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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?
We love Natasha!! This recipe is outstanding!! Delish. Easy to make.
Better than restaurant
This is a great recipe, I’m lazy so after marinating I just put in oven at 350. Comes out delicious. Thank you for the recipe
Thank you for sharing that with us!
Wonderful recipe Natasha! The only extras I add is 1 pressed clove of garlic and ~1 1/2 tsp. of cornstarch to the marinade. When we don’t have fresh or frozen ginger I use 1/4 tsp. of powdered ginger as a replacement. Sometimes I do throw in some snow pea pods during the cooking process just to have a veggie included.
That sounds great, Amelia! Thank you for the feedback.
Hi Natasha
I love your recipes they are all great particularly the teriyaki chicken stir fry. Past it to many friends who have all loved it. My only variation is that I add 1/2 a teaspoon cornflour as it improves the consistency a lot and the sauce tastes better xx
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Anna!
I just made this for dinner tonight. Very good!! Will be in the rotarion!
I’m so glad you found a favorite, Stephanie! 🙂
LOVE this recipe. I generally do 2-2.5kg of chicken with a 4x batch of sauce, then freeze in portions on top of rice. Makes for easy microwave dinners after long work days. I sub fresh ginger with dried (heaping 1/4 tsp in a 4x batch). When serving I add a bit of mayo on top, which may sound strange but is delicious (and is how my favourite Japanese restaurant serves it!).
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Em!
Did not care for this recipe. The orange flavor is weird. If you give it a try, triple the sauce ingredients. And definitely be careful. This sauce burns VERY quickly.
I made it and it was quite good. You probably didn’t make it right. And did you really need to share that you didn’t like the recipe? You sound like a complainer.
I tried this recipe tonight and it turned out great! I haven’t made teriyaki sauce from scratch before so I was kind of intimidated but it was super simple and had a great flavor once it was done! I also added a bit of corn starch when adding the butter to help the sauce thicken a bit more.
Yum! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Jessica!
Natasha,just made chicken teriyaki for dinner…The taste was heavenly with amazingly succulent chicken…
Stay blessed and keep sharing your wonderful recipes…
Much love
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Sara!