This Air fryer Teriyaki Chicken thighs is a terrific dinner, ready in under 30 minutes. Made with an easy homemade teriyaki sauce, it so much better than takeout!
Looking for easy air fryer chicken thighs recipes? Try my bang bang chicken or air fryer chicken tacos next!
In this air fryer teriyaki chicken recipe, I combine boneless thighs with a simple sweet ginger-garlic-soy glaze. An easy to make recipe with succulent meat, with a balance of umaminess from the rich and flavorful sauce, just like the bang bang chicken.
This is hands down a flavorful air fryer teriyaki chicken and it is made without any bottled sauces, mirin, and yet it tastes just as good - Almost like the one from Panda Express. Looking for a vegetarian version? Try the no press teriyaki tofu recipe.
Marinade or Sauce? Sauce is usually served along with the main course, as a condiment to be drizzled, if needed. Whereas marinade is much thicker and is used to marinade the chicken, pork, fish or shrimp. This teriyaki sauce recipe is used as both marinade and sauce to be glazed later.
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Reasons to love
Umami or savory flavor is triggered by glutamates, which is essential amino acids found in protein rich foods. It's what that makes your taste buds crave for something!
The homemade teriyaki sauce has a sensation of sweetness triggered from sugar, and then the soy sauce made from fermented soy beans, acquires high levels of glutamates from soybeans themselves and bacteria used to ferment it.
Ingredients you'll need
Scroll down to the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and amounts.
- Chicken - My favorite is to use boneless skinless thighs (just like this grilled chicken thighs recipe or all recipes with boneless chicken thighs) because it has more connective tissue surrounding the muscles than white meat, contains collagen and fat, cooks up moist, juicy and practically impossible to overcook.
- Soy sauce - Regular salt soy sauce adds the perfect saltiness to the sauce.
- Sugar - When sugar is exposed to high heat, it quickly breaks down and rapidly caramelizes resulting in a beautiful deep, rich brown color.
- Cornstarch - It thickens the sauce, adding viscosity.
- Ginger - It adds a pungent, sweet and spicy aroma.
- Garlic - Grated garlic loses most of it's pungency and develops an intense sweetness in the cooking process.
How to make teriyaki chicken in air fryer?
You can find full printable recipe below, but here is a quick overview of the procedure along with step-by-step photos.
1.Make sauce - Stir together sugar, soy sauce, grated ginger, garlic and ground black pepper, until sugar is almost dissolved.
2. Marinate chicken - Toss chicken thighs with half the teriyaki sauce and let marinade for about 30 minutes, if possible.
👉 There's really no need to marinade the chicken for more than half an hour. The most effective method is to apply the homemade teriyaki sauce, halfway through cooking and again when done. This coats the entire surface of the thighs and delivers big flavor with each bite.
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3 & 4. Air fry - Place chicken thighs (smooth side down) in a pre heated 400 degree air fryer. Cook for 7 minutes, brush with sauce, turn over, brush with more sauce and continue cooking for an additional 6 to 7 minutes. Finish with another coating of sauce.
Tip: If using breasts, cook at 380 degrees for 6 minutes, flip over and cook for an additional 6 minutes, or until completely cooked. Check out more details on the timing in air fryer chicken recipes blog post.
Thicken sauce - Mix cornstarch along with remaining sauce and bring to a boil over low heat. Cook for about 30 seconds and then remove from heat (it will thicken as it cools).
Serving suggestions
Serve the teriyaki chicken for dinner with just white or brown rice along with steamed broccoli, green beans, a rice dish like egg fried rice or garlic butter ramen noodles. Serve it as a Mother's day dinner recipe or as a quick 30 minute chicken recipe for weeknight.
Love easy dinner ideas? Check out our round up post with easy air fryer dinner recipes.
Storage and reheating
Leftover teriyaki glazed chicken can be refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 4 days. If you'd like to meal prep, place cooked white rice in meal prep containers, along with chopped teriyaki chicken and cooked vegetables. Re heat in microwave before eating.
- To freeze - This air fryer teriyaki chicken, can be frozen for up to a month, thaw completely at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator, and reheat in microwave, until hot.
- Re heat in air fryer - Place air fryer teriyaki chicken thighs in a pre heated 375 degree air fryer and cook for 2 to 4 minutes or until heated through.
Recipe tips
- Soy sauce - Use regular soy and not light/dark.
- Be careful not to over cook the chicken or it will start to dry out.
Recipe FAQs
It takes about 14 minutes at 400 degrees for boneless chicken thighs to cook in an air fryer.
No! The sugar is balanced with salty soy sauce and spices, so it does not taste sweet.
More Chicken Recipes in Air Fryer
Air fryer Teriyaki Chicken
Ingredients
Teriyaki sauce
- ½ cup sugar white granulated
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 garlic cloves grated
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
Additional ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Equipment used
Instructions
- Stir all teriyaki sauce ingredients together in a bowl or measuring cup, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until most of the sugar is dissolved.
- Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and place in a medium bowl. Add about half the teriyaki sauce and toss to coat thoroughly. Let it marinade for about 30 minutes, if possible or cook after 5 minutes.
- In the mean time, add remaining sauce into a small sauce pan along with cornstarch (stir to dissolve) and bring to a boil over low heat. Let cook for 30 to 40 seconds and remove from heat. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Preheat air fryer to 400°F for 7 minutes. When hot, place chicken thighs (smooth side down) into the air fryer basket and cook.
- When cooking time is done, open air fryer, brush some teriyaki sauce all over the chicken, turn them over (using tongs) and brush the other side with sauce.
- Continue cooking for an additional 6 to 7 minutes, in the same temperature.Tip: If using breasts, cook at 380 degrees for 6 minutes, flip over and cook for an additional 6 minutes, or until completely cooked.
- When cooking time is done, brush additional sauce on the top.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information, based on third-party calculations, should be seen as estimates, not guarantees, as various factors like product types, brands, processing methods, and more can alter the nutritional content in recipes.
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Lulu
Made this for lunch today! I don't eat meat but my husband and daughter finished everything - it smelt amazing! I halved the sugar and used brown instead and it turned out perfectly, super simple clean up!
Maria Doss
Happy to hear hun, have a wonderful day - Maria
Shayne
Thank you for sharing your recipe. This is our favorite chicken teriyaki ever! My picky eater daughter really loves it! ❤️
Maria Doss
Happy to hear hun - Maria
Terri Lynn Gentry
Can you use bone-in thighs? How long would you cook them?
Maria Doss
To use bone-in thighs with skin:
1. Preheat your air fryer to 375F
2. Place the marinated chicken thighs in the air fryer, skin side down and cook for 6 minutes.
3. Turn your chicken thighs skin side up and cook for 6 to 6 minutes more, or until cooked through.
Emilie Mann
A new favorite for our fam! Made it with Mac salad and rice and it was delicious
Maria Doss
That’s so great to hear! Wishing you a very happy new year - Maria ♡
Crystal
Made this with 4 chicken thighs and got lazy so used store bought sauce. Super good but I feel like the thighs shrank up a bit in the air fryer. My husband said the portions were too small.