Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

My Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken recipe is easy to make with simple ingredients and full of so much flavor. It’s the perfect meal to serve on busy weeknights because you can just set it and forget it.

I’ve always loved how simple most slow cooker recipes are, and how they make meal prep so easy. You can just dump all the ingredients into the crock pot in the morning, and when you come home from work, dinner is done.

Teriyaki Chicken seems to be one Asian-inspired dish that most kids will eat, so I started making it in my slow cooker. The chicken comes out fall apart tender and so delicious!

The hardest part of this recipe is making your own teriyaki sauce, but it’s definitely worth the effort as homemade sauces are usually much more flavorful than store-bought ones! My whole family loves this easy recipe, and I hope it becomes a family favorite in your home too.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon of finely minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon of grated ginger
• ½ cup of honey
• ⅓ cup of brown sugar
• ⅔ cup of tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
• 1 ½ teaspoons of toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
• ¼ cup of cold water
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons of sliced green onions
• 4 cups of cooked jasmine rice

Equipment

• Slow Cooker
• Small mixing bowls
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Whisk
• Cutting board
• Forks
• Fine mesh strainer

By the Numbers: How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki

Follow these simple step by step instructions to learn how to make the best crock pot teriyaki chicken recipe.

Step 1: Put Chicken in Slow Cooker

Place 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts in single layer in the bottom of a slow cooker.

Step 2: Make Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of finely minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of grated ginger, ½ cup of honey, ⅓ cup of brown sugar, ⅔ cup of tamari (gluten free soy sauce),1 ½ teaspoons of toasted sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar.

Step 3: Pour Sauce Over Chicken

Pour the soy sauce mixture you just made over the chicken in your crockpot.

Step 4: Slow Cook Teriyaki Chicken

Cover and cook on the Low setting for 8 hours or the High setting for 4-5 hours. Be sure to check the breasts to see when they reach an internal temperature of 165˚ F as different sizes of breast will have slightly different cooking times.

Step 5: Shred Chicken

Once it’s fully cooked, remove the chicken from the slow cooker, place it on a cutting board or plate and shred it with two forks.

Step 6: Strain Teriyaki Sauce

Next, strain the teriyaki sauce in the slow cooker through a fine mesh strainer, then pour it back into your slow cooker and turn your slow cooker onto the High setting.

Step 7: Make Cornstarch Slurry

While that’s heating back up, mix ¼ cup of cold water and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a small bowl until it’s smooth and dissolved.

Step 8: Thicken Sauce with Slurry

Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce in your slow cooker. Let it cook in the slow cooker for about 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens, then add the shredded chicken back to the pot and stir to coat the chicken with the sauce.

Step 9: Serve Chicken Teriyaki

Serve your Teriyaki Chicken over hot cooked rice and garnished with sesame seeds and green onions. 

Tips for Making Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki

Answers to all of your questions about making this slow cooker teriyaki chicken recipe, including tips and substitution ideas.

Substitutions and variations

• Use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts. Thigh meat is more tender, juicy and flavorful, so it turns out great!
• If you want to cut down on sodium, try using low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos in place of the regular gluten free soy sauce.
• Use arrowroot starch or another cornstarch substitute in place of corn starch to make the recipe corn free.
• If you don’t have rice wine vinegar, you can substitute apple cider vinegar in a pinch.
• Add some red pepper flakes during cooking for a spicier teriyaki chicken dish.
• Substitute 1 teaspoon of ground ginger in place of fresh ginger.

Will these directions work with bottled teriyaki sauce?

Yes, you can also dump store-bought teriyaki sauce over the chicken breasts in your slow cooker and follow the same cooking directions.

Ways to serve teriyaki chicken

My favorite way to serve teriyaki chicken is over steamed white rice (or your favorite grain like brown rice or quinoa, or even cauliflower rice). I personally prefer to use my Instant Pot Jasmine Rice with this recipe.

Another option is to serve it in a gluten free or lettuce wrap. If you want a great side dish, try roasted bok choy, air fryer broccoli or lightly sauteed sugar snap peas.

Make a double batch

The best part about this crock pot teriyaki chicken recipe is that you can make a double batch and freeze half of it in an airtight container for later. That way, you’ll have a freezer meal ready to go when you don’t have time to cook something on a busy weeknight. It will retain the best flavors for up to 2 months.

How to store leftovers

Leftover teriyaki chicken should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container and eaten within 4 days.

More Asian recipes

• Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
• Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice
• Instant Pot Egg Roll in a Bowl
• Chinese Chicken Salad
• Asian Slaw
• Kimchi

Best place to buy chicken online

The boneless skinless chicken breasts I used in this recipe are from Perdue Farms. I love their organic chicken value packs. They’re affordably price and the chicken is so much better than what I usually buy at the grocery store.

They also have lots of other meat options… we made one of their boneless turkey breasts for Thanksgiving and it had such great flavor!

More Slow Cooker Recipes