Teriyaki Chicken Bowls (Super Easy Dinner)

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Teriyaki Chicken Bowls with juicy umami-packed chicken, a healthy serving of lightly steamed veggies all served on a warm bed of sticky rice. This easy dinner recipe is just what your busy weeknight ordered.

What You’ll Love About This Recipe

Besides the fact that this chicken recipe is so easy, you’re going to love all the flavor in the Teriyaki Sauce!

  • Easy: This dinner recipe is easy to make, especially when you can make the marinade and Teriyaki Sauce in one bowl at the same time. It’s one of my top-secret meal prep tips!
  • Healthy: These teriyaki chicken bowls are full of protein and veggies. Add a healthy serving of rice and you have the perfect bowl of yumminess.
  • Kid-Approved: If you have picky kids, this recipe is perfect for them. I’ve never met a kid that doesn’t fall in love with the sweet teriyaki sauce. And don’t worry, it really doesn’t have that much sugar in it. Plus, no additives!

Recipe Notes

You can use chicken thighs or chicken pieces in this recipe. I am partial to chicken thighs. You’ll also need to make some steamed veggies and a pot of rice. Check out my post on how to make perfect rice.

Ingredients

This recipe starts with a teriyaki sauce that is going to do double duty as our chicken marinade. You will mix up the ingredients for the sauce and then pull out 1/3 of a cup and dilute it with a cup of water to make the chicken marinade. Genius!

teriyaki sauce ingredients in bowls

Teriyaki Sauce

  • Soy Sauce: You can substitute tamari if you are gluten-free, or even coconut aminos if you are avoiding soy.
  • Brown Sugar: You can also use coconut sugar.
  • Aromatics: Minced garlic and ginger here! If you need a shortcut, you can use jarred garlic and ginger.
  • Rice wine vinegar and mirin: Rice vinegar is available in the “ethnic” section of your local store. Mirin is more like a sake. It adds another element of flavor that I love. You can leave it out if you don’t have it or can’t find it.
  • Spices: I love sesame seeds and red pepper flakes, and both of these are optional. I like almost everything a little bit spicy🔥.
  • Thickener: You will also need either cornstarch or arrowroot starch to make a thickening slurry.

Other Ingredients You’ll Need

  • Chicken: I usually make 8 chicken thighs OR 4 chicken breasts.
  • Steamed Veggies: My go-to veggies for this teriyaki chicken bowl are steamed broccoli, carrots, and cabbage.
  • Steamed Rice: You will want a 1/2 cup to a cup of rice for each serving.

Let’s get saucy

All right, so now, how to cook teriyaki chicken! This sauce recipe can be used for grilled chicken or baked chicken. You can even cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and pan-fry it.

Start with the teriyaki sauce:

You’ll be using a portion of this to make the teriyaki chicken marinade.

Step 1: Add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan.

adding the rice wine vinegar to teriyaki sauce in a small saucepan

Step 2: Take out 1/3 cup of the sauce and put it in a bowl or a plastic bag. Add 1/2 cup of water to the reserved sauce and then add the chicken into it. Cover and refrigerate.

Step 3: Place the saucepan the stove and bring the sauce to a simmer.

teriyaki sauce simmering on the stove

Step 4: Add the cornstarch slurry. Whisk continuously while the sauce thickens.

addin cornstarch slurry to simmering teriyaki sauce

Step 5: Bring the teriyaki sauce to a boil and heat for about 30 seconds. You will want the sauce to coat the spoon. It should be the consistency of warm maple syrup.

testing the thickness of teriyaki sauce after boiling for 30 seconds

Step 6: Add the sesame seeds.

ading sesame seeds to the teriyaki sauce

Make steamed rice and veggies:

Steamed rice can be made on the stove top, in your instant pot, or in a rice cooker (my favorite).

I like to steam my veggies in the steamer basket of my rice cooker. Talk about super easy meal prep.

I usually use a combination of broccoli, carrots, onion, and green cabbage. You can use use whatever veggies you like. They all taste amazing when slathered with teriyaki sauce.

If you’re feeling decadent, you can also stir fry your veggies in a drizzle of sesame oil.

Grill the teriyaki chicken thighs

Remove the chicken and grill it for about four minutes per side. Of course, you can use chicken breasts here as well. Baking in a baking dish or pan-frying the chicken is also perfectly acceptable and delicious!

Assembling your teriyaki chicken bowl

You don’t have to make this in a bowl, of course. For these photos, I used a small plate.

We make this chicken at least twice a month. I keep a batch in the freezer so it’s easy to just thaw out the already marinated chicken and then grill it or bake in the oven. Double the sauce and you’ll be set for months!

Step 1: Add about 1 cup of steamed rice.

1 cup of steamed rice on a white plate building a teriyaki chicken bowl

Step 2: Dice the grilled teriyaki chicken thighs and place on top of your rice.

building a teriyaki chicken bowl step 2 add the grilled teriyakin chicken thighs

Step 3: Add the steamed veggies.

building a teriyaki bowl, ,add steamed broccoli and carrots

Step 4: Slather with teriyaki sauce.

adding teriyaki sauce to the teriyaki chicken bowl

Step 5: Get all that yumminess in your belly!

teriyaki chicken bowl being eaten with chopsticks

FAQs and Expert Tips

Are teriyaki bowls healthy?


It depends! A lot of times, the teriyaki bowls that are in restaurants have sauce that contain a lot of sugar and additives like MSG. However, this homemade chicken teriyaki bowl is big on flavor and protein with NONE of the artificial ingredients.

Can you freeze teriyaki chicken?


Yep! I do it all the time. In fact, this is one of my go-to make ahead freezer meals. All of the ingredients in this marinade freeze beautifully.

Other Easy One Dish Dinners That You’ll Love

grilled teriyaki chicken bowl with grilled chicken thighs, steamed rice, and veggies

Teriyaki Chicken Bowl Recipe

Teriyaki Chicken Bowls with juicy umami-packed chicken, a healthy serving of lightly steamed veggies all served on a warm bed of sticky rice. This easy dinner recipe is just what your busy weeknight ordered.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Servings 8
Calories 68 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 

  • 2 to 3 lbs chicken thighs, or chicken breasts
  • cup teriyaki sauce, below
  • 1 cup water

Teriyaki Sauce and Marinade

Additional Bowl Fixins

  • 8 cups steamed rice
  • 6 to 8 cups steamed vegetables, broccoli and carrots

Instructions
 

  • Place all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Whisk to combine.
  • Take out one-third of a cup and place it in a bowl to make your marinade.
  • Place the remaining teriyaki sauce in saucepan on medium-high heat and bring the teriyaki sauce to a simmer.
  • While the teriyaki sauce is heating, mix up the thickening slurry and and set it aside.
  • Once the sauce is simmering, add the slurry to the pan and whisk. Continue cooking, while stirring continuously until the sauce is thickened, about 30 seconds.
  • Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside. You will have extra.*
  • Store for up to 3 weeks in an airtight container.

Teriyaki Chicken

  • Add one cup of water to the reserved teriyaki sauce.
  • Add the chicken thighs and marinate for several hours, up to over-night, before grilling, baking or pan frying.

How To Cook Teriyaki Chicken

  • Grill: Heat the grill to medium-high. Grill for approximately 6 min on each side.
  • Bake: Heat the oven to 425°F. Bake for 12 minutes on a parchment lined baking sheet
  • Pan-Fry: Heat a few teaspoons of oil, on medium-high heat, in a skillet. Add the chicken and pan-°fry until the chicken is cooked throughout.*

Video

Laura’s Tips + Notes

The internal temperature of chicken should be 165℉. I highly recommend using a probe thermometer. (affiliate link)
GLUTEN-FREE: Use tamari instead of the soy sauce. You can also use coconut aminos. 
VEGAN: Use maple syrup or brown sugar. Marinate slices of extra firm tofu OR just serve the teriyaki sauce with steamed veggies and rice. YUM!
MAKE AHEAD FREEZER MEAL: Double this recipe right from the get-go! Store one portion of chicken and the marinade in a freezer bag. Freeze until you are ready to use it. 
When you’re ready to cook your second batch of teriyaki chicken, simply remove the chicken from the freezer and thaw either in the fridge or at room temperature. 
HOW TO STORE: Store any leftover teriyaki chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can preassemble the chicken teriyaki bowls and reheat them all week long. 

YOUR OWN NOTES

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Nutrition

Serving: 4ozCalories: 68kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 2gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 1272mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gCalcium: 12mgIron: 1mg
Keyword freezer freindly
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5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

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