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Because we all still need to eat real meals leading up to Christmas and not everyone can survive on Christmas cookies; so this! Teriyaki chicken is a quick and easy dinner and tastes better than takeout. It’s hard to stop eating that honey orange glaze. Not too sweet and not too salty, but just right.
The chicken thighs are tender and delicious. If you’re like me and love super clean meat, chicken thighs can be a little annoying to trim but it’s so worth it. You can’t beat the juiciness and flavor of thigh meat.
I learned how to make this simple and delicious teriyaki chicken from Juliana on Instagram! Her delicious photo of glazed teriyaki chicken over white rice came up in my feed and I was like “gimme ‘dat chicken ?!” I love getting dinner-time inspiration on Instagram!
The ingredient list is so simple, but it works! We’ve made it 3 times in the past week and a half and even when I burned the sauce , my hubby and son still enjoyed it. Leave it to me to burn the sauce.
Watch how to make Chicken Teriyaki!
Ingredients for Chicken Teriyaki Recipe:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from 1 1/2 medium or 1 large oranges)
3 Tbsp honey
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 to 2 lbs (about 6-7 medium) boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat
1 Tbsp oil (I use light olive oil)
1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Green onion and sesame seeds for garnish, optional
Cooks Tip: How to Peel and Grate fresh ginger:
1. Peel with a spoon. It’s the easiest way to get the skin off. Grate peeled ginger with a fine grater or zester.
How to Make Teriyaki Chicken:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together all marinade ingredients: 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup orange juice, 3 Tbsp honey, 1 tsp ginger and 1 tsp sesame oil.
2. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces and place into marinade. Stir and cover with plastic wrap and marinate on the counter 20 min.
3. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Remove chicken from marinade with a slotted spoon, reserving marinade in the bowl. Add chicken to the hot pan and sauté, stirring occasionally until golden and cooked through (5 min).
4. Remove pan from heat and transfer chicken to a bowl. (Don’t leave the empty pan over the heat or you may scorch the bottom of the pan and ruin the sauce – been there, done that and if it happens to you, continue making the sauce using a clean pan).
5. Pour reserved marinade into the pan, add 1 1/2 Tbsp butter (it’s in bold for my own sake because I’ve forgotten it before and it just wasn’t the same) and place back over medium/high heat. Bring to a boil stirring constantly until slightly thickened (1 min) then remove from heat. Add chicken back to the pan and stir to combine.
Serve over hot buttery white rice garnished with fresh green onion and a sprinkle of sesame seeds for pizzazle. I served it with steamed broccoli to appease my conscience and make it a meal.
Easy Teriyaki Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, from 1 1/2 medium or 1 large oranges
- 3 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 1/2 to 2 lbs about 6-7 medium boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat
- 1 Tbsp oil, I use light olive oil
- 1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- Green onion and sesame seeds for garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together all marinade ingredients: 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup orange juice, 3 Tbsp honey, 1 tsp ginger and 1 tsp sesame oil.
- Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces and place into marinade. Stir and cover with plastic wrap and marinate on the counter 20 min.
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Remove chicken from marinade with a slotted spoon, reserving marinade in the bowl. Add chicken to the hot pan and sauté, stirring occasionally until golden and cooked through (5 min).
- Remove pan from heat and transfer chicken to a bowl.
- Pour reserved marinade into the pan, add 1 1/2 Tbsp butter and place back over medium/high heat. Bring to a boil stirring constantly until slightly thickened (1 min) then remove from heat. Add chicken back to the pan and stir to combine. Serve over hot buttery white rice garnished with fresh green onion and a sprinkle of sesame seeds if desired.
Notes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Now that’s what I call teriyaki chicken! I love that it glows – do you see it too?
Wow the recipe was quick and easy-and man was it delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Denise!
Question. Instead of boneless chicken thighs. Could I use boneless chicken breasts?
Hi Mark, I prefer chicken thighs for this recipe since they are more tender and chicken breast is easier to overcook, but you could also make it work with chicken breast.
Very delicious!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
absolutely wonderful! i was a little hesitant about so much orange juice and honey but it is so good!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that Varun!! Thank you for sharing that awesome review with me!
I stumbled across this recipe through Google, and my god it is wonderful. This has very rapidly become a household staple.
The good thing is the mix is pretty forgiving in terms of ratios. If you accidentally add more sesame oil, or the orange you’re juicing doesn’t have a strong flavour, or you decide to go nuts and grate up a huge chunk of ginger, it doesn’t really matter. All the flavours come through and it is just a delightful sauce.
We serve with brown rice and steamed green beans with lots of fresh spring onions. Absolutely joyful and delicious.
That’s so great James! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!!
I cooked this recipe today and it was certainly delicious thank you for sharing your recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it Joy!
Using the marinate
I thought you shouldn’t use the marinate .
Hi Patricia, bringing the mixture to a boil ensures that the sauce is safe. This is also why I cook the sauce separately and then add the cooked chicken back to the pan. 🙂
This recipe was so easy to make and it tasted delicious! I also added 1/4 cup oyster sauce.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!.
How many calories approximately is this dish per serving? 🙂
Hi Thao, We are working on adding nutrition labels and metric measurements on all of our recipes. It’s a slow process since it is one recipe at a time. Until all of the recipes are updated, check out this nutrition analyzer. You can plug in the ingredients from any recipe, select the serving size and it will give you nutritional info, calories, etc. I hope that is helpful to you!
How do I make the recipe using this teriyaki marinade?
Hi Nero. Since I haven’t tried that recipe I would not know the results of that. I recommend just pouring this in at the same stage you apply the marinade to the chicken in the recipe 🙂
I first cut the chicken into pieces and marinated it for 4 hours I used the whole bottle. Then I followed step 3 through 5. I used soy vay island teriyaki sauce.
Thank you for sharing that with us!!
Hi I dont have sesame oil any alternative?
Hi Glyselle, sesame oil gives the recipe more authentic flavor but it would still taste great without it.
Could you do this in a slow cooker?
Hi Cyndi! Honestly I haven’t tried this in a slow cooker so I can’t say. If you experiment please let me know how you like the recipe!
Didn’t change a thing, this recipe is so good!
That’s so great Annabel. Thank you for sharing your awesome review!
Just wanted to say what an AMAZING recipe this is! Thank you so much! My sister made this a while ago, now its my turn. One thing that I am curious about though is, if you don’t have ginger can you use garlic? (I am no professional cooker 🙂
Hi Sofia, it is difficult to sub ginger since it has such a unique flavor and makes it taste more like an authentic stir fry. If fresh garlic is all you have on hand, it would still taste good, but we do prefer stir fry’s with ginger.
Half of these recipes don’t cook like they show it This sauce. completely burnt in my frying pan & turned brown just from cooking the chicken the first time
Hi Brooke, it could be that your cooktop runs hot. If you are having issues with over-cooking, I would suggest turning down the heat lower than what is called for in recipes so stay on the safe side and reduce the risk of burning/scorching foods.
First of all, Thank -You Natasha for sharing this recipe! I have made this on several different occasions. It is very easy to follow and we always enjoy it. I have read several comments throughout the years. The only changes made are one, I do use chicken breast, and did follow a readers suggestion. ( I put a little baking soda in the marinade, and it has consistently come out moist and tender.) The other thing I do, ( and am shocked I never saw this one in reviews or tweaks ) is that I always just barely boil cashews and add to it. Anyways, FANTASTIC… thank you again!
Thank you for sharing those tips with us Teena! I’m happy you are enjoying our recipes!
Hi.. how much baking soda did you specifically use? Thank you.
1 tablespoon of baking soda should be enough for that much chicken. When making oriental dishes we always cut up the chicken and mix in 1 tablespoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon oil and let the chicken sit for about 15 minutes then add the other sauces. The chicken stays tender even when reheating the next day.
could you just use coconut oil or extra olive oil instead of the butter if you’re dairy free? or would it not work without the butter?
Hi, we always use butter but I think it could work well with a substitution.
Hi Natasha! Thank you so much for the amazing recipe – my family loves it. We have recently started getting serious about meal-prepping in advance for the week; does this recipe freeze well? Have you tried to freeze it? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Anna! Meal prepping is so smart. I haven’t tried freezing this so I can’t say for sure, but I imagine the cooked chicken could freeze well. I wish I had a more concrete answer for you.
So delicious! My picky husband LOVED it! This will be added to my list of go to recipes. I love how easy to follow it is… the print out version is super helpful and clear.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Jessie! Thank you for the great review!
hi.can I use beef instead of chicken for this recipe?thanks
Hi Christine, I haven’t tried it on beef but I imagine it would taste great with beef 🙂 If you try it out, let me know how you liked it!
Can I use brown sugar instead of honey for the marinade? Thanks
Hi Ver, yes that should work well with brown sugar.
I used pineapple juice instead of orange juice and two boneless, skinless chicken breasts. After I thickened the marinade in a pan, I added a 10 oz bag of frozen veggies that contained broccoli, carrots, snap peas and water chestnuts. I cooked the veggies for a few minutes until thoroughly heated, stirring constantly to ensure they were evenly covered in the sauce, and then added the chicken. Served over white rice with a side of grilled pineapple rings.
I’m drooling just thinking about that! Thanks for sharing your delicious review with other readers Vera!