This dish has got to be one of the most popular Japanese recipes ever! It often surprises people how simple and quick it is to make. There are many ways to make teriyaki chicken but this is the easiest of them all. You can eat it with rice, in between slices of bread, in a salad or even in a rice paper fresh spring roll.
Ingredients
1 chicken breast or thigh (250g)
2tbs soy sauce
2tbs sugar
2tbs sake
2tbs mirin
2tbs water
potato starch
Step 1


Cut the chicken into bite-sized portions, then add to a plastic bag and add a few tea spoons of potato starch and shake to cover the chicken well.
Step 2

Mix all the sauce ingredients together.
Fry the chicken in a little oil, then mop up the excess with a sheet of kitchen paper. Then add the sauce and fry gently until it becomes sticky and coats the chicken well. This is a perfect food for bento boxes, as you can see below served with Japanese meat balls.
If you liked this recipe please sign up to my newsletter on the right hand side of this post so you can receive recipes like this direct to your inbox! Also learn about the importance of adding ingredients in the correct order with the free essential tips for Japanese cooking – just type your email into the box on the right.











I made this for dinner tonight -I doubled it, and it was ridiculously easy and delicious
I love that I can make most of these recipes with what I already have in my pantry. Thanks again!
Thanks for the comment Jane! If you liked this recipe be sure to check out the Japanese scotch eggs too
Thanks for this simple recipe. It is delicious.
I tried this twice, but I guess I need a little bit more advise …
* When frying the chicken (in more oil than I usually use) the meat sucked up all the oil in no time, and the pan (and chicken) became very dry … there was no excess oil left to wipe away. What did I probably do wrong?
* How long should the second step (after adding the sauce) take? I got the chicken out a few minutes (maybe 5) after adding the sauce. But somehow I remember from cooking with a friend that it took us much longer (some 20 mins). Maybe reduce the heat to have a longer time before the sauce gets sticky?
Many thanks for any help (and the nice recipe)!
Your oil has to be hot enough when you put the chicken.
The amount mentioned in the recipe should become “sticky” if your pan is hot enough.
Waaaayyyyyy too sweet. I don’t know how you do it with 2tbsp of sugar and still be able to make an edible chicken teriyaki. I just added 1.5 tbsp and i had to add a lot more water to the mixture because it was just too sweet. maybe you should change it to 2 tsp!!
YUM! I made this to serve five adults, so easy and tasted fantastic. One tip I would recomend…pour only a small amount of sauce in at a time on top of the chicken, it will thicken up without having to reduce it. This will be a favourite in our house from now on. Thanks
Thanks for the tip Carolyn! Sounds like your family liked this one
hi, i would like to know if i can substitute potato starch with corn starch? potato starch is hard to find in our country. thanks
Yes, that should be ok, but just use a little less of it
Delicious tasting recipe! Thanks. Can this be used with coating Salmon with potato starch? Or is there something different I should do for Salmon Teriyaki?
You can coat the salmon in the same way as the chicken! Good luck!!
So delicious and easy to make! I served it with a salad and your goma sauce- AMAZING!! Thank you xx
Hi Carmen, thank you for your comment. Yes, serving this dish with a side salad is a favourite for me too – the freshness of the salad seems to compliment the sweetness of the sauce perfectly
I made this for my picky Japanese boyfriend, (and I have tried many teriyaki recipes in my time in Japan!) and he said it was the best chicken he had even eaten!!! Thanks so so much for an easy and delicious recipe
Haha that’s great that even a fussy boyfriend can be pleased with my recipes
Look tasty
What if I do not want to use sake? Does it make any difference?
I used chinese cooking wine (I bought from Woolworths & it’s much cheaper than sake) and it tasted great!
Great!! Glad you found a more economical way
I’ve now made this several times and every time it gets BETTER! My tips; double the sauce ingredients, halve the sugar, add some minced ginger, sesame seeds and gradually add to the chicken. Makes it reduce really fast and the result is sticky DELICIOUS teriyaki!
Oh wow great tips Emilie! Thanks so much
im so glad and thankful to have found this recipies,it will help me a lot in my cooking everyday!
This is a super easy recipe – although I have to admit I didn’t add the potato starch to the chicken & fry it first, I did it like a stir fry & it was a winner with my hubby & my 2 year old daughter!! Making it again tonight – this time with noodles & a salad
Yummy!!
Try adding the potato starch next time for even more succulent chicken
Just made it, it was so yummy cnt wait to prepare it to my boyfriend.. Keep posting..
Hi, im hoping to make this recipe tonight I have trawled the supermarkets near to work and have been able to find
-White rice vinegar
and
-Mirin
Im a little confused…do I still need to find Sake? If not what can I use instead?
Please could someone let me know asap
Thank you so much!