Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
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Look no further for the BEST Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken recipe! Chicken breasts are slow cooked in a delicious homemade teriyaki sauce, then shredded and served with the sauce over steamed rice. Hands off, fuss free, 10 minutes of prep time, and you’ll come home to a delicious, ready meal! And for some more bulk and nutrition you can easily add your favorite veggies.
What is Teriyaki Chicken?
Teriyaki chicken is a Japanese dish consisting of tender pieces of chicken in a sweet, savory, and sticky sauce that consists of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, mirin, and brown sugar and/or honey and served with rice. It’s a one of the most popular takeout dishes. You can also try our classic stovetop Chicken Teriyaki and for a vegetarian version try our Teriyaki Tofu.
How to Make Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
Making this crock pot teriyaki chicken is as simple as placing all of the ingredients in the slow cooker, turning on the heat, and walking away. Then after a few hours you’ll remove the chicken, shred it, thicken the sauce with some cornstarch, return the shredded chicken to coat it, and then serve it over steamed rice. That’s it! It doesn’t get any simpler and it tastes as good as your favorite Chinese takeout.
Teriyaki chicken is something almost everyone loves. That familiar combination of sweet and savory is a flavor practically anyone will enjoy. This recipe is super easy to make with only 10 minutes of prep time. It’s after making meals like this that I ask myself why I don’t utilize my crock pot more often, and so I’ve renewed my commitment to doing so. Slow cooker meals are also a really easy and fuss-free way to get your kids involved in the kitchen: There’s no boiling pots of hot liquids, splattering oil, or open flames. It’s just adding ingredients to the slow cooker, closing the lid…and waiting!
Can I Add Vegetables?
You sure can! This slow cooker teriyaki chicken recipe provides the perfect foundation for building upon – i.e., add some of your favorite veggies like broccoli, bell peppers, carrots or bean sprouts and make a complete meal out of it.
Depending on the veggies you’re adding, you’ll add them in during the last 20-30 minutes until they’re tender. Bean sprouts will be added during the last 5-7 minutes so they retain some of their crunch. Etc. Or simply make a basic teriyaki chicken as shown here and serve it with your favorite steamed or stir-fried veggies and rice.
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken Recipe
Let’s get started!
Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir until the brown sugar is mostly dissolved.
Place the chicken in the slow cooker. I’m using chicken breasts but you can use any chicken pieces of your choice.
Pour the sauce over the chicken.
Cook the chicken on LOW for 5-6 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours. Transfer the chicken to a plate and shred the meat. Discard the bones if you’re using bone-in chicken.
Carefully pour the sauce into a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and pour in the cornstarch mixture, stirring until slightly thickened, about a minute.
Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and pour the sauce over it. Stir to coat. Cook on HIGH for a few minutes until heated through. Add salt to taste.
Your crock pot teriyaki chicken is ready to serve! Serve it over steamed rice garnished with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions.
Enjoy!
For more great crock pot recipes be sure to try my:
- Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
- Slow Cooker Pot Roast
- Slow Cooker Pineapple Orange BBQ Chicken
- Slow Cooker Greek Chicken
- Slow Cooker Peach Crisp
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Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breast or chicken pieces of choice (see Note for adding veggies)
- For the Teriyaki Sauce:
- 1/2 cup tamari , or low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoon honey
- 3 tablespoons mirin , can substitute sherry or white wine
- 2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- or brown sugar alternative (for low sugar option)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger root
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
- For Serving:
- toasted sesame seeds, chopped green onions for garnish
- Note: If you prefer more sauce simply double all the sauce ingredients including the cornstarch slurry
Instructions
- Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir until the brown sugar is mostly dissolved. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cook the chicken on LOW for 5-7 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.Transfer the chicken to a plate and shred the meat. Discard the bones if you're using bone-in chicken.
- Carefully pour the sauce into a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and pour in the cornstarch mixture, stirring until slightly thickened, about a minute.Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and pour the sauce over it. Stir to coat. Cook on HIGH for a few minutes until heated through. Add salt to taste.Serve over steamed rice garnished with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet on March 28, 2017
Hi, Iām Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Oh my! This recipe is a hit . My boys loved it. As a nurse, I need this kind of recipe. The leave in the bench kind of cooking. Oooooh so full of yummylisiousness! Thank you so much š…I have to share this site to my fellow nurses..
Woohoo, that’s awesome, Joan! I’m thrilled you enjoyed it and thank you so much for sharing our site with your colleagues!
Can you make the sauce the night before? Iād like to throw this together in the morning before work.
You sure can, Dana. The only thing you’ll still need to wait to do is add in the cornstarch when you get home from work. Happy slow cooking!
Why does your Teriyaki sauce in this recipe differ significantly, mostly in portions (measurements), but also in a couple ingredients, from your Homemade Teriyaki Sauce?
Thx.
Hi Paul, no reason, I just developed this chicken recipe separately from the stand-alone sauce. While I was adding the ingredients, tasting, and writing them down, I liked the outcome and went with it.
I saw a link to this recipe on Karen Peterson’s blog and had to check it out. It looks like pure deliciousness. Who doesn’t love teriyaki? If i halve the amount of chicken, would you recommend the full amount of sauce?
Hi Sandy, welcome! I tend to like a lot of sauce so if it were me I would still keep the sauce the same, but again, that’s just me :)
I really liked the flavor and simplicity of this recipe. A couple of notes about substitutions. I used Braggs instead of soy sauce and it was too salty. I will try coconut aminos next time. I substitued coconut sugar instead of brown sugar – love coconut sugar! I used arrowroot to thicken. The same amount of arrowroot as listed for the cornstarch. Hopefully this helps somebody else that may not have the exact ingredients but still wants to make the dish!
Wonderful, May, I’m so glad you enjoyed it and appreciate the substitution tips, thank you!
We had this for dinner tonight and it was a hit!
Wonderful, Tammy, thanks so much!
Excellent recipe, very flavorful and easy to make, thank you!
Fantastic, Natalie, thank you!
Made this tonight, SO good!! Everyone loved it. This will become a regular, thank you!
Fantastic, Tori, thank you!
Can you do this in an instant pot?
Hi Sharona, yes you can though I can’t tell you the exact procedure as I haven’t done it.
Seriously fantastic recipe! So easy to make and the whole family loved it, thank you!
Wonderful, Tanya, thanks so much!
I love how thick those chicken pieces are! And so much sauce. Sounds heavenly!
Made last night loved the recipe made a change instead OF soy I used a teriyaki Asian sauce and added some chicken stock came out fabulous.Thanks
Fantastic, James, thanks so much for the feedback!
This is absolutely one gorgeous dish!!
This dish is making my mouth water! I LOVE teriyaki chicken! You better believe this is being made very, very soon.
Love that my slow cooker can make me a delicious dinner! Cannot wait to try it!