Teriyaki chicken is a comfort food of mine, because I grew up eating it a lot. That sweetly savory sauce and juicy grilled chicken is so simple and so good. Over the years, we have shared a lot of recipes for teriyaki, but today I’m sharing my favorite, simplest grilled teriyaki chicken. You can marinate the chicken for up to 24 hours, or you can just dip the chicken in the teriyaki sauce and grill it up right away. It’s flexible, forgiving, easy, and everyone loves it. You can prep the teriyaki sauce ahead of time (up to a week!) or whip it up right away. It’s simply the best.
Just A Few Ingredients
- Chicken: We love the rich flavor of chicken thighs, but this recipe is really adaptable, so feel free to use any cut of chicken you like best. Just remember that using a different cut of chicken will change the cooking time a bit.
- Soy sauce: Low-sodium soy sauce works here, too, or if you want the chicken to be gluten-free, use gluten-free tamari instead of the soy sauce.
- Cornstarch: This is a thickener and it makes the sauce have that signature sticky texture we all expect teriyaki to have. Yum!
- Brown sugar: Coconut sugar is a great sub for brown sugar, if you’d like to mix it up a little.
- Honey: Honey adds a sticky richness to the sauce and we love the combo of honey AND sugar. However, you could use all sugar or all honey and the sauce would still be delicious.
- Seasonings: Ground ginger and garlic powder are better than fresh in this case, because they whisk so seamlessly into the teriyaki sauce. I love fresh ginger and garlic in this Teriyaki Sauce recipe, but for grilled chicken powdered garlic and ginger work a little better so the little bits don’t burn.
How To Make Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
- Make the teriyaki sauce: This only takes about 5 minutes, but you can do it a few days or even a week ahead of time. If you’re meal prepping over the weekend, it’s a great little task to get done.
- Coat the chicken thighs in teriyaki sauce in a big bowl.
- Marinate the chicken in the sauce in the fridge for up to 24 hours, or you don’t have to marinate it at all if you’re in a rush.
- Grill the chicken on a covered grill over medium high heat.
- Flip the chicken pieces after 5 minutes, and baste with more teriyaki sauce.
- Check for doneness using an instant-read thermometer. When you see 165°F, they’re done!
- Serve with extra teriyaki sauce!
Grilled Teriyaki Tips
- Make the teriyaki sauce ahead of time: Prepare the sauce up to 1 week ahead and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- For the juiciest chicken, marinate overnight: Chicken can be marinated in teriyaki sauce for up to 24 hours covered and in the refrigerator.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Tip: I personally love to eat any leftover chicken cold on a salad (try it on Miso-Ginger Chicken Slaw) but if you want it warmed back up, just gently heat it in a skillet until it’s warmed through.
What To Serve It With
I mostly always serve grilled teriyaki chicken in a really simple way, with plain Steamed Rice & and either Steamed Broccoli or Roasted Broccoli. For the kids, I like to include some fresh pineapple, and if you want to really knock their socks off, try putting some fresh pineapple slices on the grill. The sugars in the pineapple caramelize and the results are killer. If you want a lower carb side, our crunchy Red Cabbage and Apple Slaw is a great option.
Spotlight: Teriyaki Sauce
My obsession with teriyaki started when I was little. Though traditionally, in Japan the word teriyaki refers to a cooking style (basically grilled meats) in my American childhood, I very much associated the word teriyaki with chicken cooked with a deliciously sweetened soy sauce-based sauce. Whenever we ate out at a restaurant that had teriyaki chicken, that’s what I’d order and at home we always had teriyaki sauce in the fridge. My father-in-law makes teriyaki chicken with jarred sauce all summer long and while there is nothing wrong with using a store bought sauce, when you love teriyaki as much as I do, making your own teriyaki sauce is kind of a must. The best thing is that it keeps well in the fridge for at least a week, so you can whip up the sauce ahead of time and have teriyaki chicken anytime the craving strikes. Use it to make this recipe, obviously, or any of our other delicious teriyaki dishes, like our juicy Teriyaki Meatballs, Teriyaki Sushi bowl, or Teriyaki Chicken Lettuce Wraps. If you want to make the sauce a little spicy, add a few teaspoons of sriracha or chili paste to the sauce, or if you want a more kid-friendly kick, try our Lemon Teriyaki sauce.
Our Favorite Grilled Chicken Recipes
We’ve Got Your Grilling Season Recipes Right Here!
For more recipe inspiration, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest or order our cookbook. We love when you share your meals. Tag us on Instagram using #themodernproper, and we’d love to hear what you think of this recipe in the comments below. Happy cooking!
