Teriyaki Chicken Thighs made with just four basic ingredients in the oven for the most tender, crispy, delicious mouth-watering meal. Serve it up with your choice of side dishes for a meal that never gets old!
Crispy baked teriyaki chicken thighs made with four whole ingredients? Could life get any sweeter??
Skin-on chicken thighs are a MAJOR thing in my house! I meal prep it in some fashion a couple of times per month.
We rave about my Basil Crispy Baked Chicken to any captive audience. And let’s face it…the non-captive audiences as well.
What I love about chicken thighs is they may just be the most goof-proof animal protein you can make. The bone plus the skin create a magnificent amount of flavor and guarantee a moist, tender result.
Even if you don’t add many ingredients, and/or accidentally over-cook them, chicken thighs are there to enhance the day, every day. Just let this easy baked teriyaki chicken recipe or my Easy Baked Chicken or Lemon Rosemary Braised Chicken Thighs show you the way!
And this teriyaki chicken is just so flavorful! Packed with that sultry, sweet, umami flavor that makes your taste buds swoon, and protein-forward to keep us energized.
It’s easy to prepare, easy to reheat with veggies and/or rice, and even easier to make in bulk!
If you have kids at home who aren’t in love with animal protein, this is a fabulous way to entice littles into eating their chicken!
Just serve it up with an extra drizzle of teriyaki sauce and they’ll be glued to it!
Let’s chat about these four simple ingredients.
Teriyaki Chicken Ingredients:
Chicken: I use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe, but you can also go with any bone-in pieces you like.
While boneless breasts do work, they will have less flavor so be sure to marinate them for a good long while before baking. For tender chicken thighs, stick with bone-in or boneless chicken thighs, or keep careful watch over breasts.
Note: the cooking time and temperature differs depending on the cut of chicken. I have included instructions for boneless thighs and boneless breasts below.
Avocado Oil: Used to add flavor to the chicken and also to protect it during the baking process. Avocado oil is great for cooking at high temperatures and is my preference over olive oil. Swap it out for sesame oil if you love the flavor!
Teriyaki Sauce: Pick your favorite store-bought teriyaki sauce or homemade teriyaki sauce. I make my Paleo Teriyaki Sauce, or use Primal Kitchen’s Paleo Teriyaki Sauce when using store bought. Straight Coconut Aminos works too!
My homemade teriyaki sauce includes coconut aminos (or liquid aminos or soy sauce), pure maple syrup (or brown sugar), rice vinegar (or apple cider vinegar), fresh garlic, fresh orange juice, and fresh ginger.
Garlic: Fresh chopped garlic adds a great deal of spunk to the chicken! If you don’t have fresh garlic on hand, substitute it for 1 teaspoon of garlic powder or onion powder. For a kick of spice, add red pepper flakes.
Let’s make this easy dish!
How to Make Teriyaki Chicken Thighs:
Add the chicken, avocado oil, teriyaki sauce (or coconut aminos) and garlic to a zip lock bag and seal.
Move the contents of the bag around until everything is well-distributed and chicken is saturated with marinade.
Refrigerate at least one hour, up to 24 hours (I allow mine to marinate overnight).
When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Transfer the chicken (including the marinade) to a large casserole dish, leaving the chicken in a single layer.
Bake for 40 minutes. If you’re able to, baste the chicken once or twice during the baking process using the juices at the bottom of the pan.
Increase the oven temperature to 420 degrees F and bake another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the skin is crispy. Chicken thighs are fully cooked when they reach an internal temperature of 180 degrees F or higher.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions and serve with your choice of side dishes, and enjoy!
I like spooning the pan juices over steamed veggies and white rice or brown rice. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Recipe Tips:
- When using boneless skinless chicken thighs, bake at 425 degrees for 12-18 minutes, then broil for 5-8 minutes, basting a couple of times throughout the baking process.
- For boneless skinless chicken breasts, bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until the breasts read 165 degrees F.
This easy cooking method results in juicy chicken thighs every time and it’s a favorite among the whole family!
If you’re into flavorful bone-in chicken pieces, also try my Honey Herb Chicken Drumsticks.
What To Serve with Teriyaki Chicken:
Here are some of my favorite sides to eat alongside teriyaki chicken.
- Teriyaki Vegetable Stir Fry with Rice
- Cabbage Stir Fry
- Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower
- Kimchi Fried Rice
- Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry
Enjoy this crazy simple, flavor-blasted healthy dinner recipe!
Baked Teriyaki Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 4 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (8 large thighs)
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- ½ cup Teriyaki Sauce store-bought or homemade
- 3 cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- Add the chicken, avocado oil, teriyaki sauce (or coconut aminos) and garlic to a zip lock bag and seal. Note: if using coconut aminos instead of teriyaki sauce, or if your teriyaki sauce doesn’t have a lot of salt in it, you may consider adding some sea salt too!) Move the contents of the bag around until everything is well-distributed and chicken is saturated with coconut aminos.
- Refrigerate at least one hour, up to 24 hours (I allow mine to marinate overnight).
- When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Transfer the chicken (including the marinade) to a large casserole dish, leaving the chicken in a single layer.
- Bake for 40 minutes then increase the oven temperature to 420 degrees F and bake another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the skin is crispy and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Serve with your choice of side dishes, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Had these tonight and they were delicious! I use Paleo sauce A LOT but I also love the bottled teriyaki sauce with sesame seeds and that’s what I was in the mood for.
Still experimenting with our pellet grill so I BAKED the chicken in that. Then cranked it up as stated. It came out perfectly to your instructions. I added about 5 minutes under the broiler to really darken the skin. So good. My husband will eat the skin if it’s really crispy. Thanks a bunch.
Sounds marvelous! Thanks so much for sharing, Christina! xo