Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki
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A popular take-out dish with a healthy homemade twist. This Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki is made with much cleaner ingredients that come together to make a healthy sticky, sweet, gingery sauce. Added to tender juicy chicken. It’s the best take-out food made at home. Makes for a delicious, healthy weeknight dinner with little effort.
Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki
This Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki recipe gives a classic and popular take-out dish a healthy twist. Store-bought teriyaki sauce can be filled with refined-sugars, additives, highly processed starch, and more unhealthy ingredients. Making a teriyaki sauce at home is a much better option.
Any sauces made at home are always much better than store-bought. They’re fresher, you control what goes in them and in my opinion, taste way better. Since I learned how easily and how little ingredients it takes to make a good teriyaki sauce I’ve never used store-bought again. I learned how to make my own and never looked back.
Chicken teriyaki makes for a simple and easy to make week night dinner. Serve with white rice or cauliflower rice, steamed broccoli and string beans, and you have yourself a delicious, nutritious, and complete meal.
Ingredients needed to make Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki:
- Chicken Thighs– Boneless and skinless.
- Spices– Pink sea salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.
- Olive Oil– For cooking.
- For Teriyaki Sauce– Water, coconut aminos, honey, ginger, garlic, coconut sugar, and arrowroot flour.
Equipment needed to make Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki:
- Large Cast Iron Skillet– To cook chicken on.
- Saucepan– To simmer teriyaki sauce.
- Small Mixing Bowls– To make a slurry.
- Whisk– For whisking teriyaki sauce.
How to make Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki:
- Step 1– Pat dry chicken thighs and dice into bite size cubes. Add salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Toss together making sure chicken is well seasoned.
- Step 2– In a large cast iron skillet, drizzle oil and place on stovetop. Turn stove on medium-high heat and bring skillet to a heat. Toss chicken on heated skillet and sauté until chicken is cooked through and reaches a golden-brown shade. Cook in batches if you have to. Turn heat off and set browned chicken to the side.
- Step 3– In a small mixing bowl, whisk together ingredients for Teriyaki sauce; water, coconut aminos, honey, ginger, garlic, and coconut sugar. Once ingredients are well combined pour into a small sauce pan. Place sauce pan on stovetop and bring to a light simmer on low heat. Continue to simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Step 4– While teriyaki sauce simmers, make slurry by stirring water and arrowroot flour together in a small bowl. Turn heat off and add slurry to sauce. Keep stirring as it gets thick. It should start thickening immediately.
- Step 5– Pour teriyaki sauce over cooked chicken. Give it a good toss making sure the chicken is well coated with the sauce. Serve immediately over rice or cauliflower rice and broccoli. Make sure to serve before it gets cold. Enjoy!
Tips and Substitutions:
- Honey substitution- you can use maple syrup instead.
- Arrowroot Substitution- you can use tapioca flour instead.
- Turn heat off before adding slurry to sauce- Too much heat can remove thickening components from arrowroot flour. Remove sauce from heat right away.
- Serve Chicken Teriyaki right away- Reheating the chicken will cause for the sauce to lose it’s thickening components. It’s best to serve this dish immediately after it’s done cooking.
How to serve Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki:
My go-to way to serve this Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki is with some white rice and broccoli. This makes me feel like I’m having take-out right at home. This chicken is also great to make some chicken teriyaki bowls. Serve chicken teriyaki over some rice and top with your favorite toppings like carrots, cucumbers, red bell pepper, broccoli, etc.
Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki FAQ’s:
Does Teriyaki Sauce contain Gluten?
You may be surprised to find that Teriyaki Sauce contains gluten. Especially, most store-bought Teriyaki sauce. Soy sauce tends to contain wheat in it. Furthermore, thickeners used to make sauces tend to consist of flours that contain wheat.
What is Arrowroot Flour?
Arrowroot is a starch that is obtained from the rhizomes of several tropical plants like Maranta arundinacea. It is much less processed than other starches since the process usually involves more traditional methods, no exposure to high heats or harsh chemicals.
Arrowroot also doesn’t derive from a grain making it an excellent option for those of us who have gluten sensitivities or those who have allergies to other grains like corn. Arrowroot is also said to contain a good amount of potassium, iron and B vitamins. Which also makes it a much better option than other traditional thickeners.
Can I use chicken breasts instead?
Yes. If you prefer to use chicken breasts you can. However, chicken thighs tend to be more flavorful.
Mea Prepping it:
This gluten-free chicken teriyaki is quick and easy to make. Which is great if you’re meal prepping for the week. Serve these with some rice and broccoli and have lunches ready to-go for the week.
Storing and reheating Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki:
Place any leftover gluten-free chicken teriyaki in an airtight container. Keep it refrigerated for up to 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave or by placing back on stovetop. Please note that arrowroot flower loses its thickening component when heated too much. As you reheat your chicken, the sauce may lose some of its thickness. However, it is still perfectly eatable.
Did you like this Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki recipe? You may also like these other “take-out” recipes:
- Easy Chicken Fried Rice
- Singapore Spaghetti Squash Noodles
- Vegan Lomo Saltado with Homemade Crispy French Fries
- Kimchi Fried Rice
- Shrimp Fried Rice
- Slow Cooker Carne Asada Tacos
Gluten-Free Chicken Teriyaki
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb boneless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp pink sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Teriyaki Sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp grated ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
Slurry
- 2 tbsp arrowroot flour
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
Pat dry chicken thighs and dice into bite size cubes. Add salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Toss together making sure chicken is well seasoned.
In a large cast iron skillet, drizzle oil and place on stovetop. Turn stove on medium-high heat and bring skillet to a heat. Toss chicken on heated skillet and sauté until chicken is cooked through and reaches a golden-brown shade. Cook in batches if you have to. Turn heat off and set browned chicken to the side.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together ingredients for Teriyaki sauce; water, coconut aminos, honey, ginger, garlic, and coconut sugar. Once ingredients are well combined pour into a small sauce pan. Place sauce pan on stovetop and bring to a light simmer on low heat. Continue to simmer for about 5 minutes.
While teriyaki sauce simmers, make slurry by stirring water and arrowroot flour together in a small bowl. Turn heat off and add slurry to sauce. Keep stirring as it gets thick. It should start thickening immediately.
Pour teriyaki sauce over cooked chicken. Give it a good toss making sure the chicken is well coated with the sauce. Serve immediately over rice or cauliflower rice and broccoli. Make sure to serve before it gets cold. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Tips and Substitutions:
- Honey substitution- you can use maple syrup instead.
- Arrowroot Substitution- you can use tapioca flour instead.
- Turn heat off before adding slurry to sauce- Too much heat can remove thickening components from arrowroot flour. Remove sauce from heat right away.
- Serve Chicken Teriyaki right away- Reheating the chicken will cause for the sauce to lose it’s thickening components. It’s best to serve this dish immediately after it’s done cooking.
*Number of total servings in estimated. Actual number of servings may vary depending on your own personal preference in portion sizes.
**Nutritional values shown are general guidelines for 1 serving using the ingredients listed above. These numbers do not reflect and may vary depending on substitutions, additions and/or different brands and/or other ingredients that may be used.
**Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links and sponsored content. All the opinions are my own and I only recommend products I use in my own home with my own family.
