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Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken can be made in under 30 minutes! Cube it for rice bowls, or shred it for Asian tacos or burritos. An easy, healthy, versatile recipe, great for meal prep or quick weeknight dinners. See recipe notes for stovetop version!
Surrender comes when you no longer ask, “Why is this happening to me?” ~Eckhart Tolle
No, you don’t have to serve it in a pineapple. But it’s fun… and I was bored! 😉 This Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken is fast, easy, super flavorful and highly versatile. Great for meals when time is short.
The best part? This Teryaki Chicken recipe is made with a homemade teriyaki sauce with no added preservatives or unusual ingredients, and takes only 10 minutes of pressure cooking time!
Serve the Teriyaki Chicken very simply over a bowl of brown rice with your favorite seasonal veggies, or shred it and turn it into Asian Tacos or Burritos. Or get fancy, and serve it in a pineapple, along with fresh Pina Coladas! Why not?
You’ll find lots of uses for it. You can cube the chicken- or shred it for tacos or even leave the chicken thighs whole. So many options here!
Feel free to add seasonal veggies- or leave them out. Up to you. I happened to have some fresh asparagus and bell pepper so added to the instant pot after cooking the chicken. So easy.
Is teriyaki chicken healthy?
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.
How to make Teriyaki Chicken in an Instant Pot:
- Step one: Place Teriyaki Sauce ingredients in the Instant Pot.
Step 2: Add the chicken. Place skinless, boneless chicken thighs (either cubed or whole) in the Instant Pot.
If shredding the chicken, leave the thighs whole, or cut them into 1-inch cubes- your choice.
Step 3: Close and seal the instant pot, cook on high pressure for 10 minutes (9 minutes if cubed). Let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then vent. If shredding the chicken, remove the chicken and shred the using two forks and place back into the pot. If cubed, leave the chicken in the pot. Set the instant pot to SAUTE.
Step 4: Add veggies if you like and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
Vegetable Variations:
Here we’ve added asparagus and bell pepper to boost the nutrition! Any quick-cooking veggies will work great here- snow peas, broccoli or broccolini, green beans, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, etc. A great way to cycle through veggies in the fridge.
Step 5: Thicken. In a small bowl whisk ¼ cup of water with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and when veggies are tender, whisk this into the simmering sauce.
Step 6: Pour into the pot of cooked chicken and stir until smooth and thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes. See how nicely that thickens up?
Alternatively, if shredding the teriyaki chicken, remove the chicken from the instant pot, shred with two forks and place it back into the pot, thickening the sauce if you like.
Why is my chicken rubbery?
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.
How long should you cook chicken in an instant pot?
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.
How to serve Teriyaki Chicken
- Shred-it and make Asian-style tacos topped Crunchy Asian Slaw
- Serve over Japanese Furikake Rice
- Serve it over Cauliflower Rice.
- Serve it with Black Rice
- Serve it with Cauliflower Rice
- Serve it in a pineapple!
- Toss it with soba noodles in a wok.
If feeling fancy, serve it in a pineapple. You can add cubes of pineapple to the teriyaki chicken itself.
Serve with highly nutritious black rice or this Japanese-seasoned Furikake Rice!
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.
So, as you see, you can make several different meals out of this if you get creative.
Enjoy the Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken and have a beautiful week.
xoxo
Sylvia
More recipes you may like:
- Forbidden Black Rice: Incredible Benefits & Easy Recipes
- Seasoned Japanese Rice with Furikake
- JAPANESE FARM STYLE TERIYAKI BOWL
- Teriyaki Mushroom Lettuce Wraps
- How to make Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
- Teriyaki Salmon with Baby Bok Choy
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 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: rice, black rice, in tortillas with Asian Slaw, in a Pineapple 🙂
Instructions
- Place Teriyaki Sauce ingredients in the Instant Pot: Soy Sauce (or Braggs), rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes.
- Place chicken thighs in the pot (either cubed or whole).
- Close and seal the instant pot, set to HIGH pressure for 10 minutes. ( 9 minutes if cubed).
- Let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then vent. If shredding, remove chicken and shred the using two forks and place back into the pot. If cubed, leave chicken in the pot. Set the instant pot to SAUTE. Add veggies if you like and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix ¼ cup of water with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and when veggies are tender, 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
STOVETOP VERSION:
- Make the Teriyaki Sauce and set aside.
- Make the cornstarch slurry and set aside i 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 and turn off heat.
Leftovers will keep 3-4 days in the fridge. This recipe can easily be doubled in a 6 quart instant pot.
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
Keywords: instant pot teriyaki chicken, instant pot chicken, instant pot chicken teriyaki, easy instant pot recipes
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!
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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!
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Thanks so much Katie- happy you liked it.
Kids loved it ❤️
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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!
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.
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. 🙂