Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki
You can throw all of the ingredients in the crockpot in this no-fuss, super easy chicken teriyaki dish!
I have to be honest with you guys. Slow cooker recipes are not easy to photograph. They’re usually blobs of shredded meat and there’s only so much you could do to make it pretty – no matter how much tweezer-activity is involved! But beautiful or not, I still really need to share this with you.
It’s a no-fuss, no-saute, simple crockpot recipe. The hardest part about this is probably peeling and pressing the garlic but other than that, it should be a breeze! Just throw everything into your handy dandy crockpot and you are set. Just be sure to plan about 3-4 hours to really let the chicken get nice and tender so you can just shred it apart to juicy goodness. And with that sweet teriyaki sauce, you’ll want to finish the enter pot clean!
Now how easy was that?
Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki
Ingredients
- ½ cup teriyaki sauce
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced for garnish
- Sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together teriyaki sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic and sesame oil.
- Place chicken breasts into a slow cooker. Add teriyaki mixture and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 hours and 30 minutes.
- Remove chicken breasts from the slow cooker and shred the chicken before returning to the pot with the juices. Cover and keep warm for an additional 30 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Amazing dish! It’s on our family meal rota. So much flavour and the chicken is so soft, it just breaks apart, which is so delicious 🙂 Lovsly with basmati rice and spring onion to serve. Definitely recommend! Thank you for a delicious dish.
Love your site! I’m cooking this teriyaki dish tonight and I’m using an instant pot. Do I still use pressure level “low” for 3.5 hours? Or is there a quicker option with the instant pot? Thank you! Love your stuff!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
I combined this and your other teriyaki chicken slow cooker recipe so that it included veggies. I also added some sriracha. IT IS SO GOOD! Thank you!
I tried the crock pot chicken teriyaki and it did NOT turn out like this whatsoever. It turned into a milky brown chicken teriyaki soup. No idea what went wrong. I followed the recipe 100% and didnt get the same results. Tell me what i did wrong! Was so looking forward to this meal.
I’m so sorry, Kylie, that happens sometimes. We hope you continue to try other recipes on Damn Delicious!
I made this tonight. It was delicious! Only problem was my sauce was watery. Anyone else have this problem?
Love this recipe’s flavors!! That said, my chicken always seems to come out dry 🙁 I have turned the chicken at half way mark as noted in above comments. I have cut the time by 1/2 hour 2nd time an then the next time by 45 minutes 3rd time (today). I use the low setting and am down to 2 hours 45 minutes total cook time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I know my crockpot runs hot. I have found that if I cook my recipes on the low setting for the shorter recommended time for the high setting, it usually comes out perfect. You may have a similar situation. As long as the chicken is done, disregard the times. And I NEVER use the high setting on my crockpot as it gives my meat a weird over-cooked flavor. It’s not really burned but it’s not good.
I doubled the recipe as I’m feeding about 6 people… I’m cooking on high due to time, how long would you suggest cooking for?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Hi there! This looks absolutely delicious, I’m going to try it out today but if I were to add some frozen carrots or peas when/how do you recommend that I add them?? Thank you!
I recommend adding during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
I also came via the mystery pinterest photo. Incase you haven’t seen it this is the link: http://pin.it/UnLgL7L it seems to be more of a glaze, like panda express’ orange chicken. I’m making it now and it smells great! Doesn’t matter to me how it looks, I’m making rice with it and I have a feeling it’ll all disappear very quickly.
The recipe calls for 3 chicken breasts, would that be 1 pound? I am wanting to make enough to use 2lbs of boneless/skinless chicken breasts and am wondering if I double to recipe. Thank you
Generally speaking, there is about 2-3 average size chicken breasts in 1 pound.
Can this be frozen?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I made this for our church today and it turned out great. The hardest part was pulling apart the large quantity of chicken. Otherwise, it was very simply. 🙂
Do you think thin sliced chicken breasts will work well this recipe?
Thin-sliced chicken breasts can be used but cooking time will have to be reduced accordingly.
I have chicken legs, Will that work?
Yes, but cooking time may have to be adjusted, as needed.
Chungah, thanks for the recipe! Our family loves it. It has become a staple in our house!
Looks great! Would the Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce work? I live in Switzerland and it’s the only one I can seem to find. 😛
Yes, absolutely.
Have this in the slow cooker right now. I added some pineapple chunks, snow peas, & carrots. My mouth waters every time I walk into the kitchen! Thanks for the great recipe!!
Love this recipe! Question for you Chungah, I’m getting ready to prep my next month’s meals and put them in the freezer, have you had any luck (or problems) freezing the chicken with the marinade, then thawing in the fridge and cooking as usual?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Can you please post the nutrional information?
Cristy, nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, it is best that you use free online resources at your discretion (you can gooogle “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
I did not use the chicken broth (afraid it would be too runny) and doubled the amount of teriyaki sauce – delicious! My son declared it better than Samurai Sam’s, which is saying a lot! This recipe is a keeper.
Hi – I was wondering if this could be cooked on high for half the time?
Thanks!
Yes, the high setting should work just fine.
I wonder if this could be made without the sugar? I don’t really want to add sugar to my kid’s dinner. Seems like it would be ok to just omit it. Has anyone tried it without?
Joan, unfortunately, without the sugar, this will end up being a very salty dish as the sugar is a crucial ingredient to balance out the soy sauce.
I made this today, and it WAS really good! My only issue was that it had a lot of liquid at the end of the cooking time, and it was thin and watery, not thick like a sauce. I initially thought this was going to make the chicken chewy and tough, but surprisingly it was fine. Even my 8 yr old loved it. Easy simple recipie without having to buy 50 ingredients you’ll never use again!
I’m glad you enjoyed this, Jessica! But if you prefer a thicker sauce, you can always add a little bit of cornstarch (mixed with water) for the last 30 min of cooking time.
I haven’t made this yet but would like to know instead of shredding could I dice/shop the chicken instead, would that affect it in any way?
Nope, it shouldn’t really affect taste, although I’m not entirely sure if this can be diced/chopped. Because this is made in the slow cooker, it has a very pulled pork-type texture.
I made this yesterday because the family was so busy and we needed something yummy to come home to after swimming. This was absolutely fantastic and my husband told me that I need to make it often. Thanks for this recipe! (And per the poster above, did she add white/yellow onions? Sometimes onions react and cause sauces and such to turn dark.)
I made this last night but find it doesn’t look anything like the picture. The soy sauce and teriyaki sauce turned the meat almost black. The chicken definitely doesn’t come out looking light colored? What did I do wrong? It tasted fine but soaking in those juices the meat can only be expected to turn color. I also added Asian veges to it and those too turned dark brown/black. Tasted better than it looked.
Black? That definitely shouldn’t be happening! Did the chicken burn?
Can this be cooked without a crockpot? I don’t have one but the recipe looks awesome!!!
Please understand that it is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a traditional slow cooker recipe to be used on the stovetop without further recipe testing. I recommend using your best judgement to convert this recipe to be used without a slow cooker.
Hi!
How would you recommend cooking this if I wanted to make it without a crockpot? Or if I put the crockpot on high instead of low?
Thanks!
You can set it to the high setting for a shorter amout of time.
Hi,
I made this tonight and it was a hit. I modified it because I didn’t have 3.5 hrs for the crockpot version. I just put it all in a deep frying pan and simmered it for about 30-40mins. Delicious.
I made this today – it was great! Easy, a nice change of pace and well received. I did not shred the chicken too fine so that there were still “chunks.” I used frozen chicken and cooked for 5 1/2 hours on low.
I found that I was out of teriyaki sauce so I made it according the recipe at http://www.daringgourmet.com/2013/05/28/homemade-teriyaki-sauce/.
Hey, I just wanted to say I love your website and all of your recipes! I’ve only tried a few things but every things been “damn delicious” so far. You have the best photos and layout of recipes too, very organized and easy to understand. As a twenty-something still exploring the kitchen this site has been awesome for me to begin this exciting, new chapter in my life. Thank you!
Another great recipe! My family loved it.
It’s in the crockpot now ! Do you have to shred it ? Is it just as good served whole ?..
Yes, the chicken should be shredded as indicated in the directions:
“Remove chicken breasts from the slow cooker and shred the chicken before returning to the pot with the juices. Cover and keep warm for an additional 30 minutes.”
Tried this tonight. It is fantastic, but the 4-hours on low was not nearly enough to cook the chicken through. I used 2 fully thawed, thin sliced breasts & I ended up needing to adjust for about twice the time!
The picture on Pintrest does not show shredded chicken.
Please refer to the picture on this post only. You may be confusing someone else’s Pinterest photo to mine.
Can’t wait to eat this tonight. I just threw everything in the crockpot. I ended up having to make my own brown sugar and chicken broth because I didn’t have either in the house. No biggie…it was all together in under 15 min!
I noticed there are 2 pictures for this recipe, one showing pieces of chicken that are in chunks or sliced , the other showing pulled chicken. Which do I use?
Merle, I am a bit confused with your question as there is only one picture here with shredded chicken.
As the recipe indicates, you start with chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Once it’s been cooked low and slow, the chicken breasts are shredded.
It does show two pictures. I made it in hopes it looked like the first picture.not shredded.
Yes i selected this recipe based on the picture shown but when you go to” make it” there is an entirely different picture and to be honest not as appealing but after reading all the reviews I’m considering trying it.
I stumbled upon your blog a few days ago, and as I was searching up easy recipes for chicken teriyaki, here I am again! Your blog has great recipes, thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
http://bythesparklingsea.wordpress.com/2014/03/05/college-cooking-teriyaki-chicken-bowl/
Thank you so much for this yummy recipe! I make it all the time with either beef or chicken and either way it’s delicious! I have 3 children so it’s hard to please everyone but with this recipe they eat it all up!! This is so easy….you cannot mess it up! I look forward to making more of your recipes!
I made this last night and used 3 lbs. chicken breast. I followed the recipe exactly and it was absolutely delicious! I added rice and broccoli as sides and my family LOVED it! Thank you so much! I will be returning to your website regularly to get more recipes. 🙂
This recipe was awesome! Everyone loved it. My only recommendation would be to incorporate some vegetables to it – maybe some snow peas, broccoli or carrots. Either way, YUM!
We are currently snowed in and I stumbled across your recipe so we had to try it. We haven’t eaten yet but it smells so delicious we can’t wait!
Let me know how it turns out!
If I double the amounts of everything, do I need to cook for longer?? Ingredients in crock pot as I type!!!
I recommend cooking for an additional hour or two. Hope that helps!
Hi, this recipe looks delicious! I am wanting to make this but add vegetables like broccoli, cut carrots, water chestnuts, onion…when do you suggest I add these? I don’t want to overcook them by putting them in the crockpot for the full 3 hours. Thanks!
I’m sure you can add all of the veggies in the beginning – that’ll get them to be incredibly tender and incredibly flavorful. But it’s really up to personal preference as to how tender you want the veggies.
I made this last night, and it was SO good! My kids loved it, too. I will definitely make it regularly. Thanks!
So I doubt you check this in real time, but thought it was worth a shot! I am making this for tonight and with the amounts for the sauce the breasts are not completely submerged. Is this okay? Do they need to be flipped so the top doesn’t dry out? Thanks!
Mandy, I would flip halfway through cooking time just to make sure they get all the juicy goodness. Hope that helps!
Thanks! Just stumbled on this blog today, I will be trying a lot of these recipes!!!
I plan on making this later in the week and was wondering if the 3 chicken breasts in the ingredients is about 1 pound? I have my chicken cut in the freezer in pound bags instead of by whole breast so just want to see if it’d be about equivalent. Thanks!
1 pound should work just fine. Hope that helps!
I have made your Teriyaki Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce and I LOVE IT! In fact my husband and children also love it. I was wondering if the Teriyaki sauce from that recipe could be used for this one?
I’m so glad you tried out the salmon! And yes, you can most certainly use that teriyaki sauce but it won’t have that wonderful sweetness that this one has. But either should work out just fine.
I have this in the crockpot right now! This sounds great on a cold, snowy day! I didn’t have any teriyaki sauce so I substituted Panda Express’ Orange Sauce — I think it will turn out just fine — it smells absolutely delicious cooking. Thanks!
I copied this down long hand as the print button did not work. Just wanted you to know. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. The photo was great!
Can I use frozen chicken breast?
Yes, but you may need to adjust cooking time as needed.
no dice cantidad de pollo cuanto es para que dure tres horas ?
La receta dice 3 pechugas. Tiene razon – hay variedad en cuanto pesa las pechugas. Voy a intentar la receta hoy y te puedo decir por libras de pechuga.
Would using canola oil instead of sesame oil alter the flavor too much?
Possibly. I highly recommend using sesame oil to enhance the flavors of this dish.
I made this recipe on Monday and I just wanted to tell you it was SO SO SOOO good! We had no left overs. And I love how easy it is to make and also for a slow cooker recipe it really doesn’t take that long! I will be making this many times in the future. Thank you! I can’t wait to try your orange chicken next 🙂
Oh yum, my mouth is watering just looking at this! Slow cooker recipes are my favorite 🙂
I love teriyaki and when you throw in slow cooker…this is perfect! Have you tried this with beef? I also wanted to ask if you have tried putting veggies in their with it. I think this would be great with some stir fry veggies but wondering if they would get too soggy cooking for that long. Thanks!
I haven’t tried this with beef or veggies but if I do, I’ll let you know how it turns out!
This look so tasty! If I may ask…. which Teriyaki sauce do you like to use for this recipe?
I love Trader Joe’s “Soyaki”!
Oh I love this!!!
Chung-Ah, this looks amazing! You think this is a bad photo??? Dude. This is beautiful!! BUT, I agree! I always have a hard time photographing savory dishes, not just slow cooker dishes.
Awww! Slow cooker recipe never lets me down and this recipe is totally on my to-do list next week. Yum!
i think your pictures look great! And this sounds amazing!!
It looks like a meal I’d love to dig in to.
I can only imagine how incredible your kitchen smelled – I love the ease of this recipe!
I think it looks quite delicious! And I LOVE that it the slow cooker does all the work. What a wonderful meal to come home to!
What a great and easy recipe! Thank you for sharing it (and your pictures are amazing!)
You are too sweet, Kristen!
This look so good! I love slow cooker recipes!! I need more of them in my life right now.
I wish I could use my slow cooker every day – it makes life so much easier!
Crockpot recipes can be the hardest to photograph! I dread it! LOL!
This look awesome though and I love teriyaki chicken! Perfect for busy nights! 🙂
Your crockpot recipes always turn out so great, Tieghan!