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This teriyaki chicken marinade is quick and delicious, with just 6 ingredients! Make a batch tonight and use it for grilled or baked chicken.
This Teriyaki Chicken Marinade is one of my favorite chicken marinades. It’s a fun switch up from our savory garlic Chicken Thigh Marinade. It is perfectly sweet, salty, and savory. It works great for chicken breasts or chicken thighs. Sometimes we even make a teriyaki salmon with it. Plus, use my trick of boiling the marinade after you marinate the chicken to make a delicious sauce!
Teriyaki Chicken Marinade Ingredients
- Soy Sauce – you can use regular or low sodium soy sauce. For a gluten-free alternative, use tamari or coconut aminos.
- Brown Sugar – you can also use half brown sugar half honey.
- Water – for a tropical twist, use pineapple juice instead of water.
- Worcestershire Sauce – just a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce gives this marinade a little zing. You can also use rice vinegar, rice wine vinegar, mirin, or even a little sake!
- Garlic
- Fresh Ginger
How to Make Teriyaki Chicken Marinade
- Make the Marinade: Add all of the marinade ingredients to a bowl and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Marinate the Chicken: Place the chicken in a resealable plastic bag and pour the marinade over the top. Seal and refrigerate for 6-24 hours.
- Grill the Chicken: Remove the chicken from the marinade, but do not discard the marinade. Grill over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Make the Sauce and Serve: While the chicken grills, pour the used marinade into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. For a thicker sauce, mix a few tablespoons of cornstarch with water to create a slurry. Then add to the sauce and stir until it thickens. Serve the chicken as desired and spoon the warm teriyaki sauce over the top.
Cooking Teriyaki Chicken and Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Our favorite way to cook teriyaki chicken is on the grill, but you can also cook it in the oven! Add the chicken and half of the marinade to a baking dish. Bake at 425 for 50 minutes, brushing the marinade from the pan onto the chicken every 10 minutes.
What to Serve with Teriyaki Chicken
The most common way we serve teriyaki chicken is on a bed of white rice or brown rice with steamed broccoli. We also top the bowl with chopped green onions, sesame seeds, and teriyaki sauce. Sometimes I slice the chicken into strips and make a stir fry with broccoli and carrots.
Questions About Teriyaki Marinade
Between 6 and 24 hours is usually best. Less than 6 hours and the chicken won’t fully absorb the flavor. More than 24 hours and the marinade can start to break down the fibers of the chicken and mess up the texture.
Since the marinade is mixed with raw chicken, you need to boil it in order for it to be safe to eat. Once you boil it and it thickens it makes a delicious sauce!
Teriyaki sauce is thicker and is used to flavor cooked chicken. Marinade is thinner and is used to flavor chicken before it is cooked.
Read More: 35+ Quick and Easy To Follow Dinner Ideas Your Family Will Surely Love
Teriyaki Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 1.5 pounds chicken thighs, or chicken breasts
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a bowl. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Pour over chicken in a ziplock bag. Marinate for 6-24 hours.
- When you are ready to cook DO NOT DISCARD MARINADE. Grill chicken on medium high heat for 5 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- While chicken is grilling, add remaining marinade to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Serve chicken as desired and top with warm sauce.
Notes
- Make sure to simmer the sauce for a full 10 minutes to kill any bacteria from the raw chicken.
- For a thicker sauce, mix a few tablespoons of cornstarch with water to create a slurry. Then, add to the sauce while it is simmering and stir until it thickens.
- Try this marinade on salmon for a delicious teriyaki salmon!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe sounds very good except the worcestershire sauce (I’m allergic to this sauce) is there a substitute? Please advise. Thank you!
Raquel
Yep, you can actually just leave it out!
Thanks for such a great marinade recipe. It was just what I was looking for when grilling up some chicken! We loved it!
Very flavorful. My kids loved teriyaki chicken. I will definitely make it again.