Chef notes
A delicious dish that's both savory and sweet, chicken teriyaki is a takeout staple. This recipe for chicken teriyaki is easy to make because it doesn’t require a lot of prep time or marinating in the fridge. It’s ideal for a quick weeknight dinner and only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.
The secret to this recipe's popularity is in the sauce. This is an ideal balance of soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger. It is the combination of sweet and salty that keeps you coming back for more, while the garlic and ginger give it just the right amount of bite to give it layers of flavor.
This recipe works so well, and so quickly, because you don’t need to marinate the chicken! When you marinate chicken in this high sugar content sauce and then sear it, it tends to burn. Instead, the chicken is seared at a high heat, then set aside while all the sauce ingredients are added to the skillet to slowly boil. The chicken is then added back to the sauce just as it begins to form. As the chicken continues to cook, the sauce will thicken and coat the chicken, making it sticky and irresistible.
I recommend serving this dish with steamed rice, which soaks up the sticky sweet teriyaki sauce.
Technique Tip: If you want a thicker teriyaki sauce, you can mix ¼ cup of water with a teaspoon of cornstarch and add it to the sauce at the end.
Swap Option: You can swap the fresh garlic and ginger with the dried equivalents — about a ½ teaspoon garlic powder and a ¼ teaspoon ginger.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- kosher salt, to taste
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon garlic, peeled and grated
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- scallions & sesame seeds, for topping
Preparation
1.Pat chicken thighs dry with a paper towel and season generously with kosher salt.
2.Add the oil to a medium skillet set over medium-high heat. Place the chicken thighs in the hot pan and sear for about 6 minutes, until golden-brown. Flip to cook the other side, about 5 more minutes. It doesn’t need to be fully cooked at this point — the chicken will finish cooking in the sauce. Transfer the seared chicken thighs to a plate and set aside.
3.Turn the stove down to medium heat. To the skillet, add the water, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, grated garlic and ginger. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes and then reduce the stove to low heat.
4.Add the chicken thighs back to the pan and toss to coat in the teriyaki sauce, simmering for 8 to 10 minutes until the sauce thickens up.
5.Serve the chicken with any additional sauce spooned over top.
