Teriyaki Chicken Recipe with a Homemade Skillet Sauce

The short answer: this teriyaki chicken recipe cooks 1 1/2 pounds of chicken to 165°F, then coats it with a sauce that was set aside before the raw meat. It serves 4 in about 30 minutes, with rice.

• Sauce rule: reserve the serving sauce first, or boil any marinade that touched raw chicken
• Leftovers: refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F) and reheat to 165°F
• Next step: keep the sauce ratios on the teriyaki sauce page, and the week plan in the Family Recipe Binder ($6.99)

Read the clean-sauce step before handling the raw chicken. Reserving sauce first avoids needing to decide later whether a bowl or spoon touched raw poultry.

Teriyaki chicken ingredients

The longer sauce, with mirin, honey and storage notes, is how to make teriyaki sauce. That page owns the sauce. This page is the chicken dinner.

How to make teriyaki chicken

1. Stir the soy sauce, 1/3 cup water, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a bowl. This is the sauce. Spoon out half of it and set that half aside in a clean cup. That reserved cup never touches raw chicken.
2. If you want a marinade, pour only the other half over the chicken in a covered dish or a food-grade bag. Refrigerate 30 minutes, and not more than 2 days. USDA FSIS says poultry can be refrigerated up to 2 days in a marinade, and not to use that marinade as a sauce unless it is boiled first. Skip the marinade if you are short on time. The reserved sauce is enough.
3. Heat the oil in a wide skillet over medium-high. Pat the chicken dry. Cook thighs or breast slices in one layer until a food thermometer in the thickest piece reads 165°F. Color is not the test. Move the chicken to a plate.
4. Pour the clean reserved sauce into the empty skillet. Stir the cornstarch into the 1 tablespoon of cold water and whisk it in. Simmer 1 minute, until glossy.
5. Return the chicken and any juices on the plate. Toss to coat. Serve over rice.

If you did marinate and you want that liquid in the pan, bring it to a rolling boil before it goes on the cooked chicken. Do not pour it on straight from the bag.

Thighs with a glaze in the last few minutes are also in our chicken thigh recipes. Times for baking, poaching and grilling are in how to cook chicken.

Teriyaki sits alongside Chinese, Korean, Thai and other favorites in our Asian food at home guide.

Cuts, time and the thermometer

A crowded pan can steam the chicken instead of browning it. Cook in two batches if the pieces touch. Rest is not required for poultry safety once the thermometer reads 165°F. You can slice after a 2-minute rest so the juices stay in the meat, then coat with the clean sauce.

Raw chicken goes back in the refrigerator if dinner is delayed. Do not leave it in the marinade on the counter to "finish" the flavor. The 2-day marinade limit is refrigerator time only.

Rice and plates

Start 1 1/2 cups of dry rice before the chicken if your pot takes 18 to 20 minutes. Four cups of cooked rice is one generous scoop per person. Steamed broccoli or sliced cucumber sits on the side. A sweeter dip, if you want a second sauce, is sweet chili sauce. For more takeout-style chicken dinners, try sesame chicken, honey garlic chicken or a vegetable stir fry.

How to store and reheat teriyaki chicken

Refrigerate the chicken and rice within 2 hours, or within 1 hour if the air is above 90°F. USDA leftover guidance says leftovers keep 3 to 4 days and should be reheated to 165°F measured with a food thermometer. Spread the chicken in a shallow container so it cools faster. The same FSIS marinating page says to cut large pieces of poultry into smaller pieces before refrigerating.

Do not leave the skillet on the counter for a late second dinner. Reheat until the thermometer, not the steam, says 165°F.

A practical skillet sequence

If you skip marinating, keep the unused half of the sauce clean and refrigerated for another use within the same conservative leftover window, or cook it with the reserved half. Do not pour unused raw-chicken marinade back into that clean cup. The full batch of sauce will make a looser, more generous coating than using the reserved half alone; reduce it gently to the texture you want rather than doubling the cornstarch automatically.

Have a clean plate ready for cooked chicken. The plate that held the raw pieces, and tongs used on them, need washing before they touch cooked food. Wash your hands after patting the chicken dry; do not rinse raw chicken in the sink. Keep the thermometer probe clean between checking undercooked and finished pieces.

Check more than one thick piece when their sizes differ. Insert the probe from the side of a thin strip if that helps place its sensing tip in the middle, and avoid touching the hot pan. Approximate skillet minutes are only scheduling guidance. If the outside browns before the center reaches 165°F, lower the heat and continue cooking rather than serving by color.

Start the rice separately and follow its package water ratio. The dry-to-cooked quantity above is an estimate, not a universal yield for every variety. Refrigerate leftover rice promptly in a shallow container alongside the chicken; do not keep a deep pot on the counter until bedtime. When reheating, check the middle of the portion as well as the edges, especially in a microwave.

Plan the dinner

The 1 1/2-pound batch serves about four; plan a leftover rice bowl only if you set aside part of those four servings.

• Meal Planner & Grocery List, $3.99. A weekly menu and an aisle-sorted grocery list.
• Family Recipe Binder, $6.99. Write down that the serving sauce stays in a clean cup.

Browse more kitchen printables in the printables shop. For a party-style chicken option, use the chicken wing recipe and choose a sauce that fits the rest of the menu.

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