Teriyaki chicken marinade recipe makes tender, flavorful chicken with the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavor. It’s easy to mix together and works beautifully for grilling, baking, or slow cooking chicken.

If you’re looking for a dependable, crowd-pleasing chicken marinade, this teriyaki chicken marinade is always a good choice. The combination of sweet and savory ingredients helps tenderize the chicken while creating that classic teriyaki flavor that pairs perfectly with rice, vegetables, and stir fry dishes.
It’s simple to prep, great for meal planning, and easy enough to make any night of the week.
How to make teriyaki chicken marinade
Here you’ll find instructions and step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.

Step 1: Stir together the ingredients for the marinade.
Step 2: Add chicken and marinade to desired container.
Step 3: Let chicken sit in marinade, covered in the fridge, for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
Recipe Tips!
- How to marinate chicken: I wrote a post with tips on how to freeze chicken in marinade, the best containers for marinating chicken, and more. You can find all of those tips in my how to marinate chicken post.
- Pork: This marinade also works well as a pork marinade.

Storage
Let chicken sit in marinade, covered in the fridge, for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
More chicken marinade recipes!
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Teriyaki Chicken Marinade
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup lite soy sauce
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1-1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
Instructions
Marinade
- Stir together the ingredients for the marinade.½ cup lite soy sauce, ½ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 2 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- Add chicken and marinade to desired container.1-1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- Let chicken sit in marinade, covered in the fridge, for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
Grill
- Preheat grill to medium high heat and lightly grease the grates.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade, and let the excess marinade drip off.
- Discard remaining marinade.
- Grill chicken until chicken reaches 165F. The grilling time will vary depending on thickness of the chicken.
- Remove chicken from grill, and tent loosely with foil.
- Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Oven
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Add the chicken and marinade to a baking dish. An 11×7-inch dish works well for 1-1.5 pounds of chicken.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Flip the chicken over, and continue to cook for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken registers 165F.
- Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Slow Cooker
- Add the chicken and marinade to the slow cooker insert.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 3-5 hours, or until chicken registers 165 F.
Notes
- Nutrition values are estimates and do not account for discarded marinade.
Nutrition
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