This healthy teriyaki chicken is cooked in the slow cooker with a sweet and savory Asian sauce. Once shredded, serve over rice with veggies for a full meal!
Fall is in the air… now is the time for slow cooker meals! Few things are better than prepping ingredients in the morning and having a delicious, healthy dinner ready for you at the end of the day. You don’t have to turn on your oven or spend time preparing dinner after work. We’re big fans of slow cooker meals over here!
This slow cooker teriyaki chicken recipe feels extra fancy because it’s like takeout in the comfort of your own home. Bonus points for much fresher and healthier ingredients! Don’t get me wrong, I love treating myself to a dinner out, but I also love knowing what goes in the food I’m eating and I like to stick with high quality, real food as much as possible.
Ingredients in Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
The star of this recipe is definitely the sauce. Store-bought teriyaki sauce is usually a mixture of soy sauce, high fructose corn syrup, vinegar, salt, spices and other preservatives. While it’s super easy to buy a bottle at the store it’s allllmost just as easy to make the sauce at home. For this version we’re using the following ingredients:
low-sodium tamari – soy sauce works great too but tamari makes this dish gluten-free
honey
ketchup – make sure to check the label for high fructose corn syrup and choose a brand that doesn’t use it
olive oil
chili garlic sauce (also called Sambal Oelek)
Onion isn’t traditionally an ingredient in teriyaki sauce, but I added it to the sauce for this slow cooker chicken because I love the extra flavor it adds.
How to Make Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
Start by whisking together the sauce in a small bowl. Add the chicken breasts to a slow cooker and pour the sauce over the top, coating the chicken. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 3-4 hours or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
I usually pick my heat level and cook time based on what my day looks like and when I’m prepping everything! When the chicken is done cooking, remove the chicken and transfer to a cutting board to let cool. You’ll leave the sauce in the slow cooker!
Whisk arrowroot powder and water until the powder dissolves. Arrowroot powder acts similarly to corn starch and helps thicken the sauce. Pour the arrowroot mixture into the slow cooker with the sauce and stir until smooth. Turn the slow cooker on high and cook uncovered until the sauce thickens.
Shred the chicken using two forks and then add chicken back into the slow cooker with the sauce to combine. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the chicken and serve. I like serving this shredded teriyaki chicken over rice with broccoli on the side.
If you make this slow cooker teriyaki chicken, please be sure to leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how it turns out. Your feedback is so helpful for the EBF team and other EBF readers.
This teriyaki chicken is cooked in the slow cooker with a sweet and savory Asian sauce. Once shredded, serve over rice with veggies for a full meal!
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast
1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon low-sodium tamari (or soy sauce)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (also called Sambal Oelek)
2 teaspoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch + 3 Tablespoons water
sesame seeds, to taste
cooked rice (white, brown or cauliflower)
steamed broccoli
Instructions
Make sauce by whisking together honey, tamari, onion, ketchup, olive oil and chili garlic sauce in a small bowl.
Add chicken breasts to slow cooker and pour sauce over top.
Cook chicken on high for 2 hours or low for 3-4 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
Transfer chicken from the slow cooker to a cutting board and let cool.
Whisk arrowroot powder with water until it dissolves. Pour the arrowroot mixture into the slow cooker and stir together until smooth.
Turn slow cooker to High and cook uncovered until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.
Once chicken is cool enough to touch, shredded chicken using two forks. Once shredded, add back into the slow cooker with the sauce and toss to combine. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the chicken and serve. I like serving the shredded teriyaki chicken over rice with broccoli on the side.
I made this in my Instant Pot last night and it was incredible! I also marinated the chicken in the sauce for 12 hours prior to cooking. I’m not sure if that was necessary but it didn’t hurt!
To cook in the Instant Pot, I set to Saute and cooked the chicken on each side for 3 mins each. Then I set to high pressure and cooked for 10 mins and did a natural pressure release. I also added some carrots into the pot to cook along with the chicken.
This will be a regular dinner in my house for sure!
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I made this in my Instant Pot last night and it was incredible! I also marinated the chicken in the sauce for 12 hours prior to cooking. I’m not sure if that was necessary but it didn’t hurt!
To cook in the Instant Pot, I set to Saute and cooked the chicken on each side for 3 mins each. Then I set to high pressure and cooked for 10 mins and did a natural pressure release. I also added some carrots into the pot to cook along with the chicken.
This will be a regular dinner in my house for sure!
Looks so good! Do you have the cooking information for using an Instant Pot?
Hi Taryn. Unforunately I don’t at this time, but it’s something I’ll look into. Let me know if you try making it in the Instant Pot.