Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken with scratch-made teriyaki sauce can be ready in under 30 minutes! This easy, versatile recipe is great for meal prep or quick weeknight dinners. See the recipe notes for a stovetop version!
Surrender comes when you no longer ask, “Why is this happening to me?”
Eckhart Tolle
This Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken is fast, super flavorful, and highly versatile. Great for meals when time is short. It is made with a homemade teriyaki sauce without preservatives or unusual ingredients, and takes only 10 minutes of pressure cooking time!
Cook the chicken cubed or leave the chicken thighs whole. Serve Teriyaki Chicken simply over a bowl of brown rice with your favorite seasonal veggies, or shred it and turn it into Asian Tacos or Burritos. So many options here, you’ll find a lot of uses for it!
Why You’ll Love This
- Made in under 30 minutes! Quick and easy to prepare, and only takes 10 minutes in the pressure cooker.
- Healthy, wholesome ingredients. High-protein chicken offers vitamin B-6, while serving with veggies adds even more nutrients and fiber!
- So versatile! Serve this subtly sweet and savory dish over rice, or as Asian tacos or burritos!
What you’ll need! (Ingredients)
- Chicken thighs: Boneless, skinless, left whole for shredding, or cut into 1-inch cubes.
- Soy sauce: Use low sodium. Or Braggs Liquid Aminos.
- Rice wine vinegar
- Honey: Or maple syrup for sweetness.
- Sesame oil: You can use toasted or regular, depending on preference.
- Ginger and Garlic cloves: Minced or use a garlic press.
- Red pepper flakes: Adjust to your spice preference.
- Cornstarch
- Optional veggies: Any quick-cooking veggies will work great here! This is a great way to cycle through extra veggies in your fridge- broccolini, asparagus, spinach, bok choy, snow peas, green beans, bell pepper, etc.
- Garnish: Green onions, sesame seeds, chives, cashews, etc.
- Serve with: Black rice, jasmine rice, or in tortillas with Asian Slaw.
*See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
Step 1: Make the marinade. Mix together soy Sauce (or Braggs), rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Prep the chicken. Pat the chicken dry and cut it into 1-inch chunks (or leave the thighs whole for shredding).
Step 3: Sear. Set the instant pot to the SAUTE setting; when heated, add the oil and sear the chicken until brown on each side. Do this in two batches. (*See notes for skipping the searing step.)
Step 4: Pressure cook! Add all the seared chicken and the teriyaki sauce back into the instant pot. Close and seal the lid, set to HIGH pressure for 7 minutes for chunks, 9 minutes for whole pieces.
Step 5: Release. Let the pressure valve release naturally for 5 minutes, then vent. If cubed, leave the chicken in the pot. If left whole, shred- remove chicken and shred using two forks, then place back into the pot.
Step 5: Add Veggies. Set the instant pot to SAUTE. Add the veggies if using, and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
Step 6: Thicken the teriyaki sauce. In a small bowl, mix ¼ cup of water with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch. Whisk into the simmering sauce. Stir until smooth and thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Step 7: Serve! Serve the teriyaki chicken over jasmine rice.
Ways to Serve Teriyaki Chicken
- Shred it and make Asian-style tacos topped with Crunchy Asian Slaw
- Serve over Japanese Furikake Rice
- Serve over Cauliflower Rice
- Serve it with Black Rice
- Serve over Jasmine Rice
- Serve it with Cauliflower Rice
- Serve it in a pineapple!
- Toss it with soba noodles in a wok!
Make Teriyaki Chicken Tacos!
One thing we often make at home are Asian tacos out of the leftovers. Top them with crunchy Asian Slaw and a little sriracha.
FAQs
Chicken Thighs are high in protein-containing 28 grams, and 25% of our daily need of Vitamin B-6. Each thigh contains roughly 200 calories and 10 grams of fat. Adding nutrient-dense vegetables to this dish really boosts nutrition and fiber, so we always try to add a few veggies to the mix.
Using chicken thighs in the Instant pot will prevent that rubbery texture you can often get with using chicken breasts! The higher oil content in chicken thighs prevents it from overcooking and getting rubbery.
When cooking chicken thighs, pressure cooking timing depends on whether the thighs are cut into smaller pieces or left whole. Whole thighs take 10 minutes, and cubed chicken takes 9 minutes.
Storage & Reheating
You can store leftover teriyaki chicken in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container. You can freeze for up to 3 months. Remove from the freezer and thaw in the fridge completely before reheating.
To reheat, warm on the stovetop with a splash of water or chicken broth. Alternatively, you can reheat in the microwave for convenience too.
You can make several different meals out of this if you get creative. Enjoy our Instant Pot Chicken Teriyaki recipe and have a beautiful week.
xoxo Sylvia
More Recipes You May Enjoy!
Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Chicken, weeknight dinners, meal prep
- Method: instant pot
- Cuisine: Japanese
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken can be made in under 30 minutes! Cube it for rice bowls, or shred it for Asian tacos. An easy, healthy and versatile recipe! See notes for STOVETOP VERSION.
Ingredients
Teriyaki Sauce:
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or use a garlic press
- 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, more or less to taste
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs (boneless, skinless)- left whole for shredding, or cut into 1-inch cubes.
- ——-
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
Optional additions: 2-3 cups of quick-cooking veggies- broccolini, asparagus, spinach, bok choy, snow peas, green beans, bell pepper, etc.
Garnish: scallions, sesame seeds, chives, cashews, etc.
Serve with: jasmine rice, black rice, in tortillas with Asian Slaw.
Instructions
- Mix together soy Sauce (or Braggs), rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a bowl and set aside.
- Pat the chicken dry, and cut into 1 inch chunks (or leave the thighs whole for shredding). Set the instant pot to the SAUTE setting, when heated add oil and sear the chicken until brown on each side. Do this in two batches. (*See notes for skipping the searing step.)
- Add all the seared chicken and the teriyaki sauce back into the instant pot. Close and seal the instant pot, set to HIGH pressure for 7 minutes for chunks, 9 minutes for whole pieces.
- Let the pressure valve release naturally for 5 minutes, then vent. If cubed, leave the chicken in the pot. If shredding, remove chicken and shred using two forks and place back into the pot. Set the instant pot to SAUTE.
- Add veggies in now, if using, and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes. In a small bowl, mix ¼ cup of water with 3 tablespoons of corn starch. Whisk into the simmering sauce. Stir until smooth and thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Serve over rice, or in tortillas with Asian Slaw, garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.
Notes
If you do not want to sear the chicken before cooking in the pressure cooker: Add the sauce and raw chicken directly into the instant pot together, close and seal the instant pot, and set to HIGH pressure for 8 minutes cubed, 10 minutes for whole thighs.
Storage for leftovers: Teriyaki Chicken will keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator in a sealed airtight container. This recipe can easily be doubled in a 6 quart instant pot.
STOVETOP VERSION:
Make the Teriyaki Sauce and set aside. Make the cornstarch slurry and set aside in a separate bowl. In a wok or large skillet, heat 1-2 tablespoons high-heat oil and sear cubed chicken on all sides over medium heat until nice and golden and slightly crispy. Take your time here. Pour the teriyaki sauce over the browned chicken and lower heat letting the chicken cook all the way through. Once the chicken is cooked through, stir in the cornstarch slurry. Stir until thickened, then turn off the heat.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 244
- Sugar: 18.8 g
- Sodium: 727.3 mg
- Fat: 9.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.3 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 13.1 g
- Cholesterol: 52.5 mg
Wow! Who knew chicken could taste so good! Thanks for another great recipe! I made mine on the stovetop with chicken drumsticks. I used flour to thicken the sauce at the end.
Great, so glad it worked out!
Yum!
ok Teriyaki “sauce”… teriyaki chicken is made by cooking chicken with soy(good Japanese soy), sake, and mirin, until the natural sugars in the mirin caramelise some and thicken the “sauce” glazing the chicken (hence it is shiny). Any vinegar and sugar concoction is closer to sweet and sour sauce than teriyaki anything.
Sorry this is just NOT teriyaki!
Hi Janis- Sorry this didn’t work for you. Did you make the recipe? Our “JAPANESE FARM-STYLE TERIYAKI CHICKEN” recipe may be more to your liking if you type it in the search bar. 😉
I used arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch and it came out perfect! Enjoyed it with basmati rice.
Oh perfect- good to know the arrowroot works here!
Easy and delicious!!!!! Even my picky husband was satisfied! Thank you, Sylvia!
Awesome- so happy you enjoyed this!
Another wonderful recipe! My go to teriyaki sauce
Grea to hear Halli! Glad you enjoyed this!
Hi Sylvia – I’d like to use asparagus and red bell pepper. Do you know around what quantity of veggies tends to be a good portion with this? 10 stalks of asparagus and 1 bell pepper for example?
Sorry for the delay Rachel! That sounds about right! 2-3 cups of veggies!
Fantastic recipe! My 16 year old son is minimal on positive comments in general. lol! After 3 bites he declared “this is really good mom”. I almost fell over. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and I doubled the sauce recipe. I also used baby bok chow, red bell pepper and brown beech mushrooms. I added fresh chucks of pineapple at the end and topped it with roasted cashews. I make dinner for my elderly neighbor next door at least once a week. She also texted the recipe was “super yummy” and she was glad I sent over a large portion so she can have it again. Thank you for such a great, easy, quick recipe. I used a 6 quart Instant Pot to cook this. Thank you for the spot of joy last night!
Glad you enjoyed!
I love all this Nancy. It is so deeply satisfying when the kids not only eat what you make but actually like it! Your enhancements sound amazing. And your neighborly love inspiring!
Just delicious. I made this in my instant pot and it was super easy and quick to prepare . A must to try!!!
Absolutely amazing — I made it on the stovetop with peas, peppers, eggplant, and mushrooms as my veggies. I have yet to find a recipe I don’t love from this website!
Thanks so much Katie- happy you liked it.
Kids loved it ❤️
Great to hear!
Yum! Made exactly as listed. Had asparagus and red peppers for veggies and used cashews and pineapple chunks for garnish. Everyone loved it. Will definitely make again.
Awesome- Great to hear Marla!
I did this in the wok on the stove (I don’t have an instant pot). Two versions—chicken and tofu. It was fabulous and super easy. I basically followed your instant pot directions but stir-fried the chicken, removed it from the wok to do the vegetables separately, then returned it with the teriyaki sauce to finish. Added the corn starch at the end, as directed. It’s a thousand times better than purchased teriyaki.
Great to hear!
How did you prepare the tofu?
Made the IP teriyaki chicken and asian slaw taco version loved it. Was wondering if you substituted boneless pork chops would you the same weight and time as the chicken thighs? Thanks.
Hi Rob- I’m not a huge pork expert to be honest. It seems like it would work but honestly have no idea? If you try it, please less us know how it turns out, for others who may be curious. Thanks!
I would agree 100% that every single recipe is home run! Thank you for the vegan alternatives.
Hey Sylvia!
Do you think you could do this with frozen chicken breast? Or would you dethaw to make sure it seasons properly?
Also to be truthful, I started following you before this pandemic all started, and I can truly say that Every. Single. One. Of your recipes is always a home run. You always have suggested substitutes, and are quickly to respond to questions people have. It’s absolutely outstanding!
You’ve taught me to improvise where I can with ingredients etc. and I can say I’m really enjoying this learning experience, and I’ve found a bit of refuge for my mental health in my kitchen. So thank you so much. (Sorry for the novel)
Hi Haley! You are so sweet. Thanks for this! I Haven’t tried this with chicken breast (or frozen breasts) but I think it could work? Although, if you have time to thaw, I just would. It would need less time than the thighs, especially if cubed.
What could I substitute for the rice wine vinegar?
Apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar, or mirin are good subs.
Hi Sylvia-I just wanted to thank you for all of the great recipes you post. Each Saturday I look forward to you email and always make 1-2 of the recipes posted as my weekend entertainment during these stay at home times. My college boys keep asking me to make the cheddar scones again. They lasted 15 minutes!! The teriyake chicken looks great. Going to try it on the stovetop for dinner tonight. Thanks again.
Oh cool! Let me know how it works on the stove.
Hi Sylvia! This looks delicious (and the pineapple bowls are awesome!) If I wanted to swap shrimp in for the chicken, how long would you recommend cooking that in the instant pot? Or would you recommend doing the whole thing on the stove top?
Thanks!
I think I would do it on the stove. 🙂