I LOVE chicken and I LOVE Asian food, so it’s probably no surprise that I absolutely love crock pot teriyaki chicken.
We’ve tried a few teriyaki chicken recipes and all were pretty good, but this one is bursting with flavor and has been a favorite, by far. Even the hubby, who doesn’t love Asian food like I do, liked this one {which is saying A LOT!}
And what’s great about this slow cooker teriyaki chicken is it’s all made in the crock pot, which means it’s SUPER EASY!! I’m all about easy and yummy recipes, and this one is one of those.
Why we think you’ll love it:
- Effortless. Simply toss the ingredients into the crock pot and let the slow cooker do the work.
- Fork tender. The slow cooking process breaks down the chicken, ensuring it’s tender and shredable every single time.
- Freezer Friendly. Always have a meal on hand by freezing several batches.
Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs (3-4 pounds) – Boneless chicken thighs stay tender and juicy during slow cooking and shred beautifully. Use an equal amount of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
- Sugar (¾ cup) – Sugar sweetens the sauce and helps it thicken and gloss when reduced. Replace the white sugar with brown sugar or use honey to sweeten.
- Soy sauce (¼ cup) – Soy sauce brings salty, savory depth that makes the teriyaki flavor pop.
- Apple cider vinegar (6 tablespoons) – Apple cider vinegar adds tang to balance the sweetness and keep the sauce lively. Try mirin sauce, which is a type of rice wine, instead of apple cider vinegar.
- Ground ginger (¾ teaspoon) – Ground ginger gives a warm, aromatic spice that tastes like classic teriyaki. You can also use 2-3 tablespoons of fresh ginger (grated).
- Minced garlic (1 teaspoon) – Minced garlic builds a savory backbone and a little bite. You’ll need to mince 1-2 garlic cloves.
- Black pepper (¼ teaspoon) – Pepper adds gentle heat to round out the sweetness.
- Corn starch (4 teaspoons) – Corn starch thickens the strained cooking liquid into a shiny, clingy sauce.
- Cold water (4 teaspoons) – Cold water dissolves the cornstarch so it blends in smoothly without lumps.
- Cooked rice – The perfect base to soak up that sticky, sweet, savory sauce. See our recipe for How to Cook Rice and Cauliflower Rice.
How to Make Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken
PREP. Place chicken in crock pot on low heat.
COMBINE. Whisk sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, and pepper in a separate bowl. Mix and pour the homemade teriyaki sauce over the chicken.
COOK. Cook on low for 4-5 hours until chicken is tender.
SHRED. Remove the chicken, place it on a plate, and shred it with a fork.
STRAIN. Remove the fat from the reserved liquid left in the crock pot by pouring it through a mesh strainer into a saucepan (or scoop out the fat with a slotted spoon).
SAUCE. Bring the liquid in the saucepan to a boil. In a separate bowl, combine cornstarch and water until smooth, and gradually stir the cornstarch slurry into the saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer until it thickens.
SERVE. Pile shredded chicken over cooked rice and cover with your thickened teriyaki sauce.
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- If you wish, you can use an equal amount of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
- Add veggies like broccoli florets, snap peas, bell peppers, and asparagus 30-60 minutes before the chicken is done cooking.
- Do not cook frozen chicken in a crock pot; however, you can use this recipe to cook frozen chicken in an Instant Pot. See the FAQ for instructions.
- Serve over white rice or brown rice and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.
Slow Cooked Teriyaki Chicken Thighs
Video
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds boneless chicken thighs
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 4 teaspoons corn starch
- 4 teaspoons cold water
- cooked rice
Instructions
- Place chicken in crock pot on low heat.
- Combine sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, and pepper in a separate bowl. Mix and pour over the chicken.
- Cook on low for 4-5 hours until chicken is tender. Remove the chicken, place it on a plate and shred it with a fork.
- Take the fat out of the reserved liquid left in the crock pot by pouring it through a mesh strainer into a saucepan (or scoop out the fat with a slotted spoon).
- Place liquid in a saucepan and bring to a boil. In a separate bowl, combine cornstarch and water until smooth and gradually stir into the saucepan. Simmer until it thickens.
- Pour chicken over cooked rice and cover with your thickened teriyaki sauce. ENJOY!
Notes
- If you wish, you can use an equal amount of boneless skinless chicken breasts.
- Add veggies like broccoli florets, snap peas, bell peppers, and asparagus 30-60 minutes before the chicken is done cooking.
- Do not cook frozen chicken in a crock pot; however, you can use this recipe to cook frozen chicken in an Instant Pot. See the FAQ for instructions.
- Serve over white rice or brown rice and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Adapted from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom.
Recipe FAQ
Place the chicken in the Instant Pot and pour the soy sauce mixture over the top. Seal the lid and pressure cook on high for 7 minutes (12 if frozen). After a natural pressure release, carefully remove the chicken and shred it.
Use a mesh strainer to scoop out any fat and switch the Instant Pot to “saute.” In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water, then whisk it into the pot and simmer to thicken. Return the shredded chicken to the pot and stir to combine.
Meal prep 2-3 batches. Store each batch of chicken and sauce in a separate freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and cook in the crockpot as directed.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat in the microwave, in a pan on the stove, or covered in the oven.
Complete the Meal
Asian Sides
More Teriyaki Dinners
Teriyaki Chicken Wings
35 mins
Easy Teriyaki Chicken
30 mins
Baked Teriyaki Chicken
35 mins
Teriyaki Pork Chops
20 mins
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This recipe was originally published October 2017.
Looks delicious
So glad you think so! I hope you get a chance to try it soon!
Can you use frozen chicken breasts?
Can I use 2# thighs and 1# boneless skinless chicken breast?
Absolutely!!
Made teriyaki chicken and tortellini soup for the cold weather expected. Both turned out great, easy quick crock pot recipes.
Great easy weeknight recipe. My family doesn’t love crock pot meals, but this was a huge hit!
This is way too sugary. Couldn’t eat it.
So simple to make and so flavorful! We love putting over rice too.!
I’ve been looking for a good teriyaki recipe with homemade sauce. its really good in the crockpot. The sauce can also be used as a marinade before grilling the chicken. Thanks for sharing!
We use your recipe at least once a month. And, I can get a couple uses from it & use the chicken in different recipes. I cook a bunch up. My family really enjoys it!
Yummy! This was such an easy dinner to dump and go. And it turned out wonderful. Tasted like I had been working on it all afternoon. Thanks for such great recipes!
Thanks a bunch for this very flavorful and delicious teriyaki chicken recipe! Will surely have this again! Well done!
My hubby’s favorite!! This crock pot version is so easy & the flavor is amazing!! I’ll be making some this week.
I’ll be honest, I changed this recipe quite a bit before even trying it as is so my rating is based on my experience and my own tweaks.
I didn’t see the 3/4c sugar when I originally planned to make this. I panicked, not wanting all the added refined sugar, and made the decision to only add 1/4c sugar plus a squeeze honey. This worked perfectly fine and I’m curious to what it would taste like with even less sugar.
I also made substitutions and additions based on what I had on hand:
1. I threw in frozen stir fry veggies on top of the meat during the cooking time.
2. I served this meal right cauliflower rice because that’s all I had at home.
3. I used all purpose aminos instead of soy sauce.
I wish I would have drizzled the sauce onto each individual serving because I mixed it in all together and it was too saucy for my liking.
Overall I’d make this again but would still make the changes.
I’m curious, how does it taste with more sugar? What am I missing by reducing it?
Well, we all have different tastes, but I love it & haven’t tried adding less sugar, so I can’t say for sure what it adds, since I don’t know how it tastes with less. Thank you for trying it!
Fantastic, best I have ever made…
Awe, thank you so much for saying that!
Awesome Recipe. Tried last night with bone-in thighs and everybody loved it. Thanks so much.
nice recipe .. i will try it soon
Hope you like it!
I would like to use chicken breast for this recipe. How long should I cook them?
I would use the same amount, but you could always add more time. It would be on the longer side of cooking. Enjoy!!
I would like to try this but am using frozen chicken breast is that okay and if so is there any extra steps I need to take for water and add more time I need to add to the cooking this is my first time using a crock pot
It’s not usually recommended to cook frozen meat in a slow cooker because harmful bacteria can have time to develop before the chicken reaches a safe temperature. However, if you do decide to cook frozen chicken, you can use the following as a reference: Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Once the chicken hits an internal temperature of 165 degrees F it’s safe to eat. Crockpots are amazing! Hope you enjoy using yours and the recipe too!
I made this as a new recipe the same night we had company over — it was a hit! My husband told me that it’s going to have to become a staple recipe. He likes a lot, but not generally enough to eat it twice, so I KNOW this is good!
I love hearing that!! I am so glad you let me know! Thank you!
I make this reciePe often! The family
Loves it. If i needed to rUsh the reciepe and Cook onhigh how long Should i go?
Half the time, so maybe 2-2 1/2 hours 🙂
I just made this last night and it was absolutely delish!
Thank you so much for trying it & for letting me know 🙂 I am so glad you liked it!!
I’ll be making the Teriyaki Chicken. Sounds and looks real good. Looks like you have some green onion on top. I will be using fresh ginger root. It is so much better then the canned stuff. If you don’t use it much, you can freeze it and slice it off when needed. YUM!
Perfect!! I hope you love it, as much as we do! Enjoy!!
I like this recipe a lot. It’s a bit heavy on the apple cider for my liking. I’d love to use fresh ginger next time as well. Is there a way to use mirin instead of so much sugar? I also wanted to add some broccoli. Do you think I could “steam” it the last 30 minutes in the crock pot? Do you think the broccoli flavored water that is released during cooking would change the taste of the sauce too much? Do you think I would need to add more sauce to accommodate for the broccoli? Anyway, love the recipe and have made this several times as is. I just wanted to see what you thought. My husband loves my cooking but hates the fact that they never taste the same because I substitute a lot with what I have and it’s sort of an art to me. But, I am making dinner tonight and have everything already going, just trying to see if I should do broccoli separate or not… don’t really feel like experimenting tonight lol.
Love that you experiment!! Sorry to not have responded sooner! Adding broccoli would be a great idea. I don’t think it would change it too much 🙂 I haven’t tried adding mirin, so I am not sure about that. I’d love to know how it all turned out 🙂
It worked out. I added 1/4 of sliced raw onion at the bottom. Then an hour before cooking was finished, I added 3 heads of broccoli florets. It was quite delicious. My husband said “You out did yourself!” #Win. Thanks for the recipe and replying.
I’m glad it did! 🙂
I LOVE this recipe, Teriyaki chicken at its finest!
It’s my favorite!! Thanks for stopping by!
This recipe looks amazing, I will definitely be giving this a try.
Thank you & it is!! Let me know what you think 🙂 Thank you!
Ooooo….This looks awesome… Yummy ❤
Ooooo..it is 🙂 You’ll have to try and let me know what you think!
Anything that goes into the crockpot and produces a fabulous meal is a winner in my eyes. Simple and delicious!
For the slow cooker teriyaki chicken can you substitute boneless chicken breasts? My family doesn’t like dark chicken meat. Thanks!
I haven’t tried, but I bet it’d work. Let me know if you give it a try…thank you!!
This was awesome! My family loved it. Came home for lunch and started it. Chicken was tender an juicy just 4 hours on low. Thanks! Will be having this several times over the next year.
I’m so glad!! Thank you for letting me know!! We love it, too!
My first Pinterest recipe! SUCCESS!
I added 1/4 cup water and used flour instead of corn starch and it turned out perfect!! It had to sit for 8 hours because of work but it made it SO flavorful!
I made this for my family’s dinner tonight. Now the chicken was absolutely very tender. But the taste itself was really really sweet. It smelt delicious but a little too on the sweet side for my family. Idk maybe lessen the sugar amount if you plan to make this. Good luck.
BTW I said 2 stars my phone won’t let me undo
I’ve made this twice and both times were so good!! I used frozen chicken breasts and cooked them on low for 5 hours and they turned out great!
This was delicious! My whole very picky family liked this one, so I’ll definitely be making it again. I think next time, though, I’ll double the sauce, since we like a lot of it on our rice. I might also add some broccoli.
I’ll have to double the sauce too because my kids LOVE it and sometimes just want the sauce with rice. Adding broccoli would be great too – will have to try that myself. Thanks for stopping by. 😉
Try it tonight with bone in thighs and everybody loved it. I will be making this again. Thanks!!!
I’m cooking it now! Can’t wait to try it. How long should I coke it for if I do it on High? Thanks
I just made this recipe and used 1/2 the amount of chicken the recipe called for and it was way too dry. Next time I will double the sauce recipe….. very disappointed.
Hi Barbara. I’m sorry you didn’t like it. We’ve made it several times and it’s turned out perfect. If you like more sauce I definitely recommend doubling the sauce recipe. 😉
I’m guessing the TB stands for tablespoon??
Yes. 😉
Tried the teriyaki chicken last night…. loved it except a little too sweet for our likes. Anything you suggest to make less sweet?
I have a child who is allergic to garlic. Do you have a suggestion for a substitution or do you think I could just leave it out?
I’m about to try this recipe and ran out of garlic. I think a little ginger would be good substitute.
That should be fine. I might also add a tid bit of garlic salt if you have some. 😉
Hi, Laura,
I use a powder called [gonna spell it like it sounds cuz I don’t know how to spell it] ass-o-tevia powder. I buy it at my local health food store. It takes the place of onion and garlic in cooking. Onion and garlic are in the same family. BEWARE- It stinks! It taste better than it smells. Hope this helps.
Sincerely, Laura
oh em gee, I added cornstartch into the crock with all the ingredients. It is still cooking, but I hope I didnt mess it up. ughh…..
If I use boneless skinless breasts does the cooking time and level change? If so, how?
Do you think it will still be as good w breasts??
I don’t think it should change. To be honest, I haven’t tried chicken breasts but think they would be just as good. 🙂
Can the thighs be frozen? or will that double the cooking time?
Not sure how long it would take to cook if they were frozen, but I always un-thaw mine first. 🙂
Just put it all in the slow cooker now. Doesn’t look a lot though. How many servings should this make please?
We were able to feed about 6-8 adults with it. Hope that helps. 🙂
Recipe looks delicious!! I am making this tonight for dinner but had a quick question…. I opted to use boneless/skinless chicken breasts vs. thighs, so I am wondering if I should still cook on low for 4-5 hours? or if I should bump crock pot to High? Thanks!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was awesome!! The only thing I did different was that I used bone-in chicken thighs. It made it really flavorful and the chicken fell right off the bone once it was done! Served this with broccoli mixed in and sauce poured overtop. Yum!
Ooooh, I will have to try adding broccoli next time. Sounds delicious! Thank you for stopping by. 🙂
Looks like a yummy recipe. Just thought I’d point out that Teriyaki is Japanese not Chinese.
Just made this and it came out AMAZING!! I subbed refined sugar for organic coconut sugar, and added a can of “La Choy Fancy Mixed Chinese Vegetables” about an hour before serving. I served it over brown rice and topped with La Choy crunchy chinese noodles, and it was better than any takeout I’ve had!! Thanks for the great recipe!!
I LOVE to hear that, Claire. Sounds like it was delicious!!
Can I start with frozen chicken?
Would that be regular granulated sugar…not brown sugar? Can’t wait to try it tomorrow!! YUMMM!
Yes, regular granulated sugar. 🙂
Could you substitute the apple cider vinegar for something else? Say white vinegar?
Do you do step 3 before step 2 (does the sauce go into the slow cooker with the chicken)? I’m also confused about the liquid that goes into step 4 and how you get that.
Really?
Love this kind of thing. Something I can let it cook all afternoon. But we don’t like rice so what else would you used to put this over top of.
Do you guys like Noodles?
Teriyaki is Japanese NOT Chinese.
This looks amazing! I love Teriyaki; definitely have to try this when I have the time.
This looks great! I love crop pot recipes and this has such a simple list of ingredients! Pinned!
This looks so yum! Pinning it 🙂
We love chinese food! I can’t wait to try this!! Love that it is a crock pot recipe. Thanks for the recipe!!
Mmmm…looks SO good! Is it shameful to say that I’ve never tried cooking my own teriyaki sauce?? It always intimidates me. But, this one looks relatively simple compared to some of the weird ones out there, and looks absolutely delicious. I’m going to have to try it! (great photos, too!)
Teriyaki chicken is a really, really basic thing in Japan (it isnt Chinese). The “weird ones” are westerners who don’t know anything about Japanese cuisine thinking that putting their messy fingerprints all over everything will make it better. This isn’t teriyaki sauce, either. The essential ingredients are soy sauce, sake, and mirin and you can add brown sugar, honey, ginger, and/or garlic if you want. But without sake and mirin, it isn’t teriyaki.
I love Asian food…sure have to try this!
Well, you know that if the hubby likes something than it’s a for sure hit. What a great recipe!