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.
Table of Contents
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- Mix the homemade teriyaki sauce. Heat it in the microwave and stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Prepare the chicken. Score and flatten the thighs to create an even thickness. This step is really important, so please don‘t skip it!
- 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.
- 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
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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Chicken Teriyaki
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- ¾–1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I highly recommend using skin-on, boneless chicken thighs if you can find them)
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil (for cooking the chicken)
Instructions
- In Japan, we use boneless, skin-on chicken thighs for this dish because the flavorful skin provides a protective layer, keeps the meat juicy, and helps the delicious glaze adhere to the chicken. Thighs are more forgiving to cook than chicken breasts, too. Read more about it in the blog post above.For this recipe, I focus on skinless and boneless thighs since that‘s how they‘re commonly sold in the US. However, if you have the chance, I encourage you to try my skin-on recipe at the end of the instructions below.
- Now, gather all the ingredients.
To Mix the Teriyaki Sauce
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the sauce ingredients: 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp mirin, 2 Tbsp sake, and 1 Tbsp sugar.
- Microwave the sauce until hot. Mix well to dissolve the sugar and set aside.
To Prepare the Chicken
- Place ¾–1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs smooth side down on a cutting board. Now, use the scoring method to create an even thickness so the thighs cook evenly. First, cut slits across the meat every ½ inch (1.3 cm) without slicing all the way through. Note: Do not use a meat mallet/tenderizer for this important step, as you may damage the thighs.
- 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. In the below images, you can see how I scored (left) and flattened (right) one piece. Once you finish scoring, check again to make sure the thigh has an even thickness. Repeat with the rest of the thighs.
- Lightly season the chicken pieces with ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper.
To Sear the Chicken
- Heat a large frying pan over medium to medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add 1 Tbsp neutral oil. When the oil is hot, place the chicken smooth side down in the pan. Note: The bottom side will be the presentation side.
- Cook the chicken for 5 minutes (set a timer). Immediately, press down hard on the chicken with a spatula for 5–10 seconds to give the presentation side a nice sear. The right image below shows what the chicken looks like after 5 minutes of cooking; please adjust the time based on your stove and cookware.
- Flip over the chicken. Immediately press it down again with the spatula for 5–10 seconds.
- Switch to low heat, then cover with a lid and steam the chicken for 3 minutes.
- Open the lid. Use a paper towel to wipe the excess grease and protein from the pan. This helps create a more transparent sauce.
To Add the Teriyaki Sauce
- Now, increase the stove‘s heat to medium and add the teriyaki sauce to the pan. Tilt the pan and frequently spoon the sauce over the chicken.
- When the chicken is well coated with the sauce and cooked through, transfer it to a cutting board.
- When the sauce is thick enough, transfer it to a bowl. Remember to stop cooking while the sauce is slightly thin because the residual heat will continue to thicken the sauce. If you‘d like it thicker, reduce the sauce for 2–3 more minutes.
- Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Transfer them to a ceramic plate. Sear with a kitchen butane torch to enhance the flavor. You can also use a broiler in the oven.
To Serve
- Serve on a plate with the sauce drizzled on top. You can also serve it over steamed rice with the sauce drizzled on top, as I did here. I also served green salad and tomato wedges on the side.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3 days or in the freezer for a month.
To Cook Skin-on Chicken Thighs
- If your ¾–1 lb skin-on chicken thighs are bone-in, ask your butcher to remove the bone or you can debone them yourself. Place the thigh meat skin side down on a cutting board. To even the thickness, make slits on the meat every ½ inch (1.3 cm) without cutting all the way through. Cut deeper slits on the thick parts and skip scoring the thin parts. As you score, press open the meat to flatten it. Once you finish scoring, check again to make sure the meat has an even thickness. Repeat with the rest of the thighs.
- Place the thighs skin side down in a hot frying pan and cook using the same method as the recipe above.
- Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Transfer them to a ceramic plate. Sear with a kitchen butane torch to enhance the flavor. You can also use a broiler in the oven. Serve on a plate and drizzle the sauce on top.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on Mar 22, 2012. It was updated with a revised recipe, new images, and more helpful information on April 14, 2024.
Hi Nami
I’m a little confused because the ratio you give in the text is different to the recipe.
2 parts soy sauce, 2 parts sake, 2 parts mirin, and 1 part sugar vs 1 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp mirin 1 Tbsp granulated sugar 2 Tbsp soy sauce
Hi Bethia! Sorry about the confusion. My go-to teriyaki sauce is 2 parts soy sauce, 2 parts sake, 2 parts mirin, and 1 part sugar and this is how I remember. But like I mentioned in the blog post, I change up based on ingredients. Here I used 2 Tbsp soy sauce but I added 2 Tbsp water to dilute, so that I have enough liquid to marinate the chicken. I also added grated ginger and onion as well to dilute the soy sauce further but my regular teriyaki sauce doesn’t include ginger or onion.
Hope that makes sense. When you make teriyaki sauce at home, always remember equal parts of soy sauce, mirin, and sake. And half part sugar.
I am in the UK, can u suggest which type of sake I should use for cooking? Is there a special cooking sake. The sake I’ve seen online seems expensive and doesnt keep once opened so it seems wasteful to use for cooking when only a tablespoon or two is usually required thanks.
Hi Stef! I use a very cheap bottle of real sake (not cooking sake with seasonings in it) for my cooking – usually between $5 to $10. I have been to London this past spring and I went to JapanCentre and I was relieved to see various condiments and foods they carry. However, I didn’t check sake….
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/sake/
I use one of 3 sake I listed here. They are cheap sake, so I wouldn’t drink (some may drink tho since it’s regular sake)
Cooking sake is another choice – it’s not considered alcohol so it could be cheaper. It has salt and other things so they can be stocked as “condiment” section of regular Asian/Japanese grocery store.
If you don’t want to buy, you can use dry sherry or Chinese rice wine (if this is easier to find). Hope this helps!
Sake is a very important ingredient in Japanese cooking, and you might see me using quite often as soy sauce. 🙂
Is it safe to add the teriyaki liquid even though the chicken has been marinating in it? Is it safe to add as long as you cook to boiling? Thank you. Love your recipes.
Hi Heidi! Correct, you HAVE TO cook the sauce before you use the marinades as raw chicken was in there. If you don’t want to cook, you have to reserve some teriyaki sauce before you add raw chicken. 🙂
I made the chicken teriyaki today and it’s excellent. Thanks for the recipe Nami.
I’m so happy to hear you liked it! Thank you John!!
i love this web site i will visit again!!!!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Carol! Hope you enjoy cooking Japanese food at home. 🙂
Another fabulous recipe….. made this for dinner ealier and it taste amazing!! Thank you for sharing…. 🙂
Hi Wai! So happy to hear that. Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
I have gotten a lot of use out of your recipes. The ginger pork is a favorite of mine but my wife prefers the honey chicken. I also appreciate how easy most of the recipes are to make.
That said, I was disappointed tonight because I was planning on making this chicken. I saw that the total cook time was 30 min and gathered my ingredients a few days ago. So about 45 min before I was planning on serving dinner, I sit down to transcribe the directions onto a word document (I have my own format that I like to use) and I notice that 30 minute cook time doesn’t include the three hours of marinating that you’re supposed to do. I guess it’s also my fault for not reading the full recipe, but why does it even say 30 minutes and not “2-3 hours?”
Hi Steven! Thank you for your kind words about my recipes and I’m happy to hear your wife also enjoys them.
I understand – I got feedback from both sides when this issue came. Some people prefer to see the “ACTIVE” time so they don’t want to see 2-3 hours of “prepping time” when you actually spend like 10 minutes. It is misguiding when you want a quick and easy recipe and don’t read the entire recipe and think that it takes 2-3 hours to prep.
Same goes to your side. You wanted to know ahead of time about “inactive time”. Therefore, most of my recipes for the past 2-3 years include “inactive time” information in my Note section. I always write “marinating time” is not included in Prep time, etc.
The current recipe card plugin that I use to write recipe does not support inactive time and “Total Time” is automatically calculated by adding prep and cook time. I wish I can change the total time, but it’s something I can’t change.
However, I have just started to convert all my recipes (close to 600) into a new recipe plugin. This allows me to manually write total time, so I could add extra marinating time into the total time. It’s really awesome. However, this work is going to take me months to complete. So for now I’m gong to write in Note section that marinate time is not included. Thanks for pointing that out, as this recipe is pretty old in my collection.
I truly appreciate your feedback!
I really enjoyed this recipe! I didn’t have chicken thighs or sake but it still came out wonderful with chicken breasts. Paired it with a vegetable stir-fry and a fried egg. Going to try your California roll recipe in a few days and then next week tackle gyoza.
Hi Cine! Wow, you are cooking lots of Japanese food! How wonderful! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so glad to hear yours came out well. Thank you for writing a kind review! 🙂
The dish that comes to my mind first, miso soup, of course. But teriyaki BEEF was the 2nd Japanese dish I ever cooked. I haven’t made it again in decades (mostly because of price considerations) but it was awesome. Incidentally, the recipe I followed called for shichimi togarashi, which I have observed to be relatively unpopular in Japan, but whose flavour together with that of sesame oil became deeply imprinted in my mind as representative of Japan.
Hi Steven! In Japan, we don’t really make a spicy food (with some exceptions, of course). So Shichimi Togarashi is usually located on the table (or pantry) and used for noodles or donburi. We just sprinkle a few (which you know it barely comes out). That’s the typical level of spiciness. 😉 I’m happy to hear you like teriyaki dishes!
Hi Jen
What would you suggest I do differently if I were to bake this?
Thanks
I assume this message is to me (I’m Nami)? If this question was meant for other blog, please ignore my response.
This method is traditional way to make chicken teriyaki and we don’t use oven.
If you were going to bake it, you can use the following recipes:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/teriyaki-chicken-quesadilla/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/honey-soy-sauce-chicken-recipe/
Hi Nami, I made the chicken teriyaki tonight and it was good, but not really what I expected. I am wondering if I used the proper soy sauce. I went to the Japanese market and I bought the light colored lower sodium Kikomon made in Japan. I am wondering if I should have used the dark soy sauce instead and maybe not the lower sodium. If you say I should use the dark, do you recommend the brand Koikuchi Shoya as mentioned somewhere else on your blog.
I am also doing your Yakisoba noodles with pork tenderloin and not pork belly. I will have to do it the night before. I hope it will be ok and taste good the next day heated. The morning of the shower, I will be making the rice for the CharashiZushi and have everything else ready the night before to add to it. One last question. If you had to recommend a good cookbook just for making sushi, sashimi, etc. what one would you recommend. I am also making your baked korokke and bought the sauce you suggested for it. The people at the Japanese market were very helpful. Thank you for all your help and I will let you know how it all turns out.
Hi Shirley! If you’re used to Americanized teriyaki version, Japanese teriyaki sauce may not be a familiar taste. I use Koikuchi soy sauce, and this is same as Kikkoman Organic soy sauce (I’ve asked the Kikkoman about this, and it’s exactly same content as the one I use shown in the Soy Suace Pantry page. We don’t really say “dark” or “light” soy sauce in Japan.
Pork tenderloin is fine as long as it’s thinly sliced. Pork tends to be tougher than other type of meat, so thinly slice would help a lot to keep it tender, as it doesn’t have much fat compared to pork belly. Taste should be okay. Of course the noodles are the best when it’s just cooked (like imagine al dente pasta vs. cold pasta). But at this circumstance, I guess it’s the best you can do. 🙂
Chirashizuki should work okay as long as you mix up in the morning.
I don’t have a cookbook recommendation for sashimi and sushi… I don’t read English cookbooks so I’m not too familiar with Japanese cookbooks written in English. Sorry….
And yes, tonkatsu sauce is great! Hope your party will be successful. Your guests are so lucky you’re cooking all these foods! 🙂 Best of luck!
Hi Nami,
Thanks so much for the info on the soy sauce. I bought the low sodium Kikkoman, but the one made in Japan. I actually had never had Americanized chicken teriyaki. My husband loved it. I found I really didn’t have much sauce and I think that is what I am looking for. Maybe I will just add more sauce. I marinated the meat overnight I won’t have time to go back to the Japanese market for the other soy sauce. I will get it another time.
I feel very overwhelmed because I can’t fix all of this the morning of. Maybe I should do one or the other charishizushi or Yakisoba the morning of. Maybe I could get everything ready for the yakisoba the night before and then do the noodles the next day. So many decisions to make!!
Anyhow, thanks for all your help. I don’t like to try new things for a party without trying them ahead of time, but I just ran out of time, lol. I think maybe I took on too much!!
Shirley
I’ve noticed a lot of your recipes include alcohol such as sake and mirin. I live in the dorms at a school where being caught with alcohol on campus, even if just for cooking, could get me in trouble. Do you have any alternatives?
Hi Rebecca! Ah I see! There’s two ways…
For sake,
1) Use “cooking sake” – this is more like condiments as the alcohol content is very low that it’s sold as condiment at a regular Asian store (even stores that don’t have liquor license). So you can purchase it. It has small amount of sake + other seasonings, but you can use it as sake.
2) Just substitute with water. Now it depends on the recipe. As you can totally skip sake or need to replace with water. Please read my FAQ page for sake.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/faqs/
For mirin,
You can replace with water + sugar.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/mirin/
Hope that helps!
Well I already have the teriyaki sauce so I just need to marinate it and cook it?
Hi Stacy! This recipe works great with this marinade and the way it’s cooked. Since I’m not sure what type and flavor of teriyaki sauce you have, so it’s hard for me to say if this is the best approach. For example, if your sauce is thick like American teriyaki sauce, you will need to adjust cooking time as you don’t need to wait for the sauce to thicken. Plus thick sauce can burn easily, so you might want to marinade in a thin sauce and use that teriyaki sauce to pour toward the end. I wish I can help you but without knowing or using the product I’m not sure what’s the best way. Hope this helps. 🙂
Im using kikkoman teriyaki sauce and it looks very watery
I have never used “teriyaki sauce” so it’s hard to say… You are planning to marinade in this sauce and cook, right? I don’t know if you need to follow this recipe at all. As the ingredients for this recipe is for making chicken teriyaki from scratch. You can just marinade and cook/grill. The sauce is thin so after you marinade, it shouldn’t burn too quickly, at least. 🙂
Hi,
Very interested in making this dish your way. Thanks for your step by step recipe. I have seen several recipes that include pineapple or any fruit. Unfortunately, I tried mine with pineapple, garlic, ginger,sugar, honey, soy sauce and water. Really didn’t quite like it.
Hi Amaka! Japanese “teriyaki” style does not include pineapple, but now some places in Japan have American style teriyaki with pineapples too. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Thanks for awesome recipe. I uploaded it on my Pinterest, Twitter and timeline facebook
Thank you so much for sharing, Zouhair!