Teriyaki Chicken Thighs (2024)

Your whole family will love these easy Teriyaki Chicken Thighs. Juicy chicken is cooked in a skillet and coated with a glossy, sweet homemade teriyaki sauce. You can make this dish in under 30 minutes and it's much healthier than take out!

This teriyaki chicken thighs recipe is one of my favorite quick and easy dinner recipes, and is right up there with my air fryer teriyaki salmon or shrimp stir fry with noodles. It's a dish that you can get on the dinner table in 30 minutes and is always a hit with the family.

Juicy chicken thighs are cooked in a skillet and coated with a glossy, sweet homemade teriyaki sauce. What’s not to love?

Plus, making your own teriyaki sauce at home is much healthier than store-bought teriyaki sauce or ordering take out, because you can control the ingredients.

What is Teriyaki?

In America, teriyaki is a common sauce that’s popular with both kids and adults because of its sweet flavor. You can find it on plenty of restaurant menus or you can buy bottled versions of it at the supermarket.

But why buy bottled teriyaki sauce when you can make a delicious and healthier version at home with just a few ingredients?

Technically, teriyaki isn’t actually a sauce but rather a Japanese cooking method. Teriyaki involves grilling meat and then glazing it with a sauce. The meat is typically brushed with or dipped in the sauce several times while cooking.

Authentic teriyaki chicken is typically grilled, however, you can also make chicken teriyaki in a skillet. I like the skillet method because you can cook the chicken and sauce together. As the sauce cooks, it bubbles up and becomes thick and glossy, forming a delicious glaze on the chicken.

Many recipes for teriyaki call for a little cornstarch because it thickens the sauce quickly. However, traditional teriyaki sauce doesn't use cornstarch.

Traditionally, the sauce is thickened naturally by reducing it in the skillet. As the sauce gets reduced, the sugars are caramelized, resulting in a glossy brown sauce that coats the chicken perfectly.

Ingredients

Ingredient notes and substitutions (see recipe card at end of post for full ingredient amounts):

• Chicken thighs- I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You can use chicken breast but thighs, which are dark meat, will stay juicier.
• Soy sauce- I use reduced sodium soy sauce to control the amount of sodium in the dish; you can use tamari to keep the recipe gluten free
• Mirin- mirin is a Japanese rice wine that adds sweetness and depth of flavor to the teriyaki sauce
• Sake- a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice. You can find small bottles of it in your grocery store, online or at liquor stores
• Ginger- I use fresh ginger for extra flavor; you can substitute dried ginger
• Honey- sweetens the teriyaki sauce; you can use other sweeteners like brown sugar or maple syrup

How To Make Teriyaki Chicken Thighs Step-By-Step

See recipe card at end of post for full recipe details and instructions.

• Step 1- Combine soy sauce, mirin, sake, honey and ginger together in a small bowl.
• Step 2- Heat oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium high heat. Season the chicken thighs with salt and black pepper and add them to the skillet. Cook until golden brown on both sides. Drain fat from the skillet.
• Step 3- Pour the sauce into the skillet.
• Step 4- Cook, turning the chicken often, coating it with the sauce. As the sauce cooks, it will thicken up and form a thick glaze on the chicken. Garnish with sesame seeds and sliced green onions, if desired.

Have you ever wonderedhow long chicken can sit outbefore you need to toss it? Read my post all about how to properly handle and store chicken to help ensure that it's always safe to eat!

What To Serve With Chicken Teriyaki

I like to serve these teriyaki chicken thighs on top of rice. Although white rice is traditional, I usually serve these teriyaki chicken thighs on a bed of steamed brown rice to incorporate some healthy whole grains.

You can also serve it with myquinoa fried riceorcold sesame noodles. You can serve the chicken thighs whole, slice them, or cut them into bite-sized pieces.

I recommend serving a vegetable on the side like mysesame roasted broccoli,miso roasted Brussels sproutsorperfect oven-roasted vegetables.

Recipe FAQs

This recipe is part of my 35 Easy Stovetop Chicken Thigh Recipes Collection.

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