Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Baked Chicken Teriyaki


I love trying new recipes. This is part of the reason I decided to start a blog...I figure if I'm trying lots of delicious food, I might as well share the recipes that really turn out great. I don't make extravagant meals every night, but my husband does have to remind me from time to time that it is totally okay with him if I make something simple. He's so sweet...he says, "I'm just thankful that you cooked me a meal, and I'll always be happy with anything you make me." He's a keeper for sure. I am actually the one who typically isn't okay with just anything. I want to make every meal be the best meal ever. Unfortunately, that is just not realistic when you have small children to take care of. Some nights I'm really not in the mood to stand in the kitchen chopping, sauteing, mixing, and so on. And on those nights it's great to have some easy but still delicious recipes in my arsenal. This Baked Chicken Teriyaki is one of those recipes for sure. You mix up the ingredients (they are all things I typically already have on hand), pour it over chunks of chicken and bake it in the oven. Cook up some rice, and steam a vegetable and you have an easy and delicious dinner! Here's how you make it! 

Mix together a teaspoon of cornstarch and a teaspoon of water in a bowl. 


To the cornstarch mixture add in the rest of the sauce ingredients: white sugar, brown sugar, soy sauce, cider vinegar, orange or pineapple juice (I used pineapple this time, but either one is delicious), garlic powder, ground ginger, and black pepper. Mix it all up. 



Chop up some chicken into chunks and put it into an 8x8 square pan. I used one chicken breast and one chicken thigh because that's what I had on hand. You could use all breasts or all thighs, depending on what you like. This recipe will work for 2-4 pieces of chicken. Two fed our family of 4 with very little leftovers. If you are going to use more than 4 pieces of chicken, I would recommend doubling the sauce. 


Pour the sauce mixture over top of the chicken.


Give it a stir to make sure the chicken is completely submerged in the sauce. 


Bake this at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Then take the chicken out of the oven, give it a stir, and put it back in the oven. 


Bake the chicken for an additional 20 minutes. 


At this point the chicken is completely done, and you can go ahead and eat it at this point. I found the sauce to be a little thin for my taste, so I removed the chicken to a separate bowl. (I think next time I will try baking this at 425 degrees to see if the sauce will thicken up more on its own. I will update the recipe if needed!) 


Then I poured the sauce into a small pan and boiled it over medium-high heat until it was thick and syrupy. 


Then I poured this sauce back over the chicken, and voila! Chicken teriyaki! I think increasing the temperature might help the sauce to thicken up on its own, so that I can skip boiling it on the stove top next time, so I will definitely try that and update the recipe as needed! 


I served this with some rice and steamed broccoli, and it was delicious! And how easy is this meal?! Here's the recipe because I'm sure you're just dying to give this one a try! 


Baked Chicken Teriyaki 
Adapted from Food.com

1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon water 
2 Tablespoons sugar 
2 Tablespoons brown sugar 
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons orange or pineapple juice 
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 
1/8 teaspoon black pepper 
2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into chunks

Directions 
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Whisk together the cornstarch and water in a bowl. Add in the next 8 ingredients and whisk to combine. 
3. Place chunks of chicken into an 8x8 pan. Pour sauce mixture over top of chicken and stir to combine. 
4. Bake for 20 minutes, give a stir, then bake an additional 20 minutes. 
5. If the sauce is too thin for your liking, pour the sauce into a small saucepan and boil over medium-high heat until thick and syrupy. 
6. Pour the thickened sauce back over the chicken and serve. 


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