You will love this quick and easy teriyaki chicken naturally sweetened with fresh orange and honey. Made in just about 30 minutes, this is perfect for busy days! Jump to the Honey Ginger Teriyaki Chicken Recipe or read on to see how we make it.
More teriyaki recipes: Try our Homemade Teriyaki Marinade or this Crave-Worthy Teriyaki Chicken.
How to Make Teriyaki Chicken at Home
The genius to this recipe is that the marinade used for the chicken doubles as the sauce! It’s made with soy sauce, ginger, honey, and fresh orange juice. Everything comes together really quickly for this teriyaki recipe. Thanks to a quick marinade and a fast cooking time, you can make teriyaki chicken in about 30 minutes!
When it comes to choosing the chicken, we use chicken thighs. If you’ve been following along with the blog, you may already know that we love using chicken thighs. They have more flavor and become more tender than chicken breast. That’s not to say that chicken breasts don’t work in this recipe, though!
More recipes where we call for chicken thighs: Try our Easy Lemon Chicken Thighs or this Juicy and Tender Shredded Chicken
Honey and Orange Spiked Teriyaki Chicken
The marinade doubles as the sauce for the cooked chicken. To make our chicken teriyaki marinade, we add the following ingredients to a bowl:
- Soy sauce, which seasons the chicken and is a crucial component of teriyaki sauce.
- Honey, which provides a natural sweetness to the marinade and sauce. It also helps to turn the sauce thick and shiny after the sauce is cooked.
- Ginger adds flavor and a little spice.
- Mirin is another traditional ingredient when making teriyaki. It’s a sweet rice wine used in Japanese cooking. If you cannot find mirin, we have provided substitutions in the recipe below.
- Toasted sesame oil adds a nuttiness and umami (savoriness) to the marinade/sauce.
Marinate the chicken for at least 15 minutes. You can marinate for longer; the chicken will only get better.
After marinating, take the chicken out of the marinade and add it to a hot pan. Cook the chicken until light golden brown on all sides. Then pour in the marinade. Continue to cook until the marinade turns shiny, thick and coats the chicken.
More: You may also enjoy our quick and simple stir fry sauce made with fresh garlic and ginger!
Recipe updated, originally posted December 2012. Since posting this in 2012, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne
Honey Ginger Teriyaki Chicken
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
You will love this quick and easy teriyaki chicken naturally sweetened with fresh orange and honey. Made in just about 30 minutes, this is perfect for busy days!
You Will Need
1/4 cup (60 ml) low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup (80 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice, from 3 small oranges
3 tablespoons pure honey
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger, about 1-inch piece fresh ginger
2 tablespoons mirin, see note
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon high heat cooking oil, suggested: avocado oil or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons orange zest, optional
Directions
1In a medium bowl, combine the soy sauce, orange juice, honey, ginger, mirin, and sesame oil.
2Cut chicken thighs into bite-size pieces then add to the marinade. Let marinade for 15 to 20 minutes.
3Heat oil in a large skillet or wok with a lid over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the marinade and place into the pan. Save the marinade for later.
4Cook chicken, occasionally stirring, until lightly browned on all sides. Turn the heat to medium-low then pour in the marinade and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, and then check to see if the chicken has cooked through. If cooked, remove the chicken to a clean bowl. Allow the marinade to simmer for 1 to 3 minutes until thickened then toss with the chicken. Serve over rice sprinkled with orange zest.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- To grate ginger, use a fine microplane. If you do not have a microplane, you can mince the ginger. If you do this, make sure the ginger is cut into very small pieces.
- We use mirin in this recipe. It is a Japanese sweet rice wine. You can usually find it in the international aisle of larger grocery stores or in Asian markets. Mirin is a sweet rice wine used in Japanese cooking. Not only does it add flavor to this recipe, it also provides luster to the teriyaki sauce. Dry sherry, sweet marsala wine, dry white wine, and rice vinegar are good substitutes, but you may find that you need to add a touch more honey to the sauce.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
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I tried this recipe today . Very easy to make and tasted AMAZING! Thank you
Question…Can I make this with boneless chicken breasts instead of thighs? Anything Id need to alter if so? Thanks!
Yes, boneless chicken breasts will work in this recipe. You do not need to alter anything.
Totally loved it. Especially my extremely picky boyfriend.
I made your bluberry muffins, I just changed the vanilla for lemon and added lemon zest, they were absolutly perfect! Thanks!
Easy and amazing! I cooked, cleaned up, and ate in 45 min. 😀
Thank you so much for this excellent recipe! It was so simple, very easy to make and delicious. I made this along with brown rice and broccoli with sauteed garlic. My family enjoyed it very much. I will definitely add this to my list of favorites!
Thanks for this receipe it was really yummy and full of flavour!
Wonderful, so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Hello!
Question – Is there a substitute for mirin?
To replace Mirin, you are looking for a combination of sweet and acid. Here are 3 common substitutes: Use dry sherry or sweet marsala wine in place of the Mirin. Or dissolve a small amount of sugar (a 1/8 teaspoon or so) in a 2 tablespoons of white wine or sherry. Hope that helps.
I making this today and luckily I had cooking masala wine in the house! Thanks for the substitution tip!
Thank you for the recipe! Chicken was delicious. My kids are extremely picky but loved your recipe. I used 3 tbs of honey instead of 2. After sauteing the sauce I strained it. To thicken the sauce I added a couple of tsp of cornstarch and stirred constantly. My kids now want this every night, thank goodness its easy!
Wonderful — so glad everyone enjoyed it.
Made this tonight and my family, including slightly picky 3 year old daughter, gobbled it up and asked for seconds. I added shallot, finely sliced carrot and steamed edamame. It was easy, yummy and will be added to our growing list of trusted staple recipes! Thanks for sharing.
Looks great, I will try it, Do you also have Hunain chicken recipe.
Pretty tasty and easy! Mine wasn’t as pretty as the picture, and took awhile for the sauce to reduce, but it tasted great! Quick question: do you add 1 t. of sesame oil in the marinade AND in the pan with the chicken? Thanks!
Mmm! My family would love this!