Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. Especially on days when you feel too lazy to cook and do all the prepping. And something that you can make at home that’s both easy and tasty is Crispy Chicken Teriyaki!
What makes it crispy you ask? The skin! Most people make Chicken Teriyaki with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. While that also works really well, you don’t get the any kind of crispiness that the skin can give. So there you go, you don’t have to coat it in any kind of flour or starch. You just have to use boneless, skin-on chicken thighs to make this recipe and you’re on your way to crispy goodness! Plus, the skin also contains some fat that makes the chicken extra juicy and tender!
Japanese teriyaki sauce is super popular and can be found pre-made in stores. But the teriyaki sauce we’re using in this recipe is homemade. We find it’s always better homemade! Even if it does contain some fatty ingredients, at least you know what you’re putting in your food. Or you can always tweak it to make it healthier or more to your taste. The sweetener we used for the sauce is brown sugar, but if you want to make it healthier you can opt to use honey or maple syrup, which are more natural sweeteners. You do ave to adjust the quantity to taste though, since you might not have to use the same quantity of sweetener if you use honey or maple syrup as opposed to brown sugar. The sauce is sweet, salty and goes really well with a lot of meats, so you can definitely make extra to eat with other proteins like beef or shrimp.
It took us 20 minutes to make and it tasted like it took more! We always had the misconception that the best-tasting food takes a lot of technique and time to make. While that may be true, I can’t tell you how many times we end up eating instant ramen noodles because we screwed up a complicated recipe to make. So on some days just take the save route and make something easy, like this Crispy Chicken Teriyaki!
We hope you enjoy this popular Japanese dish with the addition of extra crispiness to it. Happy eating, and we’re gonna go back dipping every leftover in our fridge in the teriyaki sauce!
Our other Japanese main dish recipes:
Fried Pork Cutlet (Tonkatsu) Recipe
Crispy chicken teriyaki
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb chicken thighs boneless, skin-on
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp canola oil
Teriyaki sauce
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp ginger powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp mirin Japanese sweet rice wine
- sesame seeds for topping
- green onions for topping
Instructions
-
To make the teriyaki sauce, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, ginger powder, and mirin in a saucepan and mix well. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water to make a slurry and add it into the soy sauce mixture. Cook the sauce over medium heat while stirring occasionally until thicker in consistency. If the sauce becomes too thick, add some hot water. Remove from heat and sauce aside.
-
To make the chicken, debone the chicken thighs if needed. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a cooking pan at medium high heat and cook chicken thighs for 6-7 minutes on each side until fully cooked, depending on the thickness of your chicken, and until the skin is crispy. Remove from heat and place in bowl filled with rice. Pour the teriyaki sauce evenly on the chicken and top with sesame seeds and chopped green onions.