Japanese Teriyaki Chicken Recipe: Easy and Gluten-free

This gluten-free Japanese teriyaki chicken recipe is made with juicy chicken thighs and our homemade teriyaki sauce. A simple and flavorful umami dish perfect for weeknight dinners.

Jeff and I both love Asian flavors, and teriyaki has always been one of our favorites.

This easy Japanese teriyaki chicken recipe is one we adapted from a cooking class we took together. The original version contained gluten, but a few alterations have resulted in our delicious outcome, which suits our gluten-free diet.

In fact, our Japanese teriyaki chicken recipe is quite simple, even on nights when we have to start by making the sauce (usually, we keep a jar in the fridge). It highlights the balance of sweet, savory, and umami we enjoy in Japanese cooking.

What you need to make our Japanese teriyaki chicken recipe

We pan-fry in light oil. Therefore, our tools are a frypan and either tongs, chopsticks, or a spatula. The four ingredients needed are chicken, flour, oil, and sauce. More on each:

• Boneless chicken thighs
  We prefer boneless chicken over bone-in, and this recipe works better when the chicken is butterflied, resulting in an even thickness. That requires boneless.
  
  Similarly, we prefer thighs to breast as they are juicier, and we found the meal too dry when we tried it with breast (although still quite tasty). Finally, we also use skinless chicken, as we don’t eat the fatty skin, so why waste our delicious sauce on it.
• Gluten-free flour
  Our top choice is rice flour, but really, any gluten-free flour seems to work okay.
• Cooking oil
  Any high-heat oil like rice bran, avocado, or canola works great.
• Teriyaki sauce
  We prefer to make our own from scratch, so we know what is in it. Here is our gluten-free recipe.

Tips for making our grilled teriyaki chicken recipe

Step-by-step directions are below in the recipe, but these tips will make it even better.

• Coating the chicken thighs with the gluten-free flour helps the sauce stick better and gives the surface a nice texture when grilled. After lightly coating, shake off the excess before cooking. If you skip this step, the excess flour may burn. It helps the sauce stick better and gives the surface a nice texture when grilled.
• When pan-frying the chicken, watch the sides for browning, as this is a sign that it is done. Try not to overcook the chicken, as that will prevent it from retaining its juices.
• Raise the heat before adding the teriyaki sauce. A trick to keeping the meat moist is to use high heat and lower it as necessary, rather than a slower cook or increasing the temperature.

Serving suggestions

We usually enjoy this teriyaki chicken recipe with rice, and sprinkle it all with sesame seeds. They add both flavor and texture, making the meal more interesting and visually appealing.

Sometimes I add a quick cucumber salad, steamed broccoli, or tahini cauliflower on the side. It also goes well in a rice bowl with avocado and, of course, sesame seeds. If we have leftovers, they make a great filling for lettuce wraps or sandwiches.

Our Japanese teriyaki chicken recipe

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