from garlic must be good!
Thank you for sharing. We will try in our kitchen! 😋
AWESOME! Reminded me of Bourbon chicken with the deep savory flavor and subtle sweetness to contrast. Rates 10000 on the umami scale
Hi Brayden, We couldn’t be happier to hear how much joy and excitement Nami’s recipe has brought to you! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Is this similar taste to teriyaki except it’s got butter in it?
Hi El! Yes, indeed. 🙂
Thank you for another great recipe! 2nd time I modified to be a little bit like hawaiian stye shoyu chicken. The butter addition is a game changer!
Hi rHolmes! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and how nice you modified it to your liking second time! Thank you for your feedback!
Great recipe again 🙂 Made this with bone in full chicken legs (thigh + drumstick). Put some more sake in to steam it and still ended up divine. The sauce on rice is phenomenal!
Hi Jean! Oh that sounds so delicious with bone-in chicken! YUMMY! Thanks so much for trying this recipe, Jean!
I made this today. The family loved it! It’s so easy and the ingredients are basic so they are something I had on hand already. Definitely will be in rotation now. I have made a bunch of your recipes and they all were awesome! My husband says it’s better than the restaurants!
Hi Virginia! I’m so glad to hear your family enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind words. Thank you so much for trying many recipes. 🙂
I made this Butter Shoyu Chicken tonight. My Japanese wife and I really enjoyed. Thinking about brushing some of the leftover sauce on an ear of corn. Very good and uncomplicated recipe.
Thanks
Hi Jim and Yuka! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and I’m so happy you two enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind comment. 🙂
Dear Nami,
I tried this recipe out last night, replaced the sake with water – but it still tastes really good and my husband enjoyed it! I am new to cooking meat in general. I found your step-by-step instructions very clear and easy to follow.
I halved the amount needed for the sauce as I only used one piece of chicken thigh which seems larger than average – but it’s still a lot of sauce. May I know the average weight of a piece of chicken thigh used in your recipes?
Hi Shaunny! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂 We actually noticed that each chicken thigh weighs differently depending on which grocery store I buy from… so I include the weight in my newer recipes along with the count of the meat pieces. For this old recipe, I didn’t weigh.
From this recipe (https://www.justonecookbook.com/chicken-teriyaki/) I used 3 chicken thighs (1 lb, 454 g). So each thigh should be 150 g or 5.3 oz.
I followed the recipe but tweeted it by adding onions and garlic after I pan fried the seasoned chicken. For additional umami flavor
Hi Korichan! That sounds delicious! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. xo
Nami, I love your posts and your human warmth and caring. Please keep on. You are loved and appreciated by your audience.
Hi Cyndie! Awww… thank you for such a heartwarming comment! It meant so much to me. Thank you!
I made the butter Shoyu chicken today. It was delicious! Thank you, Nami, for sharing your wonderful recipes. The best part is that you make it so easy to follow. My husband loved it. We had it with rice and stir fried Chinese spinach.
Hi EeFong! I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying my recipe and for your kind feedback. 🙂
My husband loves this dish. Thank you for sharing this!
Hi Rizza! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m glad your husband likes it. 🙂
Hello! What kind of side dishes go well with this recipe?
Hi Rizza! I’m not sure what you enjoy, but I hope this page will inspire you!
https://www.justonecookbook.com/categories/recipes/side/
Just made this and it is amazing! So easy and simple, perfect for a weekday quick yummy dinner. I also get stuck sometimes trying to figure out menus and this is just prefect. Very flavourful!
Hi Sheila! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying it and for your kind feedback. 🙂 It’s a great weeknight menu, indeed! xo
Hi. Nami
Love your blog. My 4 years old really enjoy this recipe.
I find it hard to achieve crispness on the skin even though I followed the instruction to pan fry the skin side first. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.
Hi Cory! Thank you for trying this recipe! When you coat with the sauce, the skin will be wet. However, use a cast iron skillet or use high heat to make the chicken skin crisp as much as possible before coating with the sauce. 🙂
Hi, Nami, I was just wondering if you use a Japanese flat drop lid when you cover the chicken, or a regular lid. Thank you.
Hi Kathy! A regular frying pan lid. I usually say Otoshibuta (drop lid) when I use it in my recipes, so don’t worry! 🙂
Hi Nami,
I make lots of your dishes and I just love them. I have made the shoyu butter chicken a couple of times now, but I seem to struggle to get the 3 Tbsp of sake to fry off with a lid on. Do you have any advice?
Hi Jessica! Thank you so much for trying my recipes and I’m glad to hear you enjoy it! You can reduce to 2 Tbsp as long as the chicken is cooked through inside. Or use 3 Tbsp, but once the chicken is cooked through, open the lid and let the remaining sake evaporated. Either works in this case. 🙂
Just made this tonight. So good! Yet so easy! Thank you!!
Hi Carrie! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your feedback. 🙂
I just wanted to say thanks for this excellent recipe. I made it for my family tonight and we all loved it! Absolutely delicious! Just wanted to clarify, the “print” version of the recipe calls for adding the saké and covering until the liquid is almost gone. The instructions above do not. Which is right?
Hi Sara! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback!
“Print” version and the recipe box are exact same recipe. Step 4, to be exact. What do you mean by “the instruction above”?
Hi there, this looks great. Can I ask what frying pan you use? Nonstick or not and name? I’m tired of my poor quality pans. Thanks!
Hi Lisa! I’ve been using All-Clad non stick pan. The quality is very good, but we also can’t use more than medium heat (techinically medium high heat, but I have a strong gas burner, so I am allowing myself to use only medium heat for my non-stick). Still, I change it once every 2 years or so because the edge of pan gets scrapped off etc. But it’s been the best non-stick pan that I keep using the same. 🙂
Thank You so much for all your time you share such delicious foods with all. Also I truly from the heart love the music in the background of your videos. Thank you for n unforgettable cooking experience. ありがとう
Hi Fonchie! Aww thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy you enjoy my videos and website. I hope you continue to enjoy my recipes! Thank you!!
can i use salted butter?
Hi Gladys! Sure, just remember to go easy on salt. 🙂
Any suggestion on a side vegetable dish for this dish?
Hi Cynthia! So many options…but I don’t know what you like. If I was cooking this tonight, then I’d pick Japanese Potato Salad (https://www.justonecookbook.com/japanese-potato-salad/) and Hijiki (https://www.justonecookbook.com/hijiki-salad/) or Spinach Gomaae (https://www.justonecookbook.com/spinach-with-sesame-sauce/).
https://www.justonecookbook.com/categories/recipes/side/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/categories/recipes/salad/
Tried this recipe for a quick dinner today, it was really good and we have no leftover ????it is also very quick to prepare, great for a weeknight meal. Thank you!
Hi Wendy! Yay, I’m so happy to hear you liked this dish. Thank you for your kind feedback Wendy! xo
ive just brought teriyaki marinade, and was wondering if i could marinate the chicken in it instead of making my own sauce. would it still taste the same
Hi Charlesjnr! It’ll taste different as the store-bought marinade and homemade teriyaki are different. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I recently discovered your blog, and being a working mum, your many quick, simple and delicious recipes such as gyudon and teriyaki are a life saver!
However, I am just wondering if you ever encountered the issue of excess juice/liquid coming out of the chicken when you’re frying/stir frying it. My chicken produces so much liquid every time I had to cook uncovered for a long time for it to evaporate, and by that time the chicken would be too tough and dry! I tried coating the chicken with flour and that helps – but it’s certainly not the way you cook it!
I’m just wondering if that’s an issue with the chicken or with my method…
Thanks!
Tracy
Hi Tracy! Thank you for finding my blog and I’m happy to hear you enjoy cooking from it.
First thought came to my mind is if your chicken has left on the kitchen counter for a long time before you cook it. For example, you take out from the fridge and there is a long time for the chicken to be at the counter before you start cooking it. In that case, I recommend removing the extra moisture with paper towel before cooking process. The second thing is that if your frying pan is very low temperature when you start cooking the meat. After putting cold meat on a pan that’s not hot enough, the pan gets even cooler and it takes a long time to heat up. During that time chicken releases water and by the time pan is hot, you have a lot of liquid. Instead you should use higher heat to start (and pan will be less hot due to chicken) and remove the moisture as soon as possible. And third point is to use a bigger pan that gives enough space for chicken to move around. If it’s crowded, the meat will be “steamed” instead of getting enough heat from all arounds. Hope this helps? 🙂
Is it okay to cook with sake if i will serve this for my toddler?
Hi Rose! Alcohol evaporates and only umami flavors from sake (rice wine) remain in the dish. In Japan, we use sake and feed the children if it’s cooked like this. 🙂
Thanks so much for replying! Now i can use both sake and mirin without any worries. My family loves japanese food most especially my 8year old. Love all your recipes esp the tonaktsu and tonkatsu sauce!!!
Hi Rose! I’m happy to hear your 8 year old enjoys Japanese food. Thank you so much for trying my recipes! 🙂
I’ve always love chicken teriyaki, and today I cooked it myself for the very first time! ^^ The taste is really really good (yay! ^^)… but the chicken did’t feel as tender as how it would usually feel when I get it from the restaurant. Do you have any idea what I did wrong? I was thinking maybe I cooked too long, I’m not sure..
Hi Jessica! You could be right. Overcooking could cause the meat hard and dry. Also, which part of chicken did you use? Some restaurant uses chicken thigh, some use breast… it depends, but I know thigh is more flavorful and tender. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thanks Nami for your reply. I used chicken thigh in my cooking. I’m going to try cooking again this weekend, and I’ll let you know if I get it right this time 🙂
Thanks so much for your response. Good luck! 🙂
I cooked teriyaki chicken on Saturday evening for my family, and the response was good! I’m going to do this again and again, because it tastes so very good! And I also tried your recipe for Zaru Soba too, love it! 🙂
Hi Jessica! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe (and zaru soba recipe)!! Thank you very much for your kind feedback. 🙂
i just did this teriyaki chicken for dinner. Looks good and am sure it’s yummy. I wonder for the extra sauce, can we keep in the fridge for the next dish like salmon?
Hi Vaness! I’m so glad to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂 I’m sorry for the late response. Is the extra sauce cooked or non-cooked. I usually recommend to make it fresh every time. 🙂 If you are going to re-use it, make sure to re-heat it. 🙂
making a crockpot teriyaki chicken and using your teriyaki recipe!! Thanks alot!
Hi Vicki! Nice… I want a crockpot one day too! 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Hi Nami. I,m very pleased to find your blog. I visited Japan many years ago and of course I was eating in restaurants. However, I always wanted to know more about japanese cuisine. I only have one question to you. you said you do not often eat Teryaki at home. Why ? and I’m interested in Tempura.
I will follow you and happy to try your suggested japanese recipes .
Hi Mona! Welcome to my blog and I’m glad you stopped by!
We have many other ways to make seasoning besides Teriyaki style sauce. Unfortunately, most of Japanese dishes in Japanese restaurants have “Teriyaki” sauce only. But we have different kinds of sauce or marinade we use. So that’s why we don’t eat “teriyaki” often.
Many of Japanese dishes uses same condiments – soy sauce, mirin, sake, but we simmer or braise food and it’s no longer Teri “yaki” (grilled).
I have a shrimp tempura recipe here and plan to share vegetable tempura soon.
Hope you enjoy my recipes!
I made this today for dinner,I must say it was amazing and very delicious! I will be making this again!
Hi Lena! Ohhh I’m glad you liked it! It’s easy to prepare right? Thanks for letting me know!
Hi Nami,
Just stumbled onto your site and want to make everything on here!! My bottle of mirin says it’s a cooking sake, but they are not the same thing, are they?
Thanks!
I’m glad you found my blog, welcome! Mirin and cooking sake is different. I’ve noticed that some level says cooking sake. You can use regular sake or cooking sake, or chinese rice wine. Mirin is sweet, and we use it to substitute sugar or gives some nice luster in the sauce, but it contains some alcohol in it.
Hope this helps. Just in case you don’t know, I have a pantry page (which I need to update…) you might think it’s helpful too…
Is cooking sake the same as “kikkoman Manjo Aji-morin sweet cooking rice seasoning”?
It does contain 8% alcohol. Thanks
Hi Julie, that’s Mirin, not sake. You can buy either cooking sake, or buy a cheep bottle of (drinking) sake and use for cooking. If you can’t find sake, then you can substitute with Chinese rice cooking wine. 🙂
Amazing dish! My family really enjoyed it (even my picky kids)
I use your recipes every couple weeks and they always turn out amazing! Thank you!
Hi Amanda!
Aww. Thank you very much for your kind feedback and for trying our recipes every couple of weeks!
We are so glad to hear you and your family enjoyed our recipes!
I am living in Okinawa and trying to cook Asian, so your site is very helpful. I would prefer using chicken breast instead of thighs. What do you think?
Hi Lexi! I’m happy to hear you like my blog. 🙂 Chicken breast works too, but it is more dry so we don’t usually eat that much. I think cooking in a frying pan is quicker than oven, and it keeps moist in the meat. Hope it will work!