More teriyaki recipes: Try our Homemade Teriyaki Marinade or this Crave-Worthy Teriyaki Chicken.
How to Make Teriyaki Chicken at Home
The genius to this recipe is that the marinade used for the chicken doubles as the sauce! It’s made with soy sauce, ginger, honey, and fresh orange juice. Everything comes together really quickly for this teriyaki recipe. Thanks to a quick marinade and a fast cooking time, you can make teriyaki chicken in about 30 minutes! When it comes to choosing the chicken, we use chicken thighs. If you’ve been following along with the blog, you may already know that we love using chicken thighs. They have more flavor and become more tender than chicken breast. That’s not to say that chicken breasts don’t work in this recipe, though! More recipes where we call for chicken thighs: Try our Easy Lemon Chicken Thighs or this Juicy and Tender Shredded Chicken
Honey and Orange Spiked Teriyaki Chicken
The marinade doubles as the sauce for the cooked chicken. To make our chicken teriyaki marinade, we add the following ingredients to a bowl:
Soy sauce, which seasons the chicken and is a crucial component of teriyaki sauce.Honey, which provides a natural sweetness to the marinade and sauce. It also helps to turn the sauce thick and shiny after the sauce is cooked.Ginger adds flavor and a little spice.Mirin is another traditional ingredient when making teriyaki. It’s a sweet rice wine used in Japanese cooking. If you cannot find mirin, we have provided substitutions in the recipe below.Toasted sesame oil adds a nuttiness and umami (savoriness) to the marinade/sauce.
Marinate the chicken for at least 15 minutes. You can marinate for longer; the chicken will only get better. After marinating, take the chicken out of the marinade and add it to a hot pan. Cook the chicken until light golden brown on all sides. Then pour in the marinade. Continue to cook until the marinade turns shiny, thick and coats the chicken. More: You may also enjoy our quick and simple stir fry sauce made with fresh garlic and ginger! Recipe updated, originally posted December 2012. Since posting this in 2012, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne 1/3 cup (80 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice, from 3 small oranges 3 tablespoons pure honey 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger, about 1-inch piece fresh ginger 2 tablespoons mirin, see note 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil 1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs 1 tablespoon high heat cooking oil, suggested: avocado oil or vegetable oil 2 teaspoons orange zest, optional 2Cut chicken thighs into bite-size pieces then add to the marinade. Let marinade for 15 to 20 minutes. 3Heat oil in a large skillet or wok with a lid over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the marinade and place into the pan. Save the marinade for later. 4Cook chicken, occasionally stirring, until lightly browned on all sides. Turn the heat to medium-low then pour in the marinade and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, and then check to see if the chicken has cooked through. If cooked, remove the chicken to a clean bowl. Allow the marinade to simmer for 1 to 3 minutes until thickened then toss with the chicken. Serve over rice sprinkled with orange zest.
