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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?
This recipe WINS. LOVED it.
I’m so happy you enjoeyd this recipe, Heather!
What type of soy sauce do you recommend? I just made it with a Chinese dark soy and it rather swamped all the other flavours.
Hi Chris, I used regular Kikkoman brand soy sauce (as photographed).
Thanks for the reply – I really should pay more attention to the pictures! That explains it nicely – I’ll try again with Kikkoman as I can see this should be a winning recipe.
Chris R. I always use San-J Tamari Lite or Regular in this recipe. Comes out perfect every-time! I do sometimes double the sauce recipe, depending on how much chicken I use. I also whisk in a half teaspoon of cornstarch to the reserved marinade, to give the sauce a more velvety mouth feel.
Love, love, love following you on FB. I have tried so many of your recipes and since I am not a cook you make it easy for me to follow. Thank you Natasha. 🤗
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me Alana!
Thank you Natasha.
You’re welcome, Lynn!
Which honey is the best to use for this teriyaki chicken recipe?
Hi Lynn, I don’t use any specific flavored ones, just a basic one from Costco. Jut about any honey would work
Which honey is best for this recipe?
Hi Lynn, I don’t use any specific flavored ones, just a basic one from Costco. Jut about any honey would work
Hi Natasha. This recipe looks great! Can I substitute turkey thighs instead of chicken?
Hi Donna, I haven’t tested that but here’s what one of our readers wrote ” Hi Natasha, thank you so much for this recipe, just made it with turkey fillets and it it’s absolutely delicious, I did use maple syrup instead of honey. It was last minute recipe for me too, great instructions, worked out as you stated and it will now be a staple. Well done!” I hope that helps.
Thank you! I’ll give it a try.
Hi Natasha,
Has this recipe been changed? Doesn’t taste like before after making it.
I have not changed the recipe, I suggest making a third time, let me know how it goes!
Do you think I can bake chicken together with the marinade? If yes, for how long? Thx
Hi Larisa, on of my readers shared the following helpful review: “I marinated them overnight and baked on low (275 oF) for 2.5 hours and on high for 10 minutes. It is perfect for Sunday’s lunch because I can leave it in the oven before church and when I come home from church I already have a lunch”
Hi Larisa, one of my readers shared the following helpful review: “I marinated them overnight and baked on low (275 oF) for 2.5 hours and on high for 10 minutes. It is perfect for Sunday’s lunch because I can leave it in the oven before church and when I come home from church I already have a lunch”
That review gave me an anxiety attack. So she leaves her home to go to church with the oven turned on and nobody to supervise the chicken in the oven? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
I definitely would not recommend leaving your oven on when leaving the house. I think she meant leaving it in a warm oven to keep warm?
Hi Natasha! I forgot the ginger can I make it without it??
Hi Toni, 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.
I made a few changes to this recipe. The first time I made it I realized adding butter to a teriyaki glaze makes it a little greasy. I lived in Hawaii and no one adds butter to teriyaki. I tried it and did not like it. Besides it really doesn’t need it.
This time I added a little garlic to the marinade. And added cornstarch to the chicken before I started cooking. I let the marinade reduce then added the chicken back. Was very good.
So so good. Added veggies and slivered almonds with green onion garnish. Yum. Oh I also used white meat.
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe Jean!
Hi Cheryl, yes you made it the authentic way. That’s how I remember my childhood girlfriend’s mother made it. They were Chinese. they all spoke chinese in the house. This was back in the late 60’s early 70’s
I just made this for dinner outstanding. I only added some fresh garlic bc we like it. But did everything else as directed.
Great to know that you enjoyed your dinner, Edith. Thank you for your excellent review and feedback!
I have been looking for an orange, ginger and teriyaki sauce for a long time. I marinated drumsticks for 24 hours, put them in the oven and boiled down the sauce. I put some veggies in a wok, put them on rice and poured the sauce over top with drumsticks on the side. Excellent recipe and simple, will use it a lot in the future with different variants. I use a lot of your recipes, they are tasty, quick and simple!
I’m so happy to hear that, Norm! Thank you for that amazing review!
This was so delicious! Followed the directions exactly and we loved it! It’s definitely a keeper! Thank you so much!
Sounds like you found a new favorite, Karen! Thank you so much for that wonderful review.
Your recipes are easy to follow with items most of us have in our pantry. In “my day” I had Graham Kerr and Julia Child. I had no idea what 3-4 of the ingredients were, nor did anyone at my grocery store! Therefore when I was “your age” I knew how to bake a potato, cooking anything on top of the stove forget it! I couldn’t afford the fire insurance! Thankful for Facebook and you a bright young teacher here for beginner cooks and rusty old cast irons like me! Thank you!
I’m so inspired reading your review. Thank you!
This teriyaki is SO delicious! Love it!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Marie!
What is the shortest time to marinate it?
(Student)
Hi Ral, it really isn’t necessary with this recipe to marinate longer than 20 minutes.
So tasty and easy for a new mum! Simple is best as of lately.
Only thing I would do next time is double the maraide for my rice & veggies.
Thank-you!
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Deana!
Loved it- I added a few julienned veggies and served over rice. Very easy and yummy! Thanks.
That sounds delicious! Thank you for that awesome review.
Just prepared this dish and I loved it. Smelled really good too, but after tasting the chicken I felt like the teriyaki flavor wasn’t strong enough.. Could it be that I didn’t marinade it long enough?
Hi Laura, that is possible. Was anything altered or changed in the recipe otherwise?